@@ Line 600: / Line 600: @@
 ===Section 4.  Release on ball and execution of bond===
+'''Article:  101'''
+In all offences, an accused person or his or her counsel can at any time apply for ball to the public prosecutor charged with the preparation of the case or to a Judge or Magistrate depending on the stage of investigation.
-Article:  101
-In all offences, an accused person or his or her counsel can at any time apply for ball to the public prosecutor charged with the preparation of the case or to a Judge or Magistrate depending on the stage of investigation.
 A Judge or Magistrate delivers a ruling on the application and its legal basis within five (5) days.
 When the release is guaranteed, the accused may be ordered to respect some conditions.
-Article:  102
+'''Article:  102'''
 When a Magistrate or Judge does not find sufficient evidence for prosecution, an accused person shall be immediately released.
 When a Judge or Magistrate finds that there is enough evidence to warrant detention of the accused, an order for preventive detention can be made; or he may not be detained but ordered to respect certain conditions.
 Some of the conditions, which can be imposed on the accused, include the following :
 In order to provide precisely how the conditions provided for in the proceeding paragraph are respected, an order releasing an accused on ball may also indicate any of the conditions to be satisfied among those enumerated.
 Upon request by the public prosecutor charged with the preparation of a case file, a Judge or Magistrate can at any time, modify the conditions imposed in order to match with changing circumstances. He or she can as well order redetention of the accused, if deemed necessary, because of the new and serious circumstances.
-Article:  103
+'''Article:  103'''
 A Judge or Magistrate who, orders for detention pending trial, may release the accused on ball by requiring him or her to execute a bond with or without any one or several of the conditions provided for in the preceding article.
 The bond guarantees the appearance of the accused whenever required in court as well as payment of damages arising from the offence, property to be restituted and fines.
-Article:  104
+'''Article:  104'''
 Ball may be in form of bond or of a person standing as surety.
 Any one who admits to stand as surety shall be a person of integrity and have the means to pay.
 Where an accused person escapes justice, the surety shall pay compensation for the damages caused by the offence.
-Article:  105
+'''Article:  105'''
 A Judge or Magistrate determines the amount of bond to be paid by considering the value of the destroyed property, fine to be paid as well as the means of the accused person.
 No bond shall be admitted in respect of felonies.
-Article:  106
+'''Article:  106'''
 When an accused person is not found guilty, the amount of bond paid is refunded.
+===Section 5.  Appeals against orders of preventive detention and release on ball===
-Section 5.  Appeals against orders of preventive detention and release on ball
-Article:  107
+'''Article:  107'''
 The prosecution and the accused person can appeal against rulings ordering preventive detention or release on ball.
-Article:  108
+'''Article:  108'''
-Orders issued by a Lower Instance Court are appealed against in the Higher Instance Court whereas those of the Higher Instance Court are appealed against in the High Court of the Republic. Orders issued by the High Court of the Republic are appealed against in the Supreme Court.
+Orders issued by a Lower Instance Court are appealed against in the Higher Instance Court whereas those of the Higher Instance Court are appealed against in the High Court of the Republic.
+Orders issued by the High Court of the Republic are appealed against in the Supreme Court.
 Orders issued by the Military Tribunal are appealed against in the Military High Court whereas those of the Military High Court are appealed against in the Supreme Court.
 An order of the jurisdiction of appeal is not appealable.
 An appeal does not preclude trial of the case on merits.
-Article:  109
+'''Article:  109'''
 The time to file an appeal is five (5) days. The time starts to run from the day of the order was taken in respect of the public prosecution or from the date of service of the order in respect of an accused person.
-Article:  110
+'''Article:  110'''
 A notice of appeal is filed in a registry of the court that gave the order, or in a registry of a court that is supposed to hear the appeal.
-A court clerk who receives a notice of appeal takes notes of statements or grounds of appeal advanced by the accused in support of his or her appeal, and on which he attaches all other documents handed over by the accused for submission to a court that will hear the appeal. He or she gives to the accused a document acknowledging receipt.
+A court clerk who receives a notice of appeal takes notes of statements or grounds of appeal advanced by the accused in support of his or her appeal, and on which he attaches all other documents handed over by the accused for submission to a court that will hear the appeal. He or she gives to the accused a document acknowledging receipt.
 The person who receives the notice of appeal and the accompanying documents immediately forwards them to a clerk of the court that is supposed to hear the appeal.
-Article:  111
+'''Article:  111'''
 During the period of appeals and in times the appealate court has not yet tried the case, the accused shall continue to be in the same state as the court ordered, at all times the court order is in execution.
-Article:  112
+'''Article:  112'''
 Appeals shall be examined within five (5) days. The decision shall be taken in five (5) days which are counted from the date the prosecution handed in its submissions.
