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\pnlcltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang {\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl9\pnlcrm\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang {\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}\pard\plain \ltrpar\qc \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF FIJI}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 AT SUVA
\par 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 CRIMINAL PETITION NO: CAV 0017 of 2018
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 [Court of Appeal No: AAU 0126/13]
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qc \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 BETWEEN:}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid1853803\charrsid1853803 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid470696\charrsid11150323 VIJAY KUMAR}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qc \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid11759233 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 Petitioner
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qc \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 AND:}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid1853803\charrsid1853803 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 THE STATE
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 Respondent
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 Coram}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 :}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\insrsid470696\charrsid1853803 Ekanayake}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 , J 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid354576 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 Keith, J
\par Chitrasiri, J
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 
\par Counsel}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 :}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid470696\charrsid1853803 Ms. M. Fesaitu for the }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576\charrsid1853803 Petitioner}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16321132\charrsid1853803 Dato\rquote }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid470696\charrsid1853803 
S. Alagendra}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803  for the Respondent
\par 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 Date of Hearing}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 :}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid470696\charrsid1853803 8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  October, 2018}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 Date of Judgment}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 :}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid470696\charrsid1853803 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  November, 2018}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid1853803 
\par 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qc \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs28 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs28\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 J U D G M E N T
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid9257603\charrsid11150323 Ekanayake}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\f0\fs24\insrsid1328281\charrsid11150323 , J
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9257603\charrsid11150323 [1]\tab I have read the draft judgments of Hon.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9257603\charrsid11150323 Keith, J and Hon.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid354576  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9257603\charrsid11150323 Chitrasiri, J. 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9257603\charrsid11150323 
I agree with the conclusions of both of them with regard to appeal against the conviction. In respect of the appeal against sentence I agree with the reasoning and conclusions of Chitrasiri, J that special leave should be granted, the sentence imposed by 
the Court of Appeal should be quashed and the sentence imposed by the Learned High Court Judge be restored.  I agree with the views expressed by Chitrasiri J, regarding sentencing guidelines also.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid1853803 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid8201790\charrsid11150323 Keith, J
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Introduction
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 [2]\tab The rape of children and juvenile
s by both close relatives and members of their extended family has become increasingly prevalent over the years.  Some people have described it as reaching epidemic proportions.  Moreover, the courts are said to be passing a wide range of sentences for of
f
ences of this kind.  The Director of Public Prosecutions wishes to bring a measure of uniformity to the sentencing process for this class of case.  Indeed, he wishes to provide the higher courts with the opportunity to consider whether the current sentenc
i
ng practice for offences of this kind still meets the needs of Fijian society.  He has chosen to make this appeal the vehicle for the higher courts to address the matter.  The mechanism he has decided to use is the one provided for by section 6(1) of the 
S
entencing and Penalties Act 2009, which enables the Supreme Court to consider whether to give a guideline judgment, or to review one which has already been given.  All cases, though, have to be considered in the light of their own particular facts, and th
is case is no exception.  We address those facts first as well as the time of filing of the petition and the petitioner\rquote 
s application for leave to appeal against his conviction, before turning to the wider question of the appropriate sentencing range in cases of this kind.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The filing of the petition
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 [3]\tab 
A petitioner has 42 days from the date of the decision of the Court of Appeal to file his petition for special leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.  The decision of the Court of Appeal in this case was dated
 1 June 2018.  Accordingly, the petition had to be filed by 12 July 2018.  It was not filed until 17 July 2018.  It was therefore 5 days out of time.  That was not brought to our attention before the hearing.  On the contrary: in his written submissions, 
counsel for the petitioner wrote in para 1.2 that \'93a timely petition\'94 had been filed.  That error was not referred to by counsel for the State in her written submissions.  
\par [4]\tab The petitioner himself was not to blame for the late filing of his petition.  Hi
s counsel, Mr Michael Fesaitu, candidly told us that he had known that the petition had to be filed by 12 July 2018, but that he had simply overlooked it.  Because (a) the delay was short, (b) the petitioner was blameless, and (c) no prejudice was caused 
to the State (indeed, counsel for the State, Dato\rquote  Shyamala Alagendra, told us that the State was not opposing an application to enlarge the time), I would extend the petitioner\rquote 
s time for filing the petition by the 5 days necessary to validate it.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The facts of the case
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid337003\charrsid11150323 [5]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
The petitioner is Vijay Kumar.  I trust that I shall be forgiven for referring to him as Kumar from now on for convenience.  He was 56 years old at the relevant time.  The girl who he is alleged to have raped was his granddaughter.  She w
as then only 8 years old.  On the evening in question \endash  7 April 2013 \endash 
 she was staying with her grandparents at their home in Nasoso.  Her account was that that she went to sleep that evening at about 8.00 pm on a mattress in the sitting room with her gran
dmother and uncle.  She woke up when she felt someone putting their finger in her vagina.  She discovered that she was sitting on her grandfather\rquote 
s lap, and that her knickers had been pulled down.  She started to cry, and he told her not to.  He stopped when she got up to go.  She did not say how long it had gone on for, or how far he had penetrated her, but she did say that it had been painful.

\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid337003\charrsid11150323 [6]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
The next morning she told her grandmother what had happened.  Her grandmother told her to tell her teachers a
bout it, and that it was what the girl did.  It was her school who called the police.  They interviewed her that day, and had her examined by a doctor the following morning.  His evidence was that her labia were swollen and her hymen had been torn.  There
 
was some inflammation, and her symptoms were consistent with her vagina having been penetrated by something recently.  Kumar gave evidence at his trial.  He said that nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all on the evening in question, and he denie
d ever penetrating his granddaughter with his finger.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid337003\charrsid11150323 [7]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 A man does not have to have penetrated a woman\rquote 
s vagina with his penis to be guilty of rape in Fiji.  It is sufficient if he penetrates her vagina with his finger: see section 207(2)(b) of the  Crime
s Act 2009.  Two of the three assessors expressed the opinion that Kumar was guilty, and that was the view of the trial judge, De Silva J, as well.  He must have believed that the girl\rquote 
s evidence was true and accurate as he expressed himself convinced that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.  Accordingly, he convicted Kumar of rape contrary to section 207 of the Crimes Act.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid337003\charrsid11150323 [8]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 When it came to sentence, the judge took 11 years\rquote 
 imprisonment as his starting point.  The features which he regarded as aggravating Kumar\rquote 
s offending were the age of the girl, the fact that she had become sexualised at such a young age, the traumatic effect that his offending would have on her life, the lack of any remorse on his part, and the breach of tr
ust inevitably involved in this kind of offending.  That took the appropriate sentence up to 13 years\rquote 
 imprisonment.  The features of the case which the judge regarded as mitigation were the fact that his family were dependent on him (which I have taken to
 mean as financially dependent on him), that he had a daughter aged 5 who was asthmatic, that he himself was diabetic, as well as his age since he was 57 by the time of the trial.  The judge thought that those factors justified a reduction in the sentence
 of one year.  That brought the appropriate sentence down to 12 years\rquote 
 imprisonment.  However, Kumar had been in custody on remand for over 7 months, and the judge reduced the ultimate sentence by that amount.  Accordingly, the sentence which the judge passed was one of 11 years\rquote  and 5 months\rquote 
 imprisonment.  He fixed the non-parole period at 10 years.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The appeal to the Court of Appeal
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid337003\charrsid11150323 [9]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Kumar applied for leave to appeal against his conviction on a number of grounds.  Leave to appeal was given on one ground
 alone.  That related to what the judge had said in his summing-up about the complaints which the girl had made on the following day.  The Court of Appeal (Chandra, Gamalath and Goundar JJA) dismissed the appeal.  In his judgment, Chandra JA, with whose j
udgment the other members of the Court agreed, said that although there were deficiencies in the judge\rquote 
s summing-up on this topic, there was no miscarriage of justice when the evidence as a whole, including the medical evidence, was considered.  In other wo
rds, the Court of Appeal was applying the proviso to section 23(1) of the Court of Appeal Act 1949 because it considered that no substantial miscarriage of justice had occurred.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid337003\charrsid11150323 [10]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Kumar had also applied for leave to appeal against his sentence.  A numbe
r of grounds were relied on.  He was given leave to appeal on just one of them.  That was that the judge had failed to take into account the fact that he had had no previous convictions and was therefore a first-time offender.  In fact, he did have previo
us convictions, but the Court of Appeal nevertheless reduced his sentence because of the lapse of time since the last one.  It reduced his head sentence to 11 years\rquote 
 imprisonment, and substituted a non-parole period of 9 years for the period of 10 years fixed by the trial judge.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8999431\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The petition for leave to appeal against conviction

\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [11]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The sole ground of appeal now relates to the use which the Court of Appeal made of the medical evidence.  The argument is a narrow one, and focuses on a single passage in the 
judgment of Chandra JA (para 21), in which he wrote:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1422\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1422\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
The complainant was 8 years old, therefore the issue of consent did not arise.  The medical evidence confirmed that there was penetration.  Therefore the guilt of the Appellant was adequately establishe
d through the evidence of the complainant and the medical evidence.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
The argument advanced by Mr Fesaitu was that the medical evidence in this case did not really support the prosecution\rquote s case.  It merely confirmed that there had been penetration of the girl\rquote 
s vagina, but not by whom or with what.  It followed that the only evidence on which the prosecution could rely was the girl\rquote s evidence, and it was therefore wrong for the Court of Ap
peal to say that the case against Kumar had been proved by the girl\rquote s evidence }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 the medical evidence.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [12]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 I cannot go along with this argument at all.  In the passage complained of, Chandra JA was doing no more than going through the ingredients of the
 offence of rape.  He was saying that because consent could not be an issue in the case in the light of the girl\rquote s age, the only issue was whether Kumar had indeed penetrated her vagina with his finger.  The }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 medical}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  evidence was evidence of penetration \endash  and recent penetration at that.  The }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 girl\rquote s}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 evidence was that (a) it was Kumar who had penetrated her, and (b) that he had done so with his finger.  It was in that sense that Chandra JA meant that the case against Kumar had been proved by the girl\rquote s evidence }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  the medical evidence.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [13]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal concluded that despite the deficiencies in the summing-up about the complaints which the girl had made shortly afterwards, there had been no substantial miscarriage of justice.  
