Malaya – The appellant challenged his conviction for carrying a firearm and ammunition. He had been tried under simplified emergency procedures and sentenced to death. The prosecution had adduced evidence of possession on the same occasion of unlawful possession by him of .38 ammunition in respect of which he had been acquitted at a previous trial and of which acquittal the assessors in the subsequent trial were not informed.
Held:His appeal succeeded. The prosecution was not entitled to challenge the validity of the acquittal in that way and that the appellant was entitled to rely on it in so far as it might be relevant to his defence.
Lord MacDermott said: ‘The effect of a verdict of acquittal pronounced by a competent court on a lawful charge and after a lawful trial is not completely stated by saying that the person acquitted cannot be tried again for the same offence. To that must be added that the verdict is binding and conclusive in all subsequent proceedings between the parties to the adjudication.’
Lord MacDermott
[1950] UKPC 7, [1950] AC 458, (1950) 66 TLR (Pt 2) 254
Bailii
England and Wales
Updated: 11 August 2021; Ref: scu.446077