 When the appellant does not reside within the area where the court is situated or is not represented by an agent duly authorised in writing, the court can pass judgment basing on written evidence only.
-Article:  113
+'''Article:  113'''
 If an order of the lower court dismisses detention of the accused or rejects an extension of the time of detention and is dismissed by the appealate court, the time to authorise detention or its extension is determined by appellate court but shall not exceed one month.
 That period starts to run from the day on which the order of the appellate court comes into force.
-Article:  114
+'''Article:  114'''
 When an accused person has successfully appealed against a ruling ordering his or her detention or extending the time of detention, he or she can not be subjected to another warrant of arrest based on the same charges, unless new and serious grounds that warrant his or her preventive detention are discovered.
+===Section 6.  Special Provisions===
-Section 6.  Special Provisions
+'''Article:  115'''
-Article:  115
 Where the public prosecution decides that there are no grounds for prosecuting the accused person, it should request for the release of the accused.
-Article:  116
+'''Article:  116'''
 When an accused person is in detention before trial or has been released on ball on the day on which the court was seized, he or she will remain in that condition until the time of judgment. However, for those matters provided for in paragraph 2 of article 100 of this law, the period of detention shall not exceed that provided for by that paragraph.
 A person who is in detention can apply to the trial court to release him or her during the period of trial or to release him or her on ball.
@@ Line 691: / Line 715: @@
 When a court releases an accused person on ball, the provisions of article 101 of this law apply.
-Article:  117
+'''Article:  117'''
 article 116, when it seeks to release a person who was detained before trial.
 An accused can only appeal, if an order has confirmed his or her detention and denied him or her ball. During the period of appeal and during period for trial, the accused remains in the same state as the former judge ordered.
 An appeal is lodged in the manner provided for in articles 109 and 110 of this law.
 An appeal is lodged in a court that has Jurisdiction to try the substantive case. The court decides the case in accordance with the rules laid down under article 112 of this law.
-Article:  118
+'''Article:  118'''
 Public prosecution can apply for redetention of an accused who has breached some of the conditions imposed by the court that released him or her on ball.
 An accused who pleads not guilty can appeal to the court within five (5) days of his or her redetention. The court is also competent to examine an appeal brought by an accused against an order of a public prosecutor and request for his or her redetention for breaching the conditions of ball imposed during the time of investigation.
 A ruling on such an appeal shall not be appeallable.
+== Chapter 3.  TRIAL OF THE ACCUSED BEFORE COURTS ==
-Chapter 3.  TRIAL OF THE ACCUSED BEFORE COURTS
+===Section 1.  Institution of proceedings===
+'''Article:  119'''
-Section 1.  Institution of proceedings
-Article:  119
 When the public prosecution decides to prosecute a person, it transmits a complete criminal case file to a court of competent Jurisdiction.
 In that regard, it is said that the court is seized.
-Article:  120
+'''Article:  120'''
 The court may also examine a claim regardless of filing it during the commission of an offence at the time of trial or if the complainant seizes a court without prosecution.
-Article:  121
+'''Article:  121'''
 In the course of proceeding, the court may order the prosecutor to prosecute and bring before the court those persons it considers as co-authors and accomplices of the accused as long as it has sufficient evidence to prove that they committed the offence.
 Where the court finds out that the prosecution is not willing to prosecute such persons it may summon them to appear before the court and be tried.
+===Section 2.  Summoning the parties===
-Section 2.  Summoning the parties
+'''Article:  122'''
+A summon to appear in court is issued by a court clerk, upon request by public prosecution or a civil party.
-Article:  122
-A summon to appear in court is issued by a court clerk, upon request by public prosecution or a civil party.
 A summon should at least mention the accused, his or her names, domicile or residence, charges against him or her, a court before which to appear, place, day and hour of appearance.
 A summon is served by a balllif or court clerk and its copy thereof given to an accused, a person liable to pay damages, or any other person summoned.
 A summon is served on the person or on the residence of the summoned person.
-Article:  123
+'''Article:  123'''
 If the accused has no known domicile in Rwanda but has a known residence, summon shall be served on the residence.
-Article:  124
+'''Article:  124'''
 In case of absence of the summoned party, summon is served to his or her spause, relative or a relative to the spause, his or her employer or employee at his or her residence or domicile. In case of fallure to get one of them, summon is served to the coordinator of the sector of his or her residence or domicile.
-Article:  125
+'''Article:  125'''
 A summon can as well be notified by sending its copy through postal registered mall or through a special messenger who is required to return a document from the addressee acknowledging receipt, indicating date and signature of the person summoned or a person mentioned in the preceding article, indicating his or her relations with the person summoned.
