Category: Prosecution

(a) Aggravating Factors Aggravating factors are factors that the court takes into account in order to increase the severity of punishment. Prosecutors can offer evidence…

Sentencing principles are the rationales supporting the imposition of penalties and form the basis of sentencing decisions. These principles include: (a) Parsimony This principle dictates…

Types of punishment that may be imposed include capital punishment, imprisonment, judicial corporal punishment, fines, compensation, forfeiture and confiscation, costs, security to keep the peace, security for good behaviour, suspended sentences, discharges, probation, community service and revocation of rights.

A sentence is a decree of punishment. Sentencing frameworks range from highly prescriptive systems that afford judicial officers very little discretion to systems that allow them to exercise wide discretion.

Introduction Courts have discretionary powers when granting or refusing bail.  They may impose conditions on the accused person in addition to the bail amount. Such…

Bail is an agreement between court and the accused person for his/her temporary release from custody pending trial. The accused person is required to make a deposit of either cash or assets as security to attend trial. If the accused person fails to attend court, the bail can be forfeited and the accused person returned to custody.

Pre-Trial Motions During an investigation or before the trial commences, the prosecutor may make several applications or motions in court.  The defense may also make…

Review the Charges In preparing for a case, the prosecutor must ensure that he reviews the charges.  He should confirm that he has drafted the…

Power to Prosecute The power to prosecute is usually defined by statute and in some cases, the Constitution of the country. The law usually defines…

Introduction Prosecutors do not operate in a vacuum. They relate to different groups of stakeholders on a day to day basis. Stakeholders are those individuals…