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REX
V.
OTIO ENWA
THE WEST AFRICAN COURT OF APPEAL LAGOS, NIGERIA
8TH DAY OF JULY, 1943
2PLR/1943/32 (WACA)
OTHER CITATION(S)
2PLR/1943/32 (WACA)
(1943) IX WACA P. 194
LEX (1943) – WACA P. 194
BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS:
KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA
BAKER, J.
BROOKE, J.
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BETWEEN:
REX — Respondent
AND
OTIO ENWA — Appellant
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REPRESENTATION
E. H. Hunter — for Respondent
No appearance — for Otio Enwa
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ISSUE(S) FROM THE CAUSE(S) OF ACTION
CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE ISSUE(S) — RAPE:- Autrefois convict — Conviction in Native Court for adultery — Subsequent conviction on same facts for rape — Criminal Code (Nigeria), Section 16 — Proper treatment of by appellate court
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CASE SUMMARY
Accused was convicted and sentenced on a charge of rape. During the trial it was discovered that he had already been tried in a Native Court on a charge of adultery on the same facts, found guilty, and sentenced.
On a case stated the trial Court asked whether there was jurisdiction to try and convict the accused of rape.
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DECISION OF THE WEST AFRICAN COURT OF APPEAL
Held:-
That accused had been punished on the same fact for adultery and cannot be punished doubly for rape thereon. Therefore there was no jurisdiction in trial court.
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MAIN JUDGMENT
The following opinion was given:-
KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA, BAKER AND BROOKE, JJ., NIGERIA.
The accused was tried on the 21st May, 1943, with the offence of rape.
During the trial the learned Trial Judge discovered that the accused had been tried on the same facts by the Native Court of Okum with adultery, found guilty and sentenced to six months imprisonment. He proceeded with the trial and convicted the accused of rape and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment.
The learned Trial Judge now asks us to determine whether he had jurisdiction to try and convict the accused of the felony of rape.
Now section 16 of the Criminal Code prescribes that a person cannot be twice punished either under the provisions of the Code or under the provisions of any other law for the same act or omission.
The trial before the Native Court whatever the offence might be called there was for the same act and he has been punished for it.
Accordingly, we answer the question submitted to us in the negative.