Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
| Published date | 01 January 1956 |
| Date | 01 January 1956 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201835602000105 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Judicial Committee of the
Privy
Council
NO APPEAL BECAUSE VERDICT IS
"AGAINST
THE
WEIGHT
OF
THE
EVIDENCE"
Aladesuru v. The Queen
THE language of the West African Court of Appeal
Ordinance follows that of the English Criminal Appeal
Act, 1907,
under
which it has long been established that
the
appeal is not by way of re-hearing as in a civil case on appeals
from a judge sitting alone,
but
is a limited appeal which
precludes the court from reviewing the evidence
and
making
its own valuation thereof.
The
position is correctly stated at
page 346 of the 33rd edition of Archbold's Criminal Pleading,
Evidence and Practice, according to the
judgment
of the
Judicial Committee
(Lord
Tucker
and
Lord
Somervell of
Harrow
and
Mr.
L.
M.
D. de Silva) in this case (1955, 3
W.L.R. SIS).
This
well-known textbook states:
"In
order to
succeed an appellant must show, in the words of the statute,
that
the verdict is unreasonable or cannot be supported
having regard to
the
evidence.
It
is not a sufficient ground
of appeal to allege
that
the verdict is against the weight of
evidence".
The
West African Court of Appeal Ordinance (Laws of
Nigeria, 1948, c. 229), provides in section
II,
which follows
the language of the Criminal Appeal Act of 1907,
that:
"The
Court of Appeal on any such appeal (from the Supreme
Court) against conviction shall allow the appeal if they think
that
the verdict should be set aside on the ground
that
it is
unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to
the
evidence".
The
appellants, having been convicted by
the
Supreme Court of Nigeria on charges of knowingly as directors
of a bank making
and
publishing a false balance sheet, stated
as the first ground of appeal, in their application for leave to
appeal to the West African Court of Appeal, which was granted
by that court,
"that
judgment
is against the weight of evidence".
60
To continue reading
Request your trial