Accomplice liability

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1964

Principle established: Where provocation reduces murder to manslaughter, a third party cannot be convicted of aiding and abetting the resulting homicide.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Where the defence of provocation reduces a killing from murder to manslaughter, a third party cannot be convicted of aiding and abetting the provoked crime.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A witness is competent to testify despite facing charges arising from the same incident, and a coerced individual not present at the crime is not an accomplice.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1984

Principle established: Whether a witness is an accomplice is a question of mixed fact and law, and no corroboration warning is required where a witness is neither an accomplice nor serving a personal interest.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1973

Principle established: A person who counsels an offence and is present at its execution is a principal; an accessory remains liable if the principal departs from the common design only in manner or time.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: An accessory who solicits an offence remains guilty if the principal departs from the common design only as to time, place, or manner, but not if the principal wilfully commits a substantially different offence.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: An accused person charged solely as an accessory before the fact to a felony must be acquitted if the evidence establishes that he was in fact a principal.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1967

Principle established: An accused charged as an accessory before the fact cannot be convicted either