Plea bargaining in matters at primary courts
I have a case in the Primary Court in which I am the complainant. The accused has approached me for a plea-bargaining agreement but I don’t know what to do because in the Primary Court there is no prosecutor to guide me on the process. Can you please inform me what to do?
RW, Tabora
The plea-bargaining agreement which was introduced through section 194A of the Criminal Procedure Act does not apply in the Primary Court because section 3 of the Criminal Procedure Act expressly excludes the application of the Criminal Procedure Act in Primary Courts. You have two options. You can ask the Primary Court to transfer the case to the District Court where the Criminal Procedure Act and the plea-bargaining procedure rules will apply. Alternatively, you can agree with the accused and once he fulfils the terms and conditions of the agreement, you can proceed to withdraw the charge from the Court. This second option might be the fastest but we leave it to you to decide.