That is more problematic.  For that reason, it is a topic which needs to be addressed even though it is not advanced as a ground of appeal.  The relevant complaint was the one the girl made to her grandmother, not what she was subsequently to tell her tea
chers as they were not called to give evidence.  As is well known, the fact that the victim of sexual abuse complains about it to someone shortly afterwards \endash  \'93recent complaint\'94 to use lawyers\rquote  shorthand for it \endash 
 does not amount to corroboration of the victim\rquote 
s account.  That is because it does not come from an independent source, and treating it as corroboration would offend the prohibition on relying on previous consistent statements.  It is admissible only to the extent that it shows consistency on the pa
rt of the complainant.  It supports the credibility of the complainant\rquote 
s account because her evidence about what happened to her is consistent with what she was saying at the time or shortly afterwards.  In such circumstances, the assessors (or the jury in trial by jury) should be given a direction to that effect.}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs23\f0\fs24\super\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \chftn {\footnote \ltrpar \pard\plain \ltrpar\s21\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8065330 \rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs20\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs20\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs23\super\insrsid3360041 \chftn }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3360041 
 See, for example, the summary of the position at common law by Prematilaka JA in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\ul\insrsid3360041\charrsid534690 The State v Likunitoga}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3360041 
 [2018] FJCA 18 at para 56.  In some jurisdictions, the common law has been changed by statute: see, for example, section 120 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 in England and Wales.  But the common law still reflects the law in Fiji.}}}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [14]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
The judge addressed the question of corroboration in paras 53 and 54 of his summing-up.  He told the assessors that the girl\rquote s evidence did not have to be corroborated.  They could express the opinion that Kumar was guilty on the basis of the girl
\rquote s evidence alone.  However, he added that it was open to the assessors to look for corroboration of her evidence, by
 which he meant independent evidence supporting her account of what had happened to her.  The medical evidence was such evidence.  If the jury accepted that evidence, it would be open to the assessors to conclude that it supported her account that she had
 been penetrated recently by something. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [15]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
So far, so good.  It is what the judge had said earlier in his summing-up which gives cause for concern.  After summarising the evidence of the girl\rquote s grandmother, including her evidence of what the girl had tol
d her the following morning about what had grandfather had done to her, the judge had said this about the grandmother\rquote s evidence at para 37 of his summing-up:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1422\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1422\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
You saw her giving evidence in Court.  She had given prompt answers to questions put to her by t
he defence counsel.  It is up to you to decide whether you could accept her evidence beyond reasonable doubt.  If you accept her evidence it corroborates the evidence of the [girl] regarding recent complaint.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [16]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 It is a little unclear what the judge meant by that.  He could have been saying that the grandmother\rquote s evidence supported that part of the girl\rquote 
s evidence in which she had said that she had complained to her grandmother about what Kumar had done to her.  If that was what the judge meant, it would have been an impeccable direction.  On the other hand, he could have been saying that the grandmother
\rquote s evidence supported the girl\rquote s account of what Kumar had done to her.  If that was what the judge meant, it wou
ld have been a serious misdirection: it would have been directing the assessors that a particular part of the evidence amounted to corroboration of the girl\rquote s account when in truth it did not.  It all turns on whether, when the judge referred to 
\'93recent complaint\'94, he was talking about the fact of the complaint or the substance of the complaint.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [17]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
In my opinion, the judge is likely to have had the former in mind.  I say that for two reasons.  First, if he was saying that the girl\rquote s complaint to her grand
mother corroborated her account of what had happened to her, there would have been no need to add the words \'93regarding recent complaint\'94
.  It would have been sufficient for him to say that what she told her grandmother corroborated her evidence.  He must have added the words \'93regarding recent complaint\'94
 in order to explain that it was the making of the complaint which was being corroborated, not its substance.  Secondly, when the judge told the assessors what could amount to corroboration, he spoke only of 
the medical evidence.  He did not refer in that context to the complaint the girl had made to her grandmother.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [18]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
The judge did not give the assessors the specific direction referred to in [12] above, and that was why Chandra JA correctly described the summing-up as \'93inadequate in some respects\'94.  But given the girl\rquote 
s evidence, the consistency in her account and the medical evidence, I think it very unlikely that the assessors who were in the majority or the judge himself would have come to a different conclusion about Kumar\rquote 
s guilt if that specific direction had been given.  In the circumstances, I think that it was open to the Court of Appeal to apply the proviso to section 23(1) of the Court of Appeal Act on the basis that no substantial miscarriage of 
justice had occurred.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [19]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
There is one comment I should make before turning to the petition for leave to appeal against sentence.  After a majority of the assessors had expressed the opinion that Kumar was guilty, the judge said in para 5 of his judgment:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
I find the verdict of the majority of the assessors were not perverse.  It was open to them to reach such a conclusion on the evidence.  I concur with majority verdict.  Considering all I find the accused guilty as charged in respect of the count of Rape.
\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Similar language was used by the trial judge in a case which came before the Supreme Court in April.  That was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Tawatatau v The State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [2018] FJSC 2.  I said at para 52:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri720\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin720\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
In that passage, the judge appeared to be saying that since it had been open to the 
assessors to find the petitioner guilty, he would accept their verdict.  If that was what he meant, it could be argued that he was saying that he could only come to a different conclusion from the assessors if their opinions were perverse.  That would, of
 course, have been an erroneous approach for him to have taken, because the determination of the guilt of a defendant is for the judge.  He is not, to use the language of section 237(2) of the Criminal Procedure Decree, \lquote 
bound to conform to the opinions of the assessors.\'94
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [20]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Having considered the matter, I have concluded that the judge could not have meant what he might have appeared to be saying.  Before this passage in his judgment, the judge had said that he was convinced that the prosecution had prove
d the case beyond reasonable doubt.  That observation would have been inconsistent with him thinking that he was obliged to follow the opinions of the assessors unless their opinions were perverse.  It might be said that the judge was a little unwise to u
se language which laid him open to possible criticism, but that is all.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid14309546 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The petition for leave to appeal against sentence

\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [21]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 As is well known, section 4(2)(i) of the Sentencing and Penalties Act requires the court to have regard to the offender\rquote 
s previous character when sentencing an offender.  The sole ground of appeal relates to the Court of Appeal\rquote s treatment of what was said to be Kumar\rquote 
s limited offending history.  The reduction in his sentence by 5 months is said to be insufficient.  No examples were cited to us of what the discount should be, whether in cases in general or in cases of this type in particular.    
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [22]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
At one stage, it looked as if the Court of Appeal had been misled by the defence into thinking that Kumar had no previous co
nvictions.  As I shall demonstrate, that is not the case, but to do so it is necessary to set out the relevant sequence of events.  I start with what the trial judge was told.  What he was told appears in the parties\rquote 
 written submissions on sentence.  The 
defence had told him in para 4.4 of its written submissions that Kumar had 3 previous convictions for minor offences, the latest of which had been in 2004.  The prosecution had told him on the penultimate page of its written submissions that Kumar had 7 p
revious convictions.  A record of Kumar\rquote s convictions was not before the trial judge, and we do not know whether he ever sought to find out what the correct position was.  He did not refer to Kumar\rquote s offending history \endash 
 whatever it was \endash  when he passed sentence.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 3]\tab }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 When the single judge came to consider Kumar\rquote s notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal, he referred in para 16 of his ruling to Kumar being \'93a first time offender\'94
.  This was, of course, different from what the trial judge had been told by both 
the prosecution and the defence.  I cannot tell what made the single judge think that Kumar was a first time offender, but there is no question of him having been misled by the defence: the notice of appeal did not say that Kumar had no previous convictio
ns.  But it was on the basis that he thought that Kumar was a first time offender that the single judge gave Kumar leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal against his sentence.  It is true that Kumar\rquote 
s then counsel (who had not represented Kumar at his trial), in her written submissions to the Court of Appeal }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 after}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  leave to appeal had been given, referred to Kumar\rquote s \'93previous good character\'94.  That was the genesis of the belief that the Court of Appeal had been misled }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 by the defence}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  into thinking that Kumar was a first time offender.  But Kumar\rquote 
s counsel was only proceeding on the understandable assumption that what the single judge had said was correct.    
