Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act 4. Zimbabwe Neither acquittal nor conviction a bar to civil action for damages Neither a conviction nor an acquittal following on any prosecution shall be a bar to a civil action for damages at the instance of any person who may have suffered any injury from the commission of any alleged offence. Part II – Prosecution on behalf of State [Part II (sections 5 – 11A) substituted by section 3 of Act 32 of 2016] 5. 6. Delegation of functions by Prosecutor-General (1) Subject to the general or specific instructions of the Prosecutor-General, the public prosecutor to whom responsibility for public prosecutions is assigned under the National Prosecuting Authority Act [Chapter 7:20] (No. 5 of 2014), shall exercise all the rights and powers and perform all of the functions conferred upon the Prosecutor-General by section 259 of the Constitution, this Act or any other enactment, insofar as they relate to criminal proceedings. (2) The Prosecutor-General may, when he or she deems it expedient, appoint any legal practitioner entitled to practise in Zimbabwe to exercise (subject to the general or specific instructions of the Prosecutor-General) all or any of the rights and powers or perform all or any of the functions conferred upon the Prosecutor-General by section 259 of the Constitution, this Act or any other enactment, whether or not they relate to criminal proceedings. (3) The officer referred to in subsection (1) or a legal practitioner appointed in terms of subsection (2) may, subject to any conditions which the Prosecutor-General may impose— (a) sign any certificate, authority or other document required or authorised by an enactment referred to in those subsections; and (b) appoint a member of the National Prosecuting Authority constituted in terms of the National Prosecuting Authority Act [Chapter 7:20] (No. 5 of 2014), or a legal practitioner entitled to practise in Zimbabwe, as the case may be, to exercise the rights and powers or perform the functions delegated to him or her in terms of subsection (1) or (2), and the provisions of this subsection shall apply, with such changes as may be necessary, in respect of that appointment. National Director of Public Prosecutions There shall be a National Director of Public Prosecutions appointed in terms of section 8 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act [Chapter 7:20] (No. 5 of 2014). 7. Change of prosecutor Criminal proceedings instituted on behalf of the State by one public prosecutor may be continued by any other public prosecutor. 8. Power to stop public prosecutions The Prosecutor-General, or any person conducting criminal proceedings on behalf of the State may— (a) before an accused pleads to a charge, withdraw that charge, in which event the accused shall not be entitled to a verdict of acquittal in respect of that charge; (b) at any time after an accused has pleaded to a charge, but before conviction, stop the prosecution in respect of that charge, in which event the court trying the accused shall acquit the accused in respect of that charge. By Laws.Africa and contributors. Licensed under CC-BY. Share widely and freely. 5