ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY IN UGANDA

LLB3

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

COURSEWORK TEST

KISUYI FAHAD

218-053012-11254

STREAM A, EVENINGG.

QUESTION 1

In criminal procedure, extradiction also forms part of the jurisdiction, and its purpose is surrendering a
fugitive offender from Uganda to the country where such fugitive offender could have committed the
offence,

Also if the fugitive offender has committed the offence against the government of Uganda, or where the
offence has been committed against the person of Uganda, the courts of law in Uganda, can through the
government, make an arrest warrant against that person who is outside the jurisdiction of Uganda
courts. this process is known as extradiction.

In Uganda, the extradiction process is governed by the Extradiction Act cap 117.However, if it happens
that Uganda is a surrendering state, is only under obligation to surrender the fugitive offender to that
other country. However, this only happens where there is an international treaty between Uganda that
other country that has requested for the extradiction to take place.

In this aspect of extradiction, we shall also discuss about who is a fugitive in criminal procedure.

A fugitive criminal is provided for under section 1[ c] of the Extradiction act cap 117, which provides that
a fugitive criminal is any person accused or who has been convicted of any crime within the jurisdiction
of any other country who is in or is suspected of being in Uganda.

We shall also look at what constitutes an extraditable crime.

It should be noted that before any fugitive criminal can be surrendered by the government of Uganda,
there needs to be ascertained that the offence committed falls within the extraditable crimes.

According to section 28 of the ACT, such offence is one which if committed in Uganda is an extraditable
one, if the offence is an indictable offence.

Before the fugitive criminal is extradicted,it should however, be noted that the offence for which he/she
is being extradited for is not a political associated offence .under section 3[a] and section 23 requires
that for a fugitive criminal to be surrendered, the offence committed should not have been political in
nature,but the question would arise how can a minister and court determine that whether a particular
offence is of a political character or not,this is so based on the fact that the Act did not give a definition
of the offence of a political character,however,the definition can be found in decided cases.
In, Re Castioni [1891]1 QB 149, was the first English case requiring judicial interpretation of the phrase ‘’
offence of a political character’’

The facts of this case are;

Castioni was a Swiss, whose extradiction was requested on charge of murder. The Swiss government
alleged that he had shot and killed one Rose, a member of the state council of the canton of Ticino.
Evidence adduced at the trial disclosed that at time of the incident popular displeasure with the regime
was running high and the government had refused to hold a referendum on question of revision of the
of the constitution, something which they were obliged to do because of a presentation of a citizen’s
petition. A number of infuriated, castioni, among them decided to take action, and seized the town
arsenal. After arming themselves the group decided to proceed to march on the municipal palace where
they demanded admission. When their request was refused by Rose, the citizens broke through the gate
and took forcible possession of the palace;

So, according to Denman J, in order for an offence to be of a political character, it must at least be
shown that the act is done in furtherance of with the intention of assistance, as a sort of overt act in the
course of acting in a political matter, a political rising, or a dispute between two parties in the state as to
which is to have the government in its hands.

And, ’that the question really is, whether upon the facts, it is clear that man was acting as one of the
number of persons engaged in acts of violence of a political character, and as part of the political
movement and rising in which he was taking part’’

So from the facts of that case, the offence of which the fugitive offender is being charged, should not be
of a political character, the act should be related to political uprising.

Also, a fugitive criminal might be any person who is accused of having counselled, procured,
commanded, aided or abetted the commission of any extradiction crime or of being an accessory before
or after the fact to any extradiction. This may be seen in the case of, Schtraks vs Government of Israel
[1964] AC 556.The facts of this case of extradiction are, the extradiction of Schtraks was requested by
the government of Israel on charges of perjury, child stealing and knowingly confining an abducted
person.Schtraks had launched an appeal to the house of Lords after his application for habeas corpus
was dismissed alleging among others things that his committal was unlawful as the offence was
committed as one of the political character. The defense argued that the offence had been committed in
furtherance of struggle between the various political parties in Israel arising out of the conflict of the
religious and secular forces in the state.

Lord REID proceeded to isolate the elements that must be present to bring an offence within the
exemption, he adopted one of the early requirements set out in the case of Re-castioni, that the motive
and purpose of the accused are relevant, that he must be committed for the purpose of promoting a
political cause. The absence of this element would probably determine conclusively that that the act had
no political character.

So, from this case, is that the act must be committed for the purpose of promoting a political cause. The
absence of this element would probably determine that conclusively had no political character, but
rather was carried out for ordinary criminal purpose.
So, if the fugitive criminal is charged with offences not of a political character, he may be extradited.

But before the extradiction is effected, the following steps should be put into consideration, for the legal
and effective extradiction to take place.

[a] The extradiction application is to be submitted to the attorney general’s chambers through
diplomatic channels of the respective country as stated under section 8 [1] of the extradiction Act.

[b] The office of Attorney General and Director of public prosecution upon receipt of the application,
reviews the same to establish if it has merit.

[c] If the application has merit, then filled with the magistrate court for hearing process to commence
and thereafter he/she issues a warrant for the apprehension of a fugitive criminal which can be
executed in any part of Uganda, as provided for under sections 8 [2], 9 and 14 of the Act.

[d] The fugitive is given a chance to defend himself before the magistrate before the final decision is
made on whether the order for extradiction is to be granted or not, as provided for under section 10 of
the extradiction Act.

[e] The application must state the case file number and the facts of the case and the offence with which
the fugitive is charged with and it must specifically state that the offence charged is not of a political
character, section 3 [a] and 28.

[f] The application must be backed by endorsed seal court documents, that is the charge sheet, the
warrant of arrest, affidavit of the investigating officer, photos and passport/identity card of the fugitive
and copies of the law under which the accused is charged as provided for under sections 3 [a] [b] and
28.

[g] A fugitive criminal apprehended on warrant should be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours.
However; the duration of the hearing of the application depends on the nature of evidence adduced and
arguments presented by the prosecution and the defense team, as provided for under section 9[3].

[h] The magistrate after authenticating the warrant from the requesting state and the evidence adduced
confirms that the offence is extraditable, then the fugitive criminal should be committed to the prison
pending the minister’s warrant of surrendering the fugitive criminal, as under section 11 of the Act.

[i] The magistrate should inform the fugitive criminal that he/she will not be surrendered until the
expiration date of 15 days from the date of committal, as provided for under section 12[1] of the Act.

[j] The fugitive criminal who has been apprehended upon the warrant of the magistrate is supposed to
be surrendered and conveyed out of Uganda within the period of two months after committal as
provided for under section 13 of the extradiction Act cap 117.

[k] Once a prisoner whose return is authorized is not conveyed out of Uganda within one month after
the date of warrant ordering his/her return, the magistrate may order the prisoner to be discharged out
of custody, section 20 of the extradiction Act.

In conclusion, the law on extradition has been discussed above, giving the definition of extradition,
providing the authorities and relevant case laws. And lastly also looking at the steps to be followed
before an extradition is effected.
END