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 4]\tab }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Fortunately, the Court of Appeal was not misled by the error on the part of the single judge.  It 
noted in para 26 of its judgment that the defence was saying that Kumar had 3 previous convictions for minor offences, and that his last offence had been in 2004.  It also noted that the prosecution was saying that he had 7 previous convictions.  Again, t
hough, a list of Kumar\rquote s previous convictions was not provided to the Court of Appeal, and it did not seek to clarify the position.  It presumably thought that it did not need to.  Whether the prosecution or the defence was right about the }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 number}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  of Kumar\rquote s previous convictions, the Court of Appeal thought that the fact that }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Kumar\rquote s last conviction had been in 2004 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
justified a reduction in his sentence.  It said at para 28:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
The learned trial Judge has not considered the submissions made regarding sentencing referring to the fact that though the Appellant had previous convictions, that }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
the last offending had been 9 years prior to the commission of the present offence}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  The appellant deserved some credit for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 same}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  and the failure to take this factor into account as a mitigating factor was an error in the sentencing discretion.\'94
  (Emphasis supplied)
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
So what the Court of Appeal was giving Kumar credit for did not relate to the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 number}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 of his previous convictions, but to the fact that }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 the last one had been some time previously}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
.  It did not regard the number of his previous convictions \endash whether 3 or 7 \endash 
 or their nature as material.  Otherwise it would have called for a list of them.  For the Court of Appeal, what was significant was the lapse of time since the last one.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [25]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 In order for us to evaluate whether there should be a further reduction in the sentence in the light of his limited offending history, we asked to be provided with a list of Kumar\rquote 
s previous convictions.  It was provided to us following the hearing
.  It revealed that he had a total of 7 convictions between 1985 and 2004.  He had never served a term of imprisonment though for an offence of larceny in 1987 he had received a suspended sentence.  The rest of his convictions were for minor offences of v
iolence or threatening violence and public order, but I note that his first conviction was for indecently annoying a female.  The important thing for present purposes, though, is that what the Court of Appeal regarded as critical \endash 
 namely when his last conviction had been \endash  was entirely correct.   So not only was the Court of Appeal not misled by the defence.  It was not misled at all about the feature of the case which in its view justified a reduction in Kumar\rquote 
s sentence.  It is for that reason that I find myself in respectful, but fundamental, disagreement with Chitrasiri J whose judgment I have read in draft.    
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [26]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
In my opinion, there is no basis for saying that, in the light of his record, there should be a further reduction in his sentence, and I wo
uld therefore have refused him special leave to appeal against his sentence.  Having said that, because it looked to us at the time of the hearing that the Court of Appeal may have been misled by Kumar or his legal team, we told counsel that.  After takin
g Kumar\rquote 
s instructions, he told us that Kumar no longer wished to pursue that part of his petition which sought leave to appeal against sentence.  Having now satisfied myself that there was no question of the Court of Appeal having been misled, I do not thi
nk that Kumar should have been told something which may have caused him to think that he was at risk of such a finding, which might well have resulted in the Court thinking that the sentence passed at trial should be restored.  Since there was, for the re
asons I have given, no question of him or his legal team having misled the Court of Appeal on the issue which the Court of Appeal regarded as decisive \endash  the date of his last conviction \endash 
 there can, in my opinion, be no question of Kumar being at risk of the
 original sentence being restored.  Not that that matters.  Since I would have refused him special leave to appeal against his sentence, it does not matter whether the application for leave to appeal is refused on its merits or on its withdrawal.}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs23\f0\fs24\super\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \chftn {\footnote \ltrpar \pard\plain \ltrpar\s21\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8065330 \rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs20\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs20\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs23\super\insrsid3360041 \chftn }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3360041  The Supreme Court\rquote 
s power to increase an offender\rquote s sentence is derived from section 14 of the Supreme Court Act 1998 and section 23(3) of the Court of Appeal Act 1949.}}}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323   
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [27]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 I appreciate, of course, that because Ekanayake and Chitrasiri JJ have concluded that 
the sentence passed on Kumar by the High Court should be restored, they have had to address the questions (a) whether the Supreme Court has the power to prevent him from withdrawing that part of his petition which sought special leave to appeal against hi
s sentence, and (b) if so, whether using his petition which sought a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 reduction}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 in his sentence is a permissible mechanism for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 increasing}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 it.  It has, of course, not been necessary for me to consider those issues.       
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Increasing sentences for the rape of children and juveniles}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [28]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The impact of an increase in Kumar\rquote s case}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  The Director of Public Prosecutions gave notice of the State\rquote 
s intention to seek a guideline judgment for sentences for the rape of children and ju
veniles in its written submissions dated 24 September 2018, supplemented by further written submissions dated 9 October 2018.  No written submissions in response were filed on behalf of Kumar.  That was not altogether surprising.  If the Court decided tha
t the current sentencing practice for the rape of children and juveniles should be reviewed, any new sentencing practice would not apply to Kumar.  It would only apply to offenders whose offences took place after the promulgation of our judgment.  Dato
\rquote  Alagendra conceded that when the Court put that proposition to her.  There was, therefore, no need for Kumar\rquote s legal team to respond to the State\rquote s submissions at all.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6689205\charrsid11150323 [29]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The position of the Legal Aid Commission}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  Having said that, Kumar is represented by c
ounsel who works in the Legal Aid Commission.  We thought that the Legal Aid Commission might wish to make representations on the current sentencing practice for the rape of children and juveniles.  Indeed, we would have been more comfortable if we had ha
d
 the benefit of submissions from the Legal Aid Commission on an issue as important as this.  We therefore gave the Commission the opportunity to make such submissions as it chose.  As it was, we were informed that the Commission took a neutral stance on t
he issue and had decided not to make any submissions on the topic.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12872420\charrsid11150323 [30]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The current sentencing practice}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  The maximum penalty for rape is imprisonment for life.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs23\f0\fs24\super\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \chftn {\footnote \ltrpar \pard\plain \ltrpar
\s21\ql \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8065330 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs20\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs20\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\cs23\super\insrsid3360041 \chftn }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3360041  See section 207(1) of the Crimes Act 2009.}}}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323   For many years, the courts in Fiji foll
owed the guideline laid down by the Court of Appeal in England in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Billam v R}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 (1986) 8 Cr App R (S) 48 that the starting point for a single offence of rape without any aggravating or mitigating features should be 5 years\rquote  imprisonment.  That starting point 
would be increased or reduced depending on the facts of the particular case.  That starting point was increased to 7 years\rquote  imprisonment by the Court of Appeal in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Kasim v The State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [1994] FJCA 25.  The Court said:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri720\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin720\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93It must be recognized by the Courts that 
the crime of rape has become altogether too frequent and that the sentences imposed by the Courts for that crime must more nearly reflect understandable public outrage.  We must stress, however, that the particular circumstances of a case will mean that t
here are cases where the proper sentence may be substantially higher or substantially lower than that starting point.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12872420\charrsid11150323 [31]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The rape of children and juveniles, by which I mean those under the age of 18, comes into a different category.  That was recognised by the Court of Appeal in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini v The State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [2006] FJCA 26.  At paras 16-18, the Court said:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri720\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin720\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
[16]  There are few more serious aggravating circumstances than where the rape is committed on a juvenile girl by a family member or someone who is in a positio
n of special trust.  The seriousness of the offence is exaggerated by the fact that family loyalties and emotions all too often enable the offender or other family members to prevent a complaint going outside the family.  If the child then remains in the 
family home, the rapist often has the opportunity to repeat the offence and to hope for the same protection from the rest of the family.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12872420\charrsid11150323 \'94}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
\par [17]  Cases of rape by fathers or step fathers appear before the courts in Fiji far too frequently and, in such cases, 
the starting point should be increased to ten years.  Where there are further aggravating circumstances beyond those basic circumstances, such as repeated sexual molestation of any nature, threats of violence or actual violence or evidence that the offend
er has attempted to persuade other family members to help cover up the offences or discourage complaint to the police, there should be substantial increases above that starting point.
\par [18]  In any such case, there are few possible mitigating circumstances b
eyond a plea of guilty and the sentencing court should be careful to evaluate any matters put forward as suggested mitigation against the family situation.  Thus, for example, whilst subsequent concern for, or assistance of, the victim following rape on a
 
stranger may be accepted as some mitigation of the offence, a similar situation in a family rape would do little to mitigate the initial breach of trust.  In the present case, the appellant made no attempt to avoid his daughter becoming pregnant and we re
gard that as a substantial aggravation of the breach of trust.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
It is important to note that this case really addressed only one category of rape of a child or juvenile, namely where the offender was a family member or otherwise in a position of \'93special trust\'94.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16321132\charrsid11150323 [32]}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323     }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid2509094\charrsid11150323 \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
It is apparent that the starting point of 10 years\rquote  imprisonment laid down in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 is no longer applicable.  There is no longer a starting point which applies to all cases.  Instead, an appropriate range of sentence (sometimes called the tariff) has been identified.  That range is 10-16 years\rquote 
 imprisonment, and was articulated by the Court of Appeal in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj v The State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 [2014] FJCA 18 and endorsed when }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 got to the Supreme Court: [2014] FJSC 12 at para 58.  The Court of Appeal had said at para 18:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\tx3420\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
Rapes of juveniles (under the age of 18 years) must attract a sentence of at least 10 years and the accepted range of sentences is between 10 and 16 years.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
No authorities were cited in support of that proposition, and it looks as if the Court of Appeal was simply spelling out the range within which sentences for the rape of children and juveniles were usually passed.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [33]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Dato\rquote  Alagendra drew our attention to a series of cases between }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 in which Thurairaja J said that the tariff for sentencing in the case of the rape of a child or juvenile was 10-16 years\rquote  imprisonment: see }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The State v NK}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [2010] FJHC 510 at para 22, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The State v SE}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [2011] FJHC 737 at para 14, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The State v Nado}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 [2012] FJHC 953 at para 8 and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The State v Rokabola}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 [2012] FJHC 1198 at para 4.  That showed, she said, that the tariff of 10-16 years\rquote 
 imprisonment had been in place since at least 2010.  That is true, but I am sceptical whether any reliance should be placed on those cases.  First, the correct approach had been laid down by the Court of Appeal in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
, and it was not for the High Court to review that approach.  Secondly, the cases cited by Thurairaja J did not support his proposition.  Most of them were concerned with rape in general, not the rape of ch
ildren or juveniles.  And those which were concerned with the rape of children or juveniles were all first instance decisions, and were no more than examples of what the trial judge thought was the appropriate sentence in that particular case.  These case
s can, in my opinion, be respectfully put to one side.       
