Divisional Court Cases
| Published date | 01 July 1945 |
| Date | 01 July 1945 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201834500900302 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Divisional Court Cases
PROPERTY
TAKEN
FROM
A
PERSON
IN
COURT ACCUSED
OR
CHARGED
Arnell v. Harris
SECTION 44 of
the
Summary Jurisdiction Act 1879
provides:
.'
'Where
any
property has been
taken
from a person charged before acourt of summary juris-
diction with
any
offence punishable either on indictment
or on
summary
conviction, areport shall be made
by
the
police to such court of summary jurisdiction of
the
fact of
such property having been
taken
from
the
person charged
and
of
the
particulars of such property,
and
the
court
shall,
if
of opinion
that
the
property
or
any
portion thereof
can
be returned consistently with
the
interests of justice
and
with
the
safe custody of
the
person charged, direct such
property, or
any
portion thereof, to be returned to
the
person charged or to such
other
person as he
may
direct".
In
R. v. D' Eyncourt
the
High Court considered
the
language of two statutes,
and
in discussing
the
provisions
of
the
Summary
Jurisdiction Act 1879
and
the
Metro-
politan Police Courts Act 1839 Field
J.
said:
"A
person
charged before a magistrate who is going to commit him for
trial is up to
that
time presumably innocent.
It
is quite
uncertain up to
that
time whether
the
money found upon
him has been obtained
by
fraud or
not".
Under
those
circumstances
it
was
thought
ahardship
that
he should
have all his money
taken
away from
him
and
be left without
means of providing for his defence,
and
it
was suggested
that
s. 44 was limited to
the
case of persons under charge
and
to
the
time during which
they
were under such charge.
Recently in Arnell v. Harris
the
Divisional Court
have
had
the
matter
of
the
true
construction of s. 44 before
them
once more. Harris,
the
respondent, was charged with
the
offence of stealing
the
property of his employer,
the
Post-
master
General,
the
property being lost in
the
course of
transmission by post,
and
it
was alleged
that
the
property
N
l~
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