-Article:  126
+'''Article:  126'''
 When the accused has neither a known domicile nor a residential address in Rwanda but has a known residential address abroad, a copy of the summon is posted at a specified location at the court which is supposed to try the case, and to another place determined by the court, another copy is immediately dispatched to the person summoned through the post office or through the Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs who issues a document acknowledging receipt.
 When the person summoned does not have a known domicile or residential address in Rwanda or abroad, a copy of the summon is posted to a determined place at the court to try the case and extracts thereof brought to public attention through means which the court deems appropriate.
-Article:  127
+'''Article:  127'''
 The time lapse between summon and appearance for an accused or the one who is liable for the damages caused by the offence is eight (8) days regardless of the day on which he or she received the summon and the day of appearance.
 Persons who do not possess known domicile or residential address in Rwanda are summoned in a period of two (2) months.
 When a summon is delivered to person who neither resides nor has domicile in Rwanda but he or she served the summon in the Country of residence, it takes the usual time, but the court may extend it if deemed necessary.
-Article:  128
+'''Article:  128'''
 For trials that require urgency, the President of a court can, by a ruling using an order to explain reasons and which should be served together with the summons to the accused or to the person liable for civil damages, if need be, shorten the time of eight (8) days provided for in the first paragraph of article 127, if the offence charged is a contravention or if an accused is caught red-handed, has confessed or appears to court immediately for summary trial.
-Article:  129
+'''Article:  129'''
 When a summon has been sent through the post office or a messenger, the time of someone starts to run from the time when the post or messenger delivers it to the person summoned.
 When summon has been posted to a determined place at the court, the time for summon starts to run on the day of the posting.
+===Section 3.  Civil claim arising from an offence===
-Section 3.  Civil claim arising from an offence
+'''Article:  130'''
-Article:  130
 A victim of an offence who wishes to sue for damages can either file an action in a criminal or civil court. However, when he or she has decided to refer the claim for civil damages in one court, he or she cannot change and lodge the same claim in a different court.
+'''Sub-section 1.  An action for civil damages lodged in a Criminal Court'''
-Sub-section 1.  An action for civil damages lodged in a Criminal Court
+'''a.  ) Basing civil damages on the prosecution's case'''
+'''Article:  131'''
- a.  ) Basing civil damages on the prosecution's case
-Article:  131
 A person whose interests have been injured by a criminal offence can lodge a claim for compensation in a competent court claiming damages by way of notice brought at the same time as the criminal charges or at any moment, from the time when the case is filed to the termination of hearing by stating the claim in the court registry or in court at the time of hearing and given a certificate to the effect. When the claim is made to the court registry, it is notified to concerned parties.
-Article:  132
+'''Article:  132'''
 A victim who has filed a civil action direct to a criminal court can withdraw the claim at any moment from the time of filing to the closure of hearing by giving notice to the effect in court or in the court's registry. In that case, a court clerk informs the withdrawal to all concerned parties.
+'''b. Claiming damages by way of private prosecution'''
- b.  b. Claiming damages by way of private prosecution
-Article:  133
+'''Article:  133'''
 Filing a claim for damages by way of private prosecution is a claim a victim of an offence takes to a criminal court so that the accused is punished and be ordered to pay damages equivalent to what was destroyed. The court seized shall inform the Prosecution.
-Article:  134
+'''Article:  134'''
 A person who brings an action by way of private prosecution should indicate in the claim, in a precise manner the actions against the accused so that he or she can prepare defence on time and with full knowledge of the facts of his or her case.
 If there are aggravating circumstances, they should also appear in the claim so that the accused can be able to defend him or her.
-Article:  135
+'''Article:  135'''
 Seizing a court by way of private prosecution takes place when a criminal file was put in safe keep or when a period of six (6) months has elapsed without any action being taken by prosecution. Such a period of six (6) months starts to be counted from the time when a complaint was received by the public prosecution service or from the time when a criminal case file was received by the public prosecution service from national judicial police department.
-Article:  136
+'''Article:  136'''
 A victim of an offence who seized a court without basing his or her claim on the prosecution, may, at any time withdraw his or her claim from the time he or she files it to the time of termination of the case by giving notice in the trial or in the registry of the court seized. In that later time, the court clerk shall inform the concerned parties.
 However, withdrawing a civil claim, in case a victim of an offence seized a court by way of private prosecution does not hinder the trial of a criminal case.
-Article:  137
+'''Article:  137'''
 A victim of the offence can file a civil action against the party liable to pay damages or any other person he or she suspects to have committed an offence without having to base the claim on the prosecution's case.

Difference between revisions of "Code of Criminal Procedure-Rwanda"

Revision as of 14:42, 15 April 2010

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