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [34]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 That is not to say that the current tariff is not 10-16 years\rquote  imprisonment.  }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 has been universally accepted up to now as the last word on the topic.  The tariff of 10-16 years\rquote  imprisonm
ent for the rape of a child or juvenile has been consistently applied by all levels of the courts in Fiji.  It may have rested on a shaky foundation in the sense that the Court of Appeal in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  was merely declaring what sentencing practice had by then beco
me rather than laying down a new tariff.  But the Supreme Court nevertheless thought that 10-16 years\rquote  imprisonment was the appropriate tariff, and that remains the position today.  
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [35]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The shift from the approach in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  (adopting a starting point wh
ich can be increased or reduced to reflect the aggravating and mitigating factors) to the approach in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  (identifying a range within which the sentence should normally fall) is significant.  We do not know whether the change in mechanism was deliberate, a
nd I shall return to that later.  But it is important to remember that a tariff is no more than a guideline, and it has frequently been said that guidelines are different from tramlines.  By that is meant that although the ultimate sentence would usually 
fall within the tariff, there may be exceptional aggravating or mitigating factors which justify a sentence outside the appropriate range.  So although judges are expected to pass a sentence within the range of 10-16 years\rquote 
 imprisonment for the rape of a child or juvenile, it is, of course, open to them in an exceptional case to go outside that range if that is necessary.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [36]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
The scourge of child sexual abuse}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  Having identified the current sentencing practice, I turn to what has driven this application fo
r a guideline judgment.  It goes without saying that the rape of children and juveniles is a truly shocking crime.  Victims of offences of this kind will be utterly confused by what has happened, and their sense of humiliation will be profound.  They will
 
realise that they have been used unashamedly and treated without any regard for their own feelings.  Their sense of self-worth will often have been irreparably damaged.  The trauma which they will inevitably experience could well be life-long.  All aspect
s
 of their development are likely to be affected: some experience learning difficulties, other perform less well at school than might otherwise have been the case, and invariably they suffer from low self-esteem.  It is for these reasons that the courts ha
ve consistently said that those convicted of the rape of children and juveniles must expect heavy sentences which truly reflect the gravity of the crime. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [37]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Moreover, these offences take place invariably, albeit not exclusively, within the family or by someone who the child or juvenile is likely to trust.  The Court in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini}
{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 identified in the passage already cited how that often plays out.  A misplaced sense of loyalty to the abuser may result in pressure being brought to bear on the victim not to take 
the matter further.  When that happens, the victim will invariably have to put up with their abuser still being around.  Not only will that result in the victim living in fear of a repetition of the abuse, but the abuser has the opportunity to take advant
age of his victim again.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs23\f0\fs24\super\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \chftn {\footnote \ltrpar \pard\plain \ltrpar
\s21\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid8065330 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs20\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs20\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\cs23\super\insrsid3360041 \chftn }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3360041 
  All this, and much more, has been addressed by the Research Team of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in the UK.  The Team has been investigating the impact of child sexual abuse on the lives of victims and their fa
milies, as well as its impact on society as a whole.  The Team\rquote s preliminary findings have been set out in a report which it characterised as \'93a rapid evidence assessment\'94
 prepared in July 2017.  The report shows that the appalling impact which such abuse can have cannot be underestimated.  
\par }}}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323   
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [38]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The impetus for change}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  Child sexual abuse is said to be on the increase in Fiji.  The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions began releasing statistics on crimes of a sexual nature in May 2015.  Those 
statistics show that 138 indictments were filed in the High Court between May and December 2015 for offences of a sexual nature.  The victims in 87 of those cases were children and juveniles.  Those numbers had increased to 228 indictments in 2016, in whi
c
h 150 were children and juveniles, and to 444 indictments in 2017, in which 130 were children and juveniles.  The statistics for January to September 2018 show a similar trend.  185 indictments were filed in the High Court during those 9 months for offenc
es of a sexual nature.  The victims in 111 of those cases were children and juveniles, of whom 65 were under the age of 13.  It is important to note that these statistics are not limited to the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 rape}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  of children and juveniles.  They also include other offenc
es of a sexual nature against children and juveniles - attempted rape, abduction with intent to rape, abduction with intent to have carnal knowledge, indecent assault, defilement and sexual assault.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [39]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Without statistics for years prior to 2015, it is no
t possible to tell whether offences of child sexual abuse are on the increase.  Indeed, there is a school of thought that child sexual abuse in Fiji is currently no worse than it always has been, and that such anecdotal evidence as there may be of an incr
e
ase in recent years is attributable to a greater willingness for victims to come forward, and to a better understanding on the part of the police of offences of this kind which has resulted in them appearing to complainants to be more sympathetic to them 
t
han might previously have been the case.  But what is unquestionably the case is that child sexual abuse is very prevalent in Fiji.  Such statistics as we have tell their own story.  Indeed, the statistics only include those cases where the police have be
come involved }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 where the prosecuting authorities have decided that the evidence is sufficiently strong to justify the filing of indictments.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [40]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 It is the prevalence of cases of child sexual abuse in Fiji despite the heavy senten
ces which the courts have been passing in recent years which has driven the State\rquote s application for a review of current sentencing practice.  Longer sentences are needed, so it is said, to be more effective as a deterrent, to mark society\rquote 
s abhorrence of crimes of this nature, and to make the punishment fit the crime.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [41]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The suggested tariff}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  In }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Ram v The State}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [2015] FJSC 26, Gates CJ said at para 26:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93
This is not the occasion for a guideline judgment.  In an appropriate case this court, upon invitation
 pursuant to section 6(1) of the Sentencing and Penalties Decree, will look more deeply into the issue.  It is not a task to be undertaken lightly.  Whilst bearing in mind statutory variations between England and Fiji, courts will nevertheless derive usef
ul assistance and persuasive directions from the UK Sentencing Guidelines in the approach to sentencing philosophy and the calculation of sentence.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Taking its cue from that observation, the State relies on the definitive guideline issued by the Sentencing 
Council for England and Wales on sexual offences which came into effect in April 2014.  Based on that guideline, the State contends that the tariff for the rape of a child or juvenile should be increased to 11-19 years\rquote  imprisonment.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [42]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The guideline nee
ds to be looked at with some care.  Two preliminary points should be made. First, the section in the guideline relating to the rape of children and juveniles gives different tariffs for different degrees of harm suffered by the victim and different levels
 
of culpability on the part of the offender.  That is because it was recognised that the courts might be faced with a wide range of offending behaviour.  So there are three separate categories of harm (categories 1, 2 and 3) and two levels of culpability (
levels A and B).  It has not hitherto been the practice in Fiji to formalise the categories of harm and levels of culpability in that way.  Secondly, the guideline identifies both a starting point }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  a sentencing range for cases falling within each categor
y of harm and each level of culpability.  As we have seen, that has not been the practice in Fiji.  The courts have either identified the starting point (as in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 ) or the sentencing range (as in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 ), but not both.  
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [43]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 All of this dictates the step
s which the courts in England and Wales must take in order to arrive at the ultimate sentence.  The court first identifies the starting point by reference to the degree of harm suffered by the victim and the level of culpability on the part of the offende
r
.  That applies to all offenders irrespective of their pleas or previous convictions.  The court then proceeds to decide where within the appropriate sentencing range the sentence should come.  That is where the various aggravating and mitigating factors 
a
re taken into account, and the guideline provides a lengthy list, albeit not an exhaustive one, of what those aggravating and mitigating factors might be.  In an exceptional case, a judge may decide to go outside the sentencing range, but they have to be 
satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to follow the guideline.  Subject to that, having decided where within the sentencing range the sentence should come, the court }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 then}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  discounts that sentence for any plea of guilty, and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 then}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  red
uces the sentence further to reflect any period during which the offender has been on remand in custody awaiting trial or sentence.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [44]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The guideline also referred to what it called \'93a campaign of rape\'94
.  That phrase has been held by the courts in England
 and Wales to include cases where the offender has repeatedly raped the same victim (normally many times over a lengthy period rather than on just a few occasions) as well as cases where there have been multiple victims.  The guideline says that in such c
ases \'93sentences of 20 years and above may be appropriate\'94.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4009221\charrsid11150323 [45]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The tariff of 11-19 years\rquote 
 imprisonment suggested by the State is derived from the most serious category of harm in the guideline (category 1) and both levels of culpability (levels A and B).  
The starting point for a category 1 case with the higher level of culpability (level A) is 16 years\rquote  custody with a sentencing range of 13-19 years\rquote 
 custody.  The starting point for a category 1 case with the lower level of culpability (level B) is 13 years\rquote  custody with a sentencing range of 11-17 years\rquote  custody.  The State\rquote 
s proposal is that the new tariff should reflect both these sentencing ranges.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10750325\charrsid11150323 [46]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
This proposal ignores two things.  First, the section in the guideline on which the State relies appl
ies only to the rape of children under the age of 13.  So if the tariff proposed by the State was to be adopted in Fiji, it would have to be modified to reflect the fact we are concerned with children and juveniles under the age of 18, or a separate tarif
f would have to be identified for children and juveniles between the ages of 13 and 18.  Secondly, and more importantly, the State\rquote 
s proposal takes insufficient account of the different degrees of harm suffered by victims.  It adopts the sentencing range in
 the guideline only for the most serious degree of harm (category 1).  It does not reflect the sentencing ranges for less serious degrees of harm (categories 2 and 3).  Thus, the starting point for a category 2 case with the higher level of culpability (l
evel A) is 13 years\rquote  custody with a sentencing range of 11-17 years\rquote  custody.  The starting point for a category 2 case with a lower level of culpability (level B) is 10 years\rquote  custody with a sentencing range of 8-13 years\rquote 
 custody.  That is also the starting point and the sentencing range for a category 3 case with the higher level of culpability (level A), but the starting point for a category 3 case with the lower level of culpability (level B) is 8 years\rquote 
 custody with a sentencing range of 6-11 years\rquote  custody.  
