S v MPOFU 2011 (1) ZLR 188 (H)

Flynote

Criminal procedure “ trial “ conduct of “ passing of sentence and recording of reasons therefor “ need for reasons for sentence to be included in record at time sentence is passed, not reconstructed later after reasons given verbally ex tempore

Headnote

It is a cardinal principle of our criminal justice system that, before assessing an appropriate sentence, a judicial officer must seriously engage in a pre-sentencing inquiry in order to gather as much information as possible to enable him or her to humanely and meaningfully assess sentence. Sentencing cannot be left to the caprices and instincts of the judicial officer. A thorough investigation should be carried out by the judicial officer before arriving at an appropriate sentence. Where the judicial officer gives an ex tempore judgment with reasons for sentence contained in his head, only to be inserted in the court record much later, he runs the risk of someone concluding that he did not apply his mind to the case at hand. Indeed, it is a misdirection for the judicial officer not to record the reasons for sentence, a misdirection which entitles the reviewing judge to interfere with the sentence.