Section 5(b) of the Minimum Sentences Act 1972 as amended by Act No. 1 0 of 1 989
and Act No.6 of
1ee4.
0009?{
60.|t is the Respondent State's contention that Section 5(b) (ii) of the Minimum Section
Act is applicable to "all robberies in which the offender was armed with a dangerous
weapon or instrument" or was in the company of one or more persons and caused
personal violence in the act of the robbery.
61. The Respondent State avers that the facts of this case fit perfectly in the scenario
envisaged under the Minimum Sentencing Act and thus, the Applicants' allegations
are groundless and should be dismissed.
62.Article 7(2) of the Charter provides
'No one may be condemned for an act of omission, which did not constitute a legally
punishable offence at the time it was committed. No penalty may be inflicted for an offence
for which no provision was made at the time it was committed. Punishment is personal
and can be imposed only on the offender."
63. The Court notes that Article 7 (2) of the Charter encapsulates the principle of legality,
which among other things, proscribes the imposition of a criminal punishment except
when this is prescribed by a law in force at the time of the commission of a criminalised
act entailing such punishment.
64.|n the instant case, the relevant question for determination is whether the 30 years'
penalty to which the Applicants were sentenced was provided in the laws of the
Respondent State at the time the offence
of which they were convicted
committed.
16
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was