THE STATE v JOB SIKHALA

HMA 04-20

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Case Details

Court

Masvingo High Court

Date

14 February 2020

Citation

HMA 04-20

Neutral Citation

[2020] ZWHMA 4

Outcome

unknown

Case Type

Trial

Bench

Presiding

MAWADZE J

Full Bench

MAWADZE J

Areas of Law

Criminal LawConstitutional Law

Keywords

Section 22(2)(a)(i) Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) ActException to chargeUnconstitutional meansFreedom of expression

Key Issues

{"issue_text":"Whether the alleged utterances, as quoted in the charge sheet, disclose the offence of subverting constitutional government under section 22(2)(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.","issue_type":"law","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"The specific words allegedly uttered by the accused."}
{"issue_text":"Whether the charge is fatally defective and cannot be amended.","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"The nature of the charge based on specific alleged utterances."}
{"issue_text":"What is the effect of upholding an exception when a not guilty plea has been tendered and the charge cannot be amended.","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"The accused pleaded not guilty and raised an exception."}

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background

Facts of the Case

Background

The accused, a politician and legal practitioner, was charged with subverting constitutional government for utterances made at a political rally. He raised an exception to the charge, arguing that the alleged words did not disclose the offence as they did not mention unconstitutional means. The court upheld the exception and acquitted the accused.

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