Criminal Code (Cap. 9), article 392A

392A. (1) If the accused, in answer to the question in article 392(1)( b) or in any stage of the proceedings, states that he is guilty of the offence charged and the said offence is liable to a punishment not exceeding twelve years imprisonment, the court shall warn him in the most solemn manner about the legal consequences of that reply, and shall allow him a period of tim e for him to reply. (2) Saving the provisions of sub-article (3) and notwithstanding any other provision of this Code or of any othe r law, if the accused persists in his statement that he is guilty of the offence charged, such reply sha ll be registered, and the Court as a court of criminal judicature sh all proceed to pass on the accus ed such sentence as would according to law be passed on an accused convicted of the offence and shall order that within six (6) wo rking days, the Attorney General shall be given access to a scanned c opy of the records, together with access to a scanned copy of the judg ment. (3) Nevertheless, if there is good reason to doubt whether the offence has really taken place at all, or whether the accused i s guilty of the offence, the court shall, notwithstanding the confession of the accused, order that the proceedings be contin ued as if the accused had not pleaded guilty. (4) The provisions of article 370 (2) and of article 371 shall mutatis mutandis apply to proceedings under this article in respect of an offence to which sub-article (1) applies. (5) At any stage of the proceedings, the accused and the Attorney General may agree and ma y request the court by means o f an application, so that in the case where the accused pleads gu ilty, the Court of Magistrates as a co urt of criminal judicature, sha ll apply such sanction or measure or, where it is so provided by l aw, a combination of sanctions and me asures, of the type and quantity agreed upon between them, and in r espect of which the accused may be sentenced when he is found guilty for the offence or the offences with which h e has been charged. (6) In pronouncing judgement the court shall not take into consideration any agreement on the sentence to be awarded which 260 CAP . 9.] CRIMINAL CODE is not made in accordan ce with sub-article (5). (7) If the court is satisfied that the sanction or the measure, or the combination of sanctions or measures requested, as provided for in the preceding sub-article, are such that it shall be law ful for it to impose upon finding the accused guilty of the offence for wh ich the accused has pleaded guilty, a nd the court feels that it sho uld not order that the case continues in accordance with the provisions of sub-article (3) or for any othe r reason that it should dismiss the request, and after having clearly explained to the accused the consequences of his request, the court shall, where an admissio n of guilt is made by the accused, proceed to award the sentence indicated to it by the parties wh erein it shall be declared in its decision that the sentence which is being awarded is being so awarded on the reque st of the parties. (8) The provisions of article 453A(3) to (5), both sub-articles inclusive, shall, mutatis mutandis , apply to the proceedings under this article. Admission of guilt. Added by: IV .2014.22. Substituted by: XXIV .2014.51. Amended by: VIII.2015.29; V .2022.3.