Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act 66. Zimbabwe Summary committal for trial of accused person (1) If the Prosecutor-General is of the opinion that any person is under reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence for which the person may be tried in the High Court, the Prosecutor-General shall cause written notice to be served on— (a) a magistrate for the province within which the person concerned resides or for the time being is present; or (b) any magistrate before whom the trial of the offence could be held in respect of the offence concerned; informing the magistrate of his or her decision to indict the person concerned for trial before the High Court and of the offence for which the person is to be tried. (2) On receipt of a notice in terms of subsection (1), the magistrate shall cause the person to be brought before him or her and shall forthwith commit the person for trial before the High Court and, if the person is in custody, shall issue a warrant for the further detention of the person in prison pending his or her trial before the High Court for the offence for which he or she has been committed. [subsection substituted by section 27 of Act 2 of 2016] (2a) If a person who is committed for trial in terms of subsection (2) has earlier been granted bail on the charge for which he or she is committed, the grant shall stand but a judge of the High Court may, in terms of Part IX, alter the conditions of the recognizance or revoke the bail and commit the person to prison. [subsection inserted by section 27 of Act 2 of 2016] (3) For the purpose of bringing a person before a magistrate to be committed for trial in terms of subsection (2)— (a) the clerk of the magistrates court concerned shall issue a summons at the request of a public prosecutor requiring the person to appear before the magistrate at a specified date, time and place and stating the nature of the offence in respect of which he or she is to be indicted for trial; or (b) the magistrate may issue a warrant for the person’s arrest. (4) Section 140 shall apply, with any changes that may be necessary, to a summons issued in terms of subsection (3)(a) as if it had been issued in terms of that section. (5) Part V shall apply, with any changes that may be necessary, to a warrant issued in terms of subsection (3)(b) as if it had been issued in terms of section 33(1). (6) Where an accused has been committed for trial in terms of subsection (2) there shall be served upon him or her in addition to the indictment and notice of trial— (a) a document containing a list of witnesses it is proposed to call at the trial and a summary of the evidence which each witness will give, sufficient to inform the accused of all the material facts upon which the State relies; and (b) a notice requesting the accused— (i) to give an outline of his or her defence, if any, to the charge; and (ii) to supply the names of any witnesses he or she proposes to call in his or her defence together with a summary of the evidence which each witness will give, sufficient to By Laws.Africa and contributors. Licensed under CC-BY. Share widely and freely. 43