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\fs20\cf1\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848\charrsid8546848 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF FIJI}{\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid3153347 
\par }{\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848\charrsid8546848 (WESTERN DIVISION)
\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8546848 {\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848\charrsid8546848 AT LAUTOKA}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 

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\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4135173 
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 Criminal Appeal No.40 of 1979
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid13269054 {\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8546848 {\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4135173 BETWEEN}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid13269054 {\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8546848 {\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848\charrsid8546848 CHANDAR LAL
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848\charrsid4135173 s/o Devi Dutt Shankar
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4135173 (}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 Appellant}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4135173 )}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
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{\factoidname City}}REGINA{\*\xmlclose}{\*\xmlclose}
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4135173 (}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 Respondent}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4135173 )}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid13269054 {\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
\par Mr. Shankar for the Appellant
\par Mr. D. Williams for the Respondent
\par 
\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8546848 {\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848\charrsid8546848 JUDGMENT
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\par The appellant was charged with possessing a cow over the age of 6 months without a brand mark contrary to section 4 of the Brand Ordinance Cap. 140. He pleaded not guilty but after hearing evidence, including evidence for the defence,}{
\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325  }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 the magistrate convicted him and fined him $5.00 or 5 days in default and made an order that the appellant should pay $5.00 costs.
\par 
\par He now seeks leave to appeal against his conviction on questions of law only. Ina very brief judgment the magistrate said }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid3153347 "}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 it is 
for the defence to prove tha}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325 t}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
 the cow was not over 6 months old. He admits he cannot prove its age. He only relies on his own experience which I do not consider sufficient}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325 
. He has not called the donor whose name he cannot remember. I accept evidence of P.W.1 that he saw a cow apparently more than 6 months old. I find the case proved and convict as charged}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid3153347 "}{
\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325 .}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid8546848 
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325 
\par For the proposition that it was for the defence to prove that the cow was not over 6 months old the magistrate apparently relied on the case of }{\i\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325\charrsid745325 R v Edwards (1974) 3 W.L.R. 285}{
\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325 
 which is one of a long line of cases in which the issue was whether the accused had or had not a licence or permit to do something for which a licence or permit was required by law, although the court in that case also considered t
he wider issue of exceptions to the general rule that the onus was always on the prosecution to prove every element of the offence. Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Code might have been relevant in this regard but of course that section has now been 
repealed. The repeal of this section, which has been more or less a statement in statutory form of the old common law position, leaves it open to question whether the legislature intended a return to the old common law position.
\par 
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215 But assuming that the old c
ommon law is reactivated, then an exception to the general as to the onus of proof always being on the prosecution, depends solely on the question of whether the enactment (}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4742257 i.e.}{
\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215  Section 4 of the Brand Ordinance) prohibits the doing of an act \endash  or the omission to do an act, subject to a proviso or exception.}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid745325 

\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215 
\par The wording of the charge it self does not help because it charges the keeping of a cow over the age }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid4742257 of 6 months without a brand mark}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215 
. But section 4 itself as read with section 16 provides \endash  }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid3153347 "}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215 No person 
may keep any stock unless the same be marked with the brand of the owner\'85..
\par 
\par Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any stock under the age of 6 months}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid3153347 "}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215 
\par 
\par Only on the basis that there was a general ban on keeping unbranded cattle, b
ut that there was an exception in the case of cattle under 6 months of age could it be argued that all the prosecution had to do was prove the accused kept an unbranded cow, and the onus shif}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid2446970 t}{
\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215 ed to the accused to prove that the cow was under 6 months. If the section has stated or could be}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid2446970 
 construed as stating that it was an offence to keep any unbranded cow over the age of 6 months then this argument would no longer apply.}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15940215 
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid2446970 
\par However even assuming that the onus did pass to the appellant, the onus is only on the balance of probabilities.
\par 
\par The magistrate said that the appellant admitted that he could not prove the age of the animal, but I don}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid3153347 '}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid2446970 
t think that was quite correct. He has not has the animal since birth and he said that it has been given to him, as a gif
t, he being a Hindu priest to whom calves were often given as gifts. But he said that when it was given to him it was no more than 3 months old, and he had even been told that it was 3 months old. He said that he did not know the age except from his own e
xperience.
\par 
\par He also said that he had been given the animal 4-4\'bd months before he was interviewed. He was interviewed in January about 2 months after the date of the alleged offence, so that by his reckoning on {\*\xmlopen\xmlns1{\factoidname date}
{\xmlattr\xmlattrns0{\xmlattrname Month}{\xmlattrvalue 11}}{\xmlattr\xmlattrns0{\xmlattrname Day}{\xmlattrvalue 16}}{\xmlattr\xmlattrns0{\xmlattrname Year}{\xmlattrvalue 1978}}}16/11/78{\*\xmlclose} the animal would still have been under 6 months of age.

\par 
\par The magistrate said that he did not consider the appellant}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid3153347 '}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid2446970 
s experience to be good enough to judge the age of the animal. But the appellant said that he has been in farming for some time, besides which he was often given cattle or calves
 as gifts, so I do not think that his opinion can be dismissed so lightly as the magistrate has done.
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid10033458 
\par On the other hand the evidence of P.C.885 (who was given no name) was that he considered the animal, one of three, to be over the age of 6 months- presumably the other two were unquestionably under 6 months, or were branded.
\par 
\par He professed some experience of cattle, but clearly he was in no better position than the appellant to judge the age of the animal.}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15815349  He was certainly no expert.}{
\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid10033458 
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15815349 
\par I consider that what t
he appellant said with regard to the age of the animal was entitled to rather more consideration than was given to it by the magistrate, and if he has given it more consideration it is not possible now to say whether he would have found on the balance of 
probabilities that the appellant had not discharges any onus that might have rested on him.
\par 
\par I accordingly allow the appeal, set aside the conviction, and sentence and the order for costs.
\par 
\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid15815349 {\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15815349\charrsid15815349 Sgd. (G.O.L. Dyke)
\par JUDGE
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid13269054 {\b\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15815349\charrsid15815349 
\par }{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid15815349 LAUTOKA,
\par 27 July, 1979}{\fs24\cf0\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid9382076\charrsid13269054 
\par }}