REX V. NANWIAH DAGARTI

President :-

There is only one ground of substance upon this appeal, namely Ground 7 (a) :-

“that the learned trial Judge omitted to direct the Assessors as to the accused being entitled to the benefit of any reasonable doubt.”

It is true that in the learned trial Judge’s notes of his summing-up there is no reference to his having told the assessors that the accused was entitled to the benefit of any reasonable doubt. We regard this as a most serious omission, and cannot emphasise too strongly that in all cases, whether tried with a jury or assessors, the jury or the assessors, as the case may be, should be told by the Judge that the benefit of any reasonable doubt should be given to the accused and the meaning of this should be carefully explained to them and it should be recorded in the notes of summing-up that this has been done. Omission to do this may result in the quashing of a conviction on appeal as in the cases of B. R. Lawrence v. The King 1933 A.C., 699 and Rex v. Sawyerr 3 W.A.C.A. p. 155. But we are of opinion that this case differs from those cases in two material particulars, namely :- (a) It was tried with assessors and not a jury, and by virtue of the provisions of sections 261 and 264 of the Criminal Procedure Code the decision was vested exclusively in the Judge, and the opinions of the assessors were opinions only and did not amount to the verdict.

Although the Judge did not mention it to the assessors, it must be presumed that in coming to his own conclusion he did not overlook the well-known principle of law that the accused is entitled to the benefit of a reasonable doubt; and

(b) In the present case it can be predicated that properly directed the assessors must have expressed the same opinions, because the Appellant admitted facts which must, in law, amount to murder and clearly not to manslaughter only.

For these reasons no substantial miscarriage of justice appears to be established and Ground 7 (a) fails.

There is no substance in any of the other grounds of appeal and the appeal is dismissed.