(MAJOR COURT CONFIRMATION)

SUDAN GOVERNMENT v. HAMMAD IBRAHIM HAMMAD

AC-CP-26-1966

 Principles

·  Advocate—Advocate is a holder of current licence—Criminal proceedings conducted by trainee who is not a holder of a current licence on behalf of an accused is invalidated—Accused is entitled to be properly represented

A trainee who is not a holder of a current licence, i.e., his name is not included in the advocate Roll; and conducts a criminal proceedings on behalf of an accused then such proceedings becomes invalidated and must be quashed in order to hold a fresh trial, because the accused is entitled to be properly represented.
 Judgment

Abdel Magid Imam J. October 15, 1966: —This is a case under section 251 S.P.C. On the evidence the court found the accused guilty under section 253 S.P.C. The court ruled that because the accused was in a state of drunkenness he was incapable of knowing that death would be ‘the probable consequence of his act and found that he knew that death was only a likely consequence.

Both the finding, which the court reached, and the law applied were not correct. For this reason the case was put before the Court of Criminal Appeal for determination. The court obviously confused the issue of drunkeness as an element—under certain circumstances— absolving criminal responsibility, or at least—under other circumstances— as cause for commutation of the death sentence with the case where intoxication may be treated as an important element in diminished responsibility.

However, the Court of Criminal Appeal in the course of hearing the case, discovered that a certain El Mubarak Zin El Abdin who purported to act on behalf of advocate Omer El Nur was not a holder of a licence and according to the evidence given by the Registrar of the court his name was not included in the advocates Roll. This vitiates the proceedings, as the accused is entitled by way of right to be properly represented.

We have decided, therefore, to quash the proceedings with a view to holding a fresh trial in which the accused can be represented by a licensed advocate. We also order that both advocate Omer El Nur and apprentice El Mubarak Zin El Abdin are to be proceeded against under the Advocates Ordinance, s. 15.

Hassan Abdel Rahim J. October 15. 1966: —I concur.