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10750325\charrsid11150323 [47]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
It is, of course, necessary to compare like with like.  That means comparing the current sentencing range in Fiji of 10-16 years\rquote  imprisonment for the rape of children and juveniles under the age of 18 with the sentencing ranges in the Englis
h guideline of 6-19 years\rquote 
 custody for the rape of children under the age of 13.  On that footing, the range is not that much different.  The upper end of the range in Fiji is 3 years less than the upper end of the range in England, but the lower end of th
e range in Fiji is 4 years more than the lower end of the range in England.  We just have a narrower range in Fiji than in England.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10750325\charrsid11150323 [48]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Indeed, it looks to me as if the English guideline (if adopted in its entirety in Fiji) would not make much of a differ
ence to the sentences passed in Fiji.  I say that for two reasons.  First, under the English guideline judges determine where the sentence should be in the appropriate sentencing range before discounting that sentence to reflect any plea of guilty.  The r
esult is that the ultimate sentence (even before discounting it further to reflect the offender\rquote 
s time in custody on remand) could well be below the lower end of the appropriate sentencing range.  That is not the current sentencing practice in Fiji.  Any di
scount for a plea of guilty will not normally bring the sentence down to below the lower end of the sentencing range of 10-16 years\rquote  imprisonment.  
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [49]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10750325\charrsid11150323 S}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
econdly, Dato\rquote  Alagendra drew our attention to a number of cases in the High Court over the last couple of years to illustrate what she described as the \'93mounting\'94 number of cases in Fiji 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'93 \'85
 where women and young children are being subjected to (i) repeated and sustained rapes and abuse over a protracted period of time (ii) in some cases the abuses are 
extremely cruel and (iii) in some cases there are multiple victims who are raped and abused by the same accused.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Some of those cases involved the rape of women aged 18 or over, but when you ask what the sentences would have been in the other cases if the 
English guideline had been adopted in its entirety in Fiji, it looks, for the most part, as if they would have been much the same as the ones which were in fact passed.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [50]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 There is one other difference between England and Fiji which should not be overloo
ked, and that relates to when prisoners are released.  In England they are released once they have served half their sentence, though they will be on licence for some considerable time thereafter and are liable to be recalled to prison if they break the c
onditions of their licence.  In Fiji, judges invariably fix a non-parole period, and when that is coupled with the Commissioner of Prisons\rquote 
 current practice relating to the remission of sentence for prisoners who have been made the subject of a non-parole p
eriod, they will not be released until relatively close to the completion of the head sentence.  The practical effect of that is that even if the sentences passed in England are a little longer than those passed in Fiji (which I do not believe to be the c
ase), offenders will actually spend much longer in prison in Fiji than their counterparts in England.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 1]\tab }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Finally, it is essential to put into the scales the point already made in this judgment, namely that judges are not bound in every case to select a te
rm within the sentencing range of 10-16 years\rquote 
 imprisonment.  There may be exceptionally aggravating and mitigating factors which will justify a departure from the sentencing range, and judges should not feel inhibited about going outside the sentencing ra
nge in a case which calls for condign punishment.  Indeed, when it comes to conduct which can truly be described as a campaign of rape, sentences of 20 years\rquote 
 imprisonment or more may be appropriate.  For all these reasons, I have not been persuaded that the sentencing range }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 in the English guideline}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  of 11-19 years\rquote  custody for a category 1 case of the rape of a child under the age of 13 should be applied to Fiji for the rape of children and juveniles under the age of 18.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 2]\tab }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 That is not to say that the Eng
lish guideline has no value in Fiji.  It contains extremely helpful lists of the factors which should be taken into account when determining the degree of harm to the victim and the level of culpability of the offender, as well as the many factors which c
an aggravate as well as mitigate the offender\rquote s offending.  They provide a very useful checklist for judges to use when they decide where within the appropriate sentencing range the sentence should be.  
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [53]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 A new tariff nevertheless}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 ?  The fact that I have concluded that the English guideline \endash  or a variation of it \endash 
 should not be adopted in Fiji does not mean that a new tariff is not called for.  We have no statistics showing the prevalence of the rape of children and juveniles in other countries, and we t
herefore have no empirical basis for saying that things are worse in Fiji than elsewhere.  But there is nevertheless a strong sense in the community, based on anecdotal evidence only, that the situation is particularly bad in Fiji \endash 
 perhaps because so many
 family members live together and in particularly close proximity to each other, perhaps because of more complex social reasons which we are not equipped to identify.  There is also a strong sense of public outrage that something needs to be done before t
h
e problem can truly be described as an epidemic.  These are important considerations which should not be ignored.  It may be that adding a year or two to the tariff will be ineffective as a deterrent: men who are disposed to commit these crimes are unlike
l
y to be put off by the knowledge that if they are caught, tried and convicted, their sentence will be a little longer.  But the need to pass sentences which reflect the gravity of the crime, as well as the imperative of its emphatic denunciation, may call
 for a modest increase in the tariff.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [54]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 In my opinion, the current tariff of 10-16 years\rquote  imprisonment for }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 all}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 offences of the rape of children and juveniles is too blunt an instrument.  We should distinguish between the rape of children and juveniles un
der the age of 18 and the rape of children under the age of 13.  I would increase the tariff for the rape of children under the age of 13 to 11-17 years\rquote  imprisonment.  That would reflect the community\rquote 
s abhorrence of the sexual abuse of really young child
ren.  I would leave the tariff for the rape of children and juveniles under the age of 18 undisturbed, in the confident expectation that judges will depart from the tariff, as they do now, in those truly exceptional cases where greater punishment is calle
d for, especially those cases where the offending amounts to a campaign of rape.  That is, as I originally understood it, the effect of the last paragraph of Chitrasiri J\rquote s judgment.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [55]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 The appropriate starting point}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 .  I return to the topic I flagged up earlier in this judgment.  We have moved away from the mechanism in}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Drotini}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
of adopting a starting point which should be increased or reduced to reflect the factors which aggravate and mitigate the offence to the approach in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Raj}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  of identifying the range wit
hin which the sentence should fall.  That begs the question of where within the appropriate sentencing range the judge should start.  This problem was highlighted in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Seninolokula v The State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [2018] FJSC 5.  At paras 19 and 20, I said:
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1422\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1422\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 \'9319.  There is here a
 difference in judicial opinion.  In }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Koroivuki v The State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
 [2013] FJCA 15, Goundar JA said at [26]: \lquote As a matter of good practice, the starting point should be picked from the lower or middle range of the tariff.\rquote   On the other hand, a number of trial judg
es choose the lower end of the range as a matter of routine.  For example, in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Jemesa Gaunavinaka v The State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  [2017] FJHC 425, Perera J said at [24] that \lquote the starting point of a particular offence should be construed as the minimum period of imprisonment a particular offence should attract\rquote .
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li1440\ri1422\sa160\widctlpar\tx7938\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1422\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
20.  This difference of approach has to be resolved at some stage, but this is not the time to do so.  The issue was understandably not raised by the defence: they were content with the fact
 that the judge had taken as his starting point, not just a term at the lower end of the range, but well below even that.  Nor was it raised by the prosecution, no doubt because they were content to address the only ground of appeal relied on by the defen
c
e.  The issue is one which requires careful and mature consideration, with the benefit of help from counsel, and neither of them were in a position to address the issue when it was tentatively raised by the court.  I simply highlight it now to show that i
t needs to be engaged at some stage.\'94
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 6]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 We raised this issue with Dato\rquote 
 Alagendra.  It was not a topic which she had considered.  I make absolutely no criticism of her for that.  Her focus was on the appropriate sentencing range, not what the starting po
int within that range should be.  In the circumstances, this is not the occasion to engage with the issue.  I am not troubled by that.  Whatever methodology judges choose to use, the ultimate sentence should be the same.  If judges take as their starting 
point somewhere within the range, they will have factored into the exercise at least some of the aggravating features of the case.  The ultimate sentence will then have reflected any }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 other}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  aggravating features of the case as well as the mitigating features.
  On the other hand, if judges take as their starting point the lower end of the range, they will not have factored into the exercise }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 any}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  of the aggravating factors, and they will then have to factor into the exercise all the aggravating features of the ca
se as well as the mitigating features.  Either way, you should end up with the same sentence.  If you do not, you will know that something has gone wrong somewhere.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid3360041\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16347547\charrsid11150323 7]}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323     }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16347547\charrsid11150323 \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 
Two words of caution.  First, a common complaint is that a judge has fallen into the trap of \'93double-counting\'94
, ie reflecting one or more of the aggravating features of the case more than once in the process by which the judge arrives at the ultimate sente
nce.  If judges choose to take as their starting point somewhere in the middle of the range, that is an error which they must be vigilant not to make.  They can only then use those aggravating features of the case which were not taken into account in deci
ding where the starting point should be.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16347547\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16347547\charrsid11150323 8]\tab }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Secondly, the lower of the tariff for the rape of children and juveniles is long.  Sentences of 10 years\rquote 
 imprisonment represent long periods of incarceration by any standards.  They reflect the gravity of these
 offences.  But it also means that the many things which make these crimes so serious have already been built into the tariff.  That puts a particularly important burden on judges not to treat as aggravating factors those features of the case which will a
lready have been reflected in the tariff itself.  That would be another example of \'93double-counting\'94, which must, of course, be avoided.   
