Abdulsameem v. The Attorney-General – sllr 1991 volume 1 page 076

In the case between Abdul Sameem (Plaintiff) and The Bribery Commissioner (Defendant), the court addressed whether the failure of the Magistrate to frame and read the charge, as mandated by section 182 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979, violated fundamental principles of criminal procedure. It was held that this procedural omission constitutes a fatal defect that is not curable under section 436 of the Act. The principle reaffirmed in the decision is that the formal framing and reading of the charge to the accused is a strict criminal procedure safeguard, the disregard of which vitiates the entire proceedings. This ruling relied on statutory interpretation and legal precedent, clarifying that only a trial conducted in accordance with these procedural requirements can sus