Court of Criminal Appeal
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835101500105 |
| Published date | 01 January 1951 |
| Date | 01 January 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Court of Criminal
Appeal
CERTIFICATE
OF CONDITIONAL DISCHARGE NOT
EVIDENCE
OF BAD CHARACTER
FOR
VAGRANCY ACT
PURPOSES
R. v. Harris
Under section 12 (1) of
the
Criminal Justice Act, 1948,
aconviction of
an
offence for which
an
order is made
placing
the
offender on probation or discharging him
absolutely or conditionally shall be deemed
not
to be a
conviction for
any
purpose other
than
the
purposes of
the
proceedings in which
the
order is made.
In
R. v. Harris
(1950, 2
All
E.R. 816) this provision
had
to
be considered
in
relation
to
the
Vagrancy Act, 1824, s. 4, as amended
by
the
Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871, s. 15, which lays
it
down
that
in proving
the
intent
to
commit a felony for
the
purposes of
the
Vagrancy Act
"it
shall
not
be necessary
to
show
that
the
person suspected was guilty of
any
particular
act
or acts tending
to
show his purpose or intent,
and
he
may
be convicted
if
from his known character as proved
to
the
justice of
the
peace or court before whom or which
he is brought,
it
appears to such justice or court
that
his
intent
was
to
commit afelony". This section obviously
renders admissible in such a case
that
which would other-
wise, according
to
the
common law, be inadmissible,
namely, evidence of
the
previous
bad
character of
the
accused person although he has
not
himself
put
his char-
acter in issue.
The appellant was charged on an indictment with a
composite offence which is created
by
the
Firearms Act,
1937, s. 23 (2), asub-section which provides
an
additional
penalty
where a person, who
has
committed
an
offence
under inter alia such of
the
provisions of
the
Vagrancy Act,
1824, s, 4, as are referred
to
in,
and
amended by,
the
Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871, s. 15,
and
the
Penal
Servitude Act, 1891, s. -7, is found, when arrested for
that
offence, to
be
in possession of a firearm or imitation firearm,
77
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