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 Conclusion  
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16347547\charrsid11150323 [59]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 For these reasons, I would have varied the tariff for the rape of children and juveniles to the ext
ent set out in this judgment.  However, Ekanayake and Chitrasiri JJ take a different view.  Chitrasiri J has told me that what he wanted to get across in the last few paragraphs of his judgment was that it was premature to give a guideline judgment in thi
s
 area when (a) we had only received submissions from the State, and (b) when we had not had the benefit of the views of non-legal professionals, such as sociologists and criminologists, about the appropriate level of sentence in cases of this kind.  He wo
u
ld therefore leave the tariff undisturbed for the time being, and make no distinction in the tariff dependent on the age of the victim, until a suitable opportunity arose for it to be considered in the way he thinks it ought to be considered.  Their major
ity view must prevail, of course, and it follows that the court declines the invitation to give a guideline judgment.   
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16347547\charrsid11150323 [60]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323 In his particular case, for the reasons I have endeavoured to give, I would refuse Kumar
\rquote s application for special leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence.  However, since Ekanayake and Chitrasiri JJ take a different view about the outcome of Kumar\rquote 
s application for special leave to appeal against sentence, the orders of the court must be the ones which they propose.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16347547\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8065330\charrsid11150323                                                               
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Chitrasiri}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\f0\fs24\insrsid2966184\charrsid11150323 ,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  J
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Introduction
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid11150323\charrsid11150323 1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
I had the opportunity of reading the judgment in draft of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Keith,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 J and I agree with his conclusions reached in respect of the appeal against the conviction. Having r
ead the draft judgment, I will now proceed to express my views on the issues raised by the petitioner. In doing so, I do not wish to elaborate on the facts of this case since }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 
Keith}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5986873\charrsid11150323 ,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 J has sufficiently dealt with the circumstances under which the alleged incident had taken place. Hence, I will start from the point of the delivery of the judgment of the Court of Appeal against which the appeal to this Court had been lodged. Court of A
ppeal dismissed the appeal against the conviction but allowed the appeal against the sentence. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid11150323 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 In the Court of Appeal, leave had been granted by the Single Judge on the question of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
significance attached to the recent complaint evidence}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 . Appellant\rquote s co
mplaint before the Court of appeal was on the manner in which the Trial Judge dealt with the recent complaint evidence. He alleged that the learned Judge\rquote 
s summing-up to the Assessors on that point is erroneous. The ground of appeal formulated by the Single Judge in the Court of Appeal on the conviction is as follows.                                           
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1296\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1296\lin1440\itap0\pararsid2569122\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'93
Leave to appeal against conviction is granted on the issue of lack of directions on the significance of the recent complaint evidence.\'94 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid15038143\charrsid11150323 Evidence at the trial}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid11150323 3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
Evidence show that the victim, in the following morning of the day in question, has told her grandmother of her bad experience that she faced on that day. Around the period the incident took place, victim had been under the care and custody
 of her grandmother since both her parents were living in the United States. 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid11150323 4}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
Having heard the story of the child that morning, grandmother had told her to inform the incident to her teacher in the school. Accordingly, she had done so and the head teacher of the school had then called the Police and the victim then made a complain}
{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid14365674\charrsid11150323 t}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  to the Police. That shows the promptness of her complaint to the persons in her authority.}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16015384\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6433513\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid6433513\charrsid11150323 Appeal before the Court of Appeal
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid11150323 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
The issue before the Court of appeal was on the manner in which the learned trial judge directed the Assessors to consider such a recent complaint evidence. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid11150323 6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 In the Court of Appeal, in Paragraph 15 of his judgement, }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Chandra,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 JA has addressed his mind to the way in which the learned trial judge had dealt with, on the recent complaint evidence. In that, he has quoted paragraph 37 of the judgment of the learned High Court Judge. This paragraph 37 reads thus:
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'9337. You saw her giving evidence in Court. She had given prompt answers to questions put to her by the}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  defence}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 counsel. It is up to you to decide whether you could accept her evidence beyond reasonable doubt. If you accept her evidence it corroborates the evidence of the victim AS regarding recent complaint.\'94
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid11150323 7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10027063\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Justice }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Chandra,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \rquote 
s interpretation to the aforesaid wordings in the High Court judgment, is found in paragraph 16 of his judgment and it reads as follows:
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'93
To my mind, the statement is qualified by the words, \'93the evidence of the victim A}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid11150323 s}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  regarding recent complaint
\'94. This would suggest that what the learned trial judge meant by that statement was that the evidence of PW2 corroborates the fact the victim related her story to her (PW2) and not the position that it was 
corroborative of the fact that the victim was raped by the Appellant.\'94
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Having said so, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Chandra,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  J}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16015384\charrsid11150323 A}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 also has stated that the manner in which the trial judge has referred to recent complaint may not at first sight be discernible. He then has stated tha
t it should have been put to the Assessors in clearer language to avoid any confusion. Finally, he has said that it would seem that the directions by the learned trial judge regarding recent complaint was inadequate. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 
\par [6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
However, in paragraph 18 of the judgment, His Lordship has stated that the manner in which the learned trial judge had dealt with the issue is to show that there was no requirement of corroboration, in proving rape. 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 70}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Thereafter, having considered the relevant paragraphs in the judg
ment of the High Court Judge, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Chandra,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 JA has stated that there is no reference to the evidence of PW2 as to the need, if any, to look for independent evidence. He also has stated that this would support the position that when reference was made in relatio
n to recent complaint evidence what he would have meant to convey was, perhaps, consistency of the victim\rquote s evidence and not corroboration. He also has stated that the learned trial judge\rquote 
s reference was to the fact that the case would stand or fall on the
 testimony of the victim. Accordingly, the view of the Court of Appeal was that what was conveyed to the Assessors was that the case of the prosecution had depended on the evidence of the complainant rather than the promptness in making her complaint.

\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 To my mind, the reasoning of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Chandra,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 JA seems to be acceptable. Therefore, I do not see any error in the decision arrived at by the Court of Appeal on the question of law, formulated on the conviction. Moreover, it may have been the reason why there is 
no ground of appeal raised on the question of recent complaint evidence in the petition filed in this Court.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
The two questions of law raised in the petition filed in this Court do not relate to the conviction by the trial judge though it was strongly
 canvassed in the Court of Appeal. One question raised in the petition filed in this Court is on the manner in which the Court of Appeal looked at the evidence and the other is on the sentence. The ground of appeal formulated in the petition to challenge 
the conviction reads as follows: 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'93Court of Appeal erred in its findings that the Petitioner\rquote 
s guilt is established by the medical evidence and thereby causing a substantial and grave prejudice\'94
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 On the face of it, it seems that the way in which the fir
st ground is formulated is erroneous or if not misconceived. That is because the Court of Appeal has never said that the guilt is established by the medical evidence alone. Relevant paragraph in this regard in the judgment of the Court of appeal [Para21] 
is as follows;
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'9321. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 The complainant was 8 years old, therefore the issue of consent did not arise. The medical evidence confirmed that there was penetration. Therefore, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 the guilt of the Appellant was adequately established through the evidence of the complainant }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 and the medical evidence.\'94
\par (emphasis added)
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 4}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5709080\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Accordingly, what the
 Court of Appeal has said was that it was the evidence of the complainant that supported the conviction in addition to the medical evidence. It has never said that the conviction was established only by the medical evidence. Indeed, doctor\rquote 
s opinion alone,
 cannot establish guilt of the commission of an offence. Such evidence may support or go against establishing guilt for a particular offence. Therefore, it seems to me that the manner in which the appeal ground is formulated is misleading. In my view the 
aforesaid first question of law is erroneous/misconceived in law when looking at the manner in which it is formulated.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid5595111\charrsid11150323 Grounds of Appeal
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid9655327 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Generally, the appeal grounds are being formulated in a petition of appeal is include legal grounds such as imprope
r exclusion or admission of evidence, incorrect jury instructions, lack of sufficient evidence to support a finding of guilt, sentencing errors, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid11473067\charrsid11150323 
assessors}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  misconduct and prosecutorial misconduct etc. Moreover, in order to proceed with an appeal, petition o
f appeal should indicate the legal error }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs16\f0\fs24\chbrdr\brdrnone\brdrframe1 \chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
with sufficient material and it should consist some sort of substance. Also, it should be clear to the mind of a reasonable man without any ambiguity.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs16\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \cs16\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid9655327 6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\chshdng0\chcfpat0\chcbpat8\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 I
n this instance, the first ground of appeal is not clear enough or rather ambiguous. Such a ground may amount to misleading the Court as well. For these reasons alone, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
this ground of appeal should fail. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\insrsid4342525\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 However, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Keith,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  J having considered the matter
s referred to in Section 7(2) of the Supreme Court Act has decided that the first ground of appeal does not meet the requirements referred to therein. Accordingly, he has decided to refuse leave in respect of the ground of appeal raised on}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4342525\charrsid11150323  the}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  conviction. 
