Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
| Published date | 01 August 1981 |
| Date | 01 August 1981 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201838104500305 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Judicial
Committee
of
the
Privy Council
Comments
on
Cases
CONSIDERATION OF
VOLUNTARY
NATURE
OF CONFESSION
Prasad
v. The Queen
The strict limits within which it is the practice
of
the Judicial Com-
mittee
of
the Privy Council to interfere with the decision of an inferior
court have often been remarked on and they were repeated by the
Board in
Prasad
v. The Queen [1981] 1 All
E.R.3l9.
Indeed, in
that
case, it was added that the appellate courts more familiar with local and
social conditions than the Board can hope to be are in a better position
to judge the effect
of
amisdirection or irregularity upon ajury or
other body concerned with finding the facts. This is more likely to be
the case if the local mode
of
trial is different from
that
to which the
members
of
the Board are accustomed. In
Prasad's
case, the accused
was convicted
of
the murder
of
his father. The court consisted
of
a
judge and four assessors. The procedure of the court was
that
the
judge summed up; the assessors stated their individual opinions;
but
the
judge was the ultimate decider
of
fact and had the power to reject the
unanimous opinions
of
the assessors. Commenting on the difference
between
that
mode
of
trial and a trial by jury, Lord Diplock pointed
out
that
ajudge's function in summing up to a jury which is the sole
judge
of
fact "is
not
necessarily the same" as
that
of
commenting
on the evidence to assessors whose function is limited to
that
of
helping
the judge to make up his mind.
In
Prasad's
case, the accused's conviction was obtained as a result
of
aconfession which,
ifhe
had made it and it was true, was conclusive
of his guilt, since he had said quite simply
that
he had "struck him with
aknife" three or four times. On the voire dire, in the presence
of
the
judge,
but
in the absence
of
the assessors, the confession was challenged
157
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