YESTERDAY a magistrates’ court ordered the a man who was charged with stalking a woman photographer to go on trial.

The court ruled that the case must go to trial despite the accused’s guilty plea being a conditional one.  The accused is said to be the first person to be charged with the offence under section 507A (1) of the Penal Code.

When an accused pleads guilty he loses his right to appeal, under Section 305 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)

A guilty please must be unreserved, unequivocal, and unqualified as per section 173(b) of the CPC. It other words, the plea has to be without conditions and exceptions.

A conditional guilty plea is as good as no plea.

The Federal Court has laid down safeguards which must be followed if a question arises over the appellant’s guilty plea.

1. The court must ascertain that is the accused himself who wishes to plead guilty

2. The court must ascertain that the accused understands the nature and consequences of his plea; or

3. The court must ascertain that the accused intends to admit guilt without qualification of the offence.

In the case of  PP v Cheah Chooi Chuan (1972), the accused stated that he would plead guilty if the complainant accepted the challenge and put the cockerel to death. The court ruled that the accused’s guilty please was not unconditional, unequivocal, or unreserved and should be rejected.

Thus, it’s a trite law in these established principles that for a plea of guilt to be accepted by the court, the magistrate must take all procedural steps to ensure that the plea is valid and unequivocal.

And if such is not found, or there are conditions to the plea, then the guilty plea is as good as no plea and the case must got to trial. – December 21, 2023.

* Matilda George reads The Malaysian Insight.