In the circumstances, I have no hesitation to concur with his decision as far as the first ground of appeal is concerned.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12910 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Second ground of appeal is on the manner in which the sentencing tariffs were taken into consideration by the lower court when deciding the period of imprisonment. It reads as follows:
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'93Court of Appeal failed to give sufficient discount for the Petitioner\rquote s previous good character\'94

\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12538228\charrsid11150323 D}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid15679251\charrsid11150323 ecision of the Court of Appeal
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 [7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13527752\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 In this instance, the Court of Appeal substituted the sentenc
e of 11 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 9 years imprisonment in place of 11 years and 5 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years which was the sentence imposed by the High Court. It was so decided after considering only the 
previous character of the petitioner. Petitioner, in his petition to this Court seeks further reduction of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10569718\charrsid11150323 sentence}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 , also on the basis of his good character. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 80}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Section 5 of the Sentencing and Penalties Act provides the matters that are to be considered when considering the character of an offender at the time of sentencing. However, it is not an exhaustive list. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 81}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Before the Court of Appeal, it was argued th
at the learned High Court Judge has failed to address his mind to the good character when the sentence was passed. Having accepted it as the correct position, the Court of Appeal reduced the period of imprisonment by 5 months and the non-parole period by 
one year. The reason as to why the said reduction was afforded to the petitioner is found in Paragraphs 28 and 29 of the Court of Appeal judgment. It reads as follows:
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 \'93}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 [28]\tab The learned trial Judge has not considered the submissions made regarding sentenci
ng referring to the fact that though the Appellant had previous convictions, that the last offending had been 9 years prior to the commission of the present offence.  The appellant deserved some credit for same and the failure to take this factor into acc
ount as a mitigating factor was an error in the sentencing discretion.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8999431\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 [29]\tab The learned trial judge\rquote 
s failure to consider such a factor when sentencing him would be a situation where a relevant consideration had not been taken into account as set out in the principles in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Kim Nam Bae}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 (supra) and thereby the learned trial Judge had erred.  The Respondent concedes that there is merit in this ground and has invited this Court to act in terms of Section 23(3) of the Court of Appeal Act.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 \'94}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 However, the variat
ion of the sentence by the Court of Appeal had been made on the basis that the petitioner had only 3 previous convictions and the last of it had been 9 years prior to the commission of the offence committed in this case. This is evident by the contents in
 
paragraph 26 of the Court of Appeal judgment. In that paragraph it is stated; that the submissions made on behalf of the appellant for mitigation, it has been stated that the Appellant had only 3 previous convictions. In that it is also mentioned that the
 State has not challenged that position though the learned Counsel for the State has merely stated that the appellant had 7 previous convictions. Counsel did not make any further attempt to establish the same. 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Under those circumstances, this Court nee
ded to look at the certificate issued by the Criminal Records & Fingerprint Office in order to ascertain the correct position as to the previous convictions of the petitioner. This certificate was not available in the Court of Appeal record which contain}
{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4342525\charrsid11150323 s}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  
the documents filed in the High Court as well. However, learned counsel for the State had this certificate in her hand and she tendered it to court for perusal. It is a communication dated 18}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\super\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 th}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  October 2018 which is the date on which the hearing of this appeal }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10569718\charrsid11150323 wa}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
s fixed. That shows, no such certificate was available at the time the sentence was pronounced either by the High Court or by the Court of Appeal.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid2112503\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 4}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 According to the said certificate, the petitioner was having 7 previous convictions and he had b
een found guilty for the offence of Indecently Annoying Female as well. It is an offence somewhat similar to the offence that he is convicted in this case too. Petitioner did not dispute the convictions found in the said Finger Print Report.  }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid2112503\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9655327 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 In the circumstances, it is clear that the petitioner has misled the Court of Appeal when making submissions to reduce his sentence. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 If}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  the Court of Appeal was made aware of the correct }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10569718\charrsid11150323 
position}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  as to the previous convictions, I am sure }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Court of Appeal
 would have looked at it when considering the ground of appeal raised on the sentence. Accordingly, it is seen that a grave injustice is caused, if this Court does not interfere with the sentence imposed by the court of Appeal. Also, it seems to me that t
here is a substantial question of law particularly on the manner in which the concessions were given for the good character that is to be looked at by this Court.
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid3302883\charrsid11150323 Application for the withdrawal of the appeal
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15219316\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 At this stage, it is also necessary to ment
ion that there was an application by the learned counsel for the petitioner to withdraw the second ground of appeal filed against the sentence. This application to withdraw was made even after having concluded the submissions made on behalf of the petitio
n
er. By that time, counsel and his client who is the petitioner also has come to know that the certificate containing the previous record of the petitioner is in the possession of the Bench as well. Therefore, it is clear that the application for the withd
rawal was made only after this Court realiz}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 ed}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 the failure to inform the correct number of previous convictions to the Court of Appeal. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Under those circumstances, it is seen that the application t
o withdraw the appeal against the sentence was not a genuine application. It is not incorrect to say that it was a step to avoid enhancing the punishment. Hence, such an application cannot be considered as a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 bona fide}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  application for withdrawal made under Rule 15(1) of the Supreme Court Rules 2016 which depicts the law governing }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 the procedure for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
withdrawal of appeals filed in the Supreme Court. Now, it is our task is to decide whether or not this belated application should be allowed.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid7489915\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 The said aforesaid Rule 15(1) reads thus;
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'93}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4342525\charrsid11150323 If a petitioner who has lodged a p}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13248364\charrsid11150323 e}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid4342525\charrsid11150323 tition}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13248364\charrsid11150323 , referral or application desires to withdraw the same, must give notice to that ef
fect to the Registrar and all parties to the proceedings who are directly affected by the petition, referral or application and upon whom a copy of the petition, referral or application has been served in accordance with these Rules.}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'94
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 [8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 As seen in the s
aid Rule, the manner in which such an application is to be made is clearly stipulated and it requires giving advance notice to the Registrar in order to make an application to withdraw an appeal. Then the issue is whether the Court is empowered to allow s
uch an application made in violation of the procedure referred to therein. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 0}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Could the Court disregard an application for withdrawal made under this Rule, on the basis that it is defective since there is no specific form is mentioned in that provision to make the application. My answer is 
\'93no\'94. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 
\par [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4288743\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
I will now refer to the omission to have a specific form prescribed under Rule 15(1) of the Supreme Court Rules. I am not inclined to say that the failure to specify a form under Rule 15(1) is an omission 
due to the oversight of the draftsman. Corresponding Rule in the Court of Appeal Rules, namely Rule 39 of 1949, states that an application for withdrawal in the Court of Appeal is to be made in the form set out in Schedule 2 therein. If no such form is gi
ven under the Supreme Court Rules, I do not see any wrong in using }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5531328\charrsid11150323 even }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
the form set out under the Court of Appeal Rule to make the application. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6959206\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15534724\charrsid11150323 Such a cause of action is permissible under Rule 31 of the Supreme Court Rules 2016. It reads as follows:
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \fi-180\li2340\ri1138\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin2340\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15534724\charrsid11150323 \'93The High Court Rules and the Court of Appeal Rules and the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10175193\charrsid11150323 forms prescribed}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15534724\charrsid11150323  in them apply with necessary modifications to the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court\'94.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \fi-180\li2340\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin2340\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10175193\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid2245443\charrsid11150323 However, the i}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 mportant issue is whether the intention to withdraw is conveye
d in an acceptable manner. Therefore, the Court, using its discretion shall have the power to determine the validity of the application depending on the circumstances under which the application for withdrawal is made. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 
\par [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 4}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 In }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Roqica }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 v}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  State}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 [2015] FJSC 18; CAV 0010.2014, an application to withdraw a petition of appeal had been made before this Court. In that decision, consideration of a specific criterion is given when permitting withdrawal of a petition. Criteria shown in that is as follow
s:
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri1138\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \'93
It is needless to stress that the purpose of an inquiry of this nature is to ascertain: 
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 a.\tab}}\pard \ltrpar
\s15\qj \fi-360\li1800\ri1138\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\ls2\adjustright\rin1138\lin1800\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Why was it to be withdrawn,

\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 b.\tab}Was any pressure brought to bear on him, and
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 c.\tab}The decision to abandon had been considered beforehand.
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10499741 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 It shows that this court was inclined to exercise its discretion when allowing an application to withdraw a petition of appeal. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16590876\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1866425\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
Accordingly, it is my opinion that an application for withdrawal without notice to the Registrar should be either allowed or disallowed depending on the circumstances of each case and it be left to the Court to decide the issue in a judicious way. 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\ql \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid2054608\charrsid11150323 Granting of Special Leave
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10448838\charrsid11150323 [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10448838\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
I have already described the circumstances under which the application for withdrawal was made in this instance. In short, it was an application to avoid enhance}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 d}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  punishment. It was a belated application too. The petitioner made this application upon realizing that he ha}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 d}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  misled the Court of Appeal when }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 making }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 his application to reduce the sentence on the basis of his good character. Furthermore, it must be mentioned that no inducement or threat was made on the petitioner by any party }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5531328\charrsid11150323 including}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  the Bench, t
o make such an application. Therefore, it is my opinion that the application to withdraw the petition of appeal should be rejected. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
Then the next issue is whether this Court should grant special leave with regard to the second ground of appeal framed on the sentence. When a question of law is being advanced, the Court should first consider whether the leave should be granted to procee
d with the appeal on that question. That is because the power under Section 98(5) of the Constitution, to review, vary, set aside or affirm decisions or orders of the Court of Appeal}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid5531328\charrsid11150323 ;}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  or to make any other order necessary for the administration of justice }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 can}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5531328\charrsid11150323 only }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 be derived }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 once the step namely granting of leave, referred to in the preceding subsection, 98(4) of the Constitution is fulfilled. Moreover, the said power referred to in Section 98(5) of the Constitution }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 derive}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1051009\charrsid11150323 d}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  through a statutory provision and not through any other means such as inherent power of courts. 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10240383 8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Section 98(4) & (5) of the Constitution stipulate as follows: 

\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \fi-990\li2430\ri1138\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin2430\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 \'93}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4067529\charrsid11150323 98}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 (4) An appeal may not be brought to the Supreme Court from a final judgment of the Court of Appeal unless the Supreme Court grants leave to appeal.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \fi-720\li2430\ri1138\widctlpar\tx1530\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin2430\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
(5) (a) review, vary, set aside or affirm decisions or orders of the Court    of Appeal; or 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \fi-720\li2430\ri1138\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1138\lin2430\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
      (b) make any other order necessary for the administration of justice, including an order for a new trial or an order awarding costs.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 \'94}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12937123\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 99}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 In the circumstances, this Court is not empowered to consider and make orders under Section 98(5) of the Constitution unless the Court grants special leave under Section 98 (4) of the Constitution. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 100}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Then the next question is whether this Court should grant leave to proceed with the second ground of appeal raised on the sentence imposed on the petitioner by the Court of Appeal. }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16263493\charrsid11150323 A}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 ccordingly, it is the duty of this Court to ascertain whether the said ground of appeal meet}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16263493\charrsid11150323 s }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 the criteria set out in Section 7(2) of the Supreme Court Act No.14 of 1998. This Section reads as follows:

\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li1440\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin1440\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 \'93}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
7(2) In relation to a criminal matter, the Supreme Court must not grant leave to appeal unless \endash 
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 (a)\tab}}\pard \ltrpar
\s15\qj \fi-360\li2520\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\ls3\adjustright\rin0\lin2520\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
a question of general legal importance is involved; 
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 (b)\tab}
a substantial question of principle affecting the administration of criminal justice is involved; 
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 (c)\tab}or substantial and grave injustice may otherwise occur.}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 \'94}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Appellate courts in Fiji have always been mindful and depended }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12659093\charrsid11150323 up}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 on these factors when leave to appeal }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16263493\charrsid11150323 has been}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 considered. Learned Judges have repeatedly referred to the criteria above, when}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12659093\charrsid11150323  special}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 leave to appeal applications are being considered. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Aminiasi}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Katonivualiku }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 v.}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
(2003) FJSC Crim. App. No.CAV 0001/1999s 17.04.2003, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Dip Chand }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 v.}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  CAV 0014/2012, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
Sharma }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 v.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  State}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  (2017) FJSC 5; CAV 0031.2016]
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Circumstances that ha}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16263493\charrsid11150323 ve}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 already been referred to, show that there exist a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4871754\charrsid11150323 question of general legal importance}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 in this instance. Furthermore, if the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal due to concealing the number of previous convictions, the petitioner had, it would lead }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15946346\charrsid11150323 to the }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 causing }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15946346\charrsid11150323 of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
substantial and grave injustice to the criminal justice system as well. Accordingly, acting in terms of Section 7(2) of the Supreme Court Act, I decide to grant leave to the second ground of appeal formulated on the sentence passed on the petitioner.

