Rex V. Anya Ugwijogo & Ors (1943)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Criminal Law—Evidence—Statement made by accused person to police officer—Inducement—” Judges’ Rules ” caution administered in native dialect.

Facts

The accused were convicted of murder. The trial Judge admitted in evidence statements made by each of the accused when charged. If the statements had been wrongly admitted the remaining evidence would not have been sufficiently strong against the accused.

No inducement had been offered, no threat made, and no force used in obtaining the statements, and a caution had been administered following the form prescribed in the ” Judges’ Rules “, but the accused may not have understood that portion of the caution as interpreted to them which reads ” You are not obliged to say anything in answer to the charge “.

Held

The Court must be satisfied that a statement is entirely free and voluntary. When the Court cannot be certain that the words of the caution were understood, the onus on the Court is all the heavier to be fully satisfied that the statement was really made voluntarily. The Court having been satisfied of that at the trial, the statements had been properly admitted.