Preliminaries Procedure in Criminal
There may be :- * impartiality of judicial officer. * preliminary objections * applications as to trial * jurisdiction * defects in charge * no locus standi
Impartiality of judicial officer:
S439: any magistrate must preclude himself from trying a case where he has personal interest in it. Case: Mohd Ghazali Ibrahim – accused was the presiding magistrate's brother. Magistrate discharged him. High court set aside the order and ordered a retrial before another magistrate. | Mohamed Ezam: The test to be applied in deciding whether a judge should excuse himself from hearing a case is ‘real danger of bias' test. |
Preliminary applications:
Application to transfer cases to another court – Raymond Chia
Accused appear before the court s173 (a) CPC
‘Appearance' means the accused is either out on bail or being summoned and appears before the court on his own wish.
‘Brought to the court' means accused has to be brought from custody.
Language used by interpreter
Case: Fong Hung Sium- chief clerk of High Court was asked to interpret from Hokkien to Hainanese. Accused did not fully understand Hainanese dialect & chief clerk did not swear in for his solemn duty.
Spenser-Wilkinsin J said: Duty of interpreter is not only to make sure he & accused understand one another, but to inform the court if there is any difference of language which may cause difficulty.
When charge is read & explained
If accused is facing several charges, each charge must be read & explained separately. Then, plea must be recorded separately as well.
Does the judge need to explain consequences of pleading guilty (PG?)
3 views:
a) If charge is difficult or technical in nature, magistrate need to explain the consequences of PG. (as held in Koh Mui Keow, Low Hiong Boon)
b) If consequences of PG involves forfeiture of subject matter / vehicle used in commission of crime, magistrate need to explain (as held in Petrus)
c) There
Impartiality of judicial officer:
S439: any magistrate must preclude himself from trying a case where he has personal interest in it. Case: Mohd Ghazali Ibrahim – accused was the presiding magistrate's brother. Magistrate discharged him. High court set aside the order and ordered a retrial before another magistrate. | Mohamed Ezam: The test to be applied in deciding whether a judge should excuse himself from hearing a case is ‘real danger of bias' test. |
Preliminary applications:
Application to transfer cases to another court – Raymond Chia
Accused appear before the court s173 (a) CPC
‘Appearance' means the accused is either out on bail or being summoned and appears before the court on his own wish.
‘Brought to the court' means accused has to be brought from custody.
Language used by interpreter
Case: Fong Hung Sium- chief clerk of High Court was asked to interpret from Hokkien to Hainanese. Accused did not fully understand Hainanese dialect & chief clerk did not swear in for his solemn duty.
Spenser-Wilkinsin J said: Duty of interpreter is not only to make sure he & accused understand one another, but to inform the court if there is any difference of language which may cause difficulty.
When charge is read & explained
If accused is facing several charges, each charge must be read & explained separately. Then, plea must be recorded separately as well.
Does the judge need to explain consequences of pleading guilty (PG?)
3 views:
a) If charge is difficult or technical in nature, magistrate need to explain the consequences of PG. (as held in Koh Mui Keow, Low Hiong Boon)
b) If consequences of PG involves forfeiture of subject matter / vehicle used in commission of crime, magistrate need to explain (as held in Petrus)
c) There