\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12538228\charrsid11150323 [}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 In view of the failure to inform court of the correct picture as to the previ
ous convictions of the petitioner, this Court cannot keep its eyes closed without giving its mind to it. Indeed, as I mentioned before, the petitioners conduct amounts to misleading the court. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 4}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Be that as it may, had the Court of Appeal }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid15946346\charrsid11150323 being}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  made a
ware of those seven previous convictions, that court would have taken a different view in terms of the law. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid8134902\charrsid11150323 Appeal against the sentence}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8134902\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 5}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Accordingly, it is my opinion that there is a substantial question of principle affecting the administration of criminal justice }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12659093\charrsid11150323 also 
}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
involved in this instance and if it is not corrected substantial and grave injustice may occur. Hence, this Court should address the issue of sentence imposed on the petitioner exercising its powers conferred under section 98(5) of t
he Constitution of the Republic of Fiji.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10499741\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 6}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
As mentioned hereinbefore, the petitioner is having 7 previous convictions. Even though there is no conviction 9 years prior to the present conviction, the number of convictions the petitioner has, cannot be 
disregarded. Moreover, there is one previous conviction namely \'93Indecently Annoying Female\'94 which also relates to causing harm to women. That also is one of the aggravating factors that should be considered when passing the sentence. }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10499741\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 As referred to above, it is my opinion that the reduction of the sentence by the Court of Appeal had been made because the learned Judges in that Court w}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12659093\charrsid11150323 ere}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  not properly informed of the previous convictions of the offender. Now it is revealed that the submissions made i
n relation to the character of the petitioner were incorrect. It is wrong to have relied on those submissions. Therefore, the reduction made by the Court of Appeal on the ground of good character is not sustainable. 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid1853803 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 8}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Hence, I decide to set aside the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal and restore the sentence imposed by the learned High Court Judge. Appeal of the petitioner stands dismissed.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\ql \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid14236041\charrsid11150323 
Increasing sentences for the rape of children and juvenile}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid16603210\charrsid11150323 s}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid14236041\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 9}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 I also take this opportunity to add to what }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Keith,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid7495021\charrsid11150323  J}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 has said in relation to the current sentencing practice guidelines relating to child rape. Attention of this Court was made by the learned Counsel for the State on the increasing number of child rape in the past
. She has made a strong request to review current sentencing practices and to formulate new guidelines in this regard. On this point, she has tendered exhaustive written submissions along with statistics to show the increasing number of rape on children }
{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12659093\charrsid11150323 had been committed}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
. In the submissions, she has cited development of the law in this area, in other countries as well including the UK and South Africa. Supreme Court of Fiji also has signaled on this requirement of reviewing tariffs in the case of }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Ram }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 v.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  State}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  in which Chief Justice was presiding and Justice }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Keith}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  was a member. [2015 FJSC 26]}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8999431\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 [1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 10}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044303\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Present Tariff for the offence of child rape ranges fro
m 10 to 16 years and the State is requesting it to make it between 11 to 19 years of imprisonment. [page 21 of the additional submissions dated 09.10.2018 of the State] 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323 [1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 11}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 I agree that it is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8024646\charrsid11150323 of}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  utmost importan}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8024646\charrsid11150323 ce}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  to conside}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8024646\charrsid11150323 r}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  increasing sentences for th
e rape of children. However, it is a complex issue involving several factors in the society. Indeed, this involves several sociological and cultural issues that may }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid13584995\charrsid11150323 be }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 peculiar to Fiji. In this instance, we heard only the submissions of Counsel }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8024646\charrsid11150323 who }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 appeared for the State. Legal Aid Commission did not make any submissions though they were given sufficient time to consider making submissions. 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qj \li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323 [11}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 2}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 Having looked at the draft judgment of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Keith, J}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 I observe that His Lordship has partly allowed the application of the State. In that judgment, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid947751\charrsid11150323 Keith, J}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323  is inclined to have the tariff range increased }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16084936\charrsid11150323 from}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 11 to 1}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid5797797\charrsid11150323 7}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 years only in respect of the victims who are under the age of 13 years and to have the tariff}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid8024646\charrsid11150323  to}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
 remain undisturbed when it comes to children between 13 to 18 years of age. 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16713186\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \fi-720\li720\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323 [11}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid9008064 3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323 ]\tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6366961\charrsid11150323 In my view, such a division }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid15212590\charrsid11150323 depending on the age of the child}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6366961\charrsid11150323  may prevent the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323 C}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6366961\charrsid11150323 ourt imposing a sentence over and above the present tariff when it comes to children over 13 years of age. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid2653334\charrsid11150323 Judges may think it is not appropriate to increase the sentence for the children over 13}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid14507658\charrsid11150323 because}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12540688\charrsid11150323 {\*\bkmkstart _GoBack}{\*\bkmkend _GoBack} the increase is only with regard to the victims under 13 years}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid2653334\charrsid11150323 . }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044190\charrsid11150323 Accordingly I must state that I am not in agreement to have the tariff increased 
as suggested by Keith J.  I will leave it for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6366961\charrsid11150323 the judges }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044190\charrsid11150323 to exercise their discretion and}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6366961\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid10044190\charrsid11150323 to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6366961\charrsid11150323 
impose a greater punishment according to law where necessary }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid12540688\charrsid11150323 and appropriate}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4605860\charrsid11150323 ,}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid4219671\charrsid11150323  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid6366961\charrsid11150323 depending on the circumstances of each case.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f0\fs24\insrsid12006874\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qj \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\i\f0\fs24\ul\insrsid16326788\charrsid11150323 Orders}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\i\f0\fs24\insrsid16326788\charrsid11150323 :
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 By unanimous decision
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 1.\tab}}\pard\plain \ltrpar
\s15\qj \fi-567\li567\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\ls4\adjustright\rin0\lin567\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 Application to extend the petitioner\rquote s time for filing his petition granted. 
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 2.\tab} Application for special leave to appeal against conviction refused.  
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\ql \li0\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 By a majority decision
\par {\listtext\pard\plain\ltrpar \s15 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\lang1033\langfe1033\langnp1033\langfenp1033\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 \hich\af0\dbch\af0\loch\f0 1.\tab}}\pard\plain \ltrpar
\s15\ql \fi-567\li567\ri0\sa160\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\ls5\adjustright\rin0\lin567\itap0\pararsid1853803\contextualspace \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f0\fs24\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 
 Application for leave to appeal against sentence granted.  Sentenced imposed by the Court of Appeal (11 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 9 years) set aside.  Sentence imposed by the High Court (11 years 5 months imprisonment with a non-paro
le period of 10 years) restored.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs24\insrsid353046\charrsid11150323 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\qj \li5040\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin5040\itap0\pararsid1853803 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs22\alang1025 \ltrch\fcs0 \f31506\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid2556898 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid7621907 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\qc \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid1853803 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16713186\charrsid1853803 Hon. Justice C. Ekanayake
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\insrsid16713186\charrsid11150323 JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid16713186\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16713186\charrsid1853803 Hon. Justice B. Keith
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\insrsid16713186\charrsid11150323 JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\fs24\insrsid16713186\charrsid11150323 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid16713186\charrsid1853803 Hon. Justice K. Chitrasiri
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f0\insrsid16713186\charrsid11150323 JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\insrsid16347547 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\ql \li0\ri0\widctlpar\wrapdefault\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid7621907 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24 \ltrch\fcs0 \f0\fs24\insrsid7621907\charrsid7621907 
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