Appeals under s.29 the Criminal Justice Act, 1948
| DOI | 10.1177/002201834901300109 |
| Published date | 01 January 1949 |
| Date | 01 January 1949 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Appeals under s.29
The
Criminal
Justice Act, 1948
WHE N section 29 of
the
Criminal
Justice
Act, 1948 is
brought
into
force
it
will do away
with
the
present
awkward procedure laid down in s.24 of
the
Criminal
Justice
Act, 1925, which now requires a
court
of
summary
jurisdiction to enquire
into
adefendant's
character
before
dealing
with
him summarily for an indictable offence.
Courts will
then
be able to commit adefendant who is
convicted of
an
indictable offence (or of a case dealt with
summarily
under
s.28(2) of
the
Criminal
Justice
Act, 1948)
to
quarter
sessions
if
the
court is of
the
opinion
that
its
powers of punishment are inadequate, having regard to
the
defendant's character
and
antecedents.
The
court of
quarter
sessions has
then
to enquire into
the
circumstances
of
the
case
and
by
ss.(3) of s.29
has
power
to
deal
with
the
offender
"in
any
manner in which he could be dealt
with
by
a
court
of
quarter
sessions before which he
had
just
been
convicted of
the
offence on indictment".
It
will be noted
that
this does
not
confer upon
the
defendant
the
right to appeal
to
the
Court of Criminal
Appeal. This would seem
to
follow from
the
wording of
ss.
(3)
supra when contrasted
with
s.3 of
the
Criminal
Appeal
Act
1907, which provides
that
"A
person convicted
on indictment
may
appeal
under
this
Act
to
the
Court of
Criminal Appeal.
But
in
any
event
the
matter
is
put
beyond
doubt
by
the
fact
that
s.29(3) (d) makes special
provision enabling
the
offender
to
appeal
to
the
Court of
Criminal Appeal
if
quarter
sessions imposes asentence
which
the
court
of
summary
jurisdiction would
not
have
had
power to pass. This provision gives
the
defendant
the
right
to
appeal against
the
sentence
"as
if he
had
been
convicted on indictment".
It
follows therefore from s.3
(c)
of
the
Criminal Appeal Act
that
such an appeal
can
be
made only
with
the
leave of
that
Court.
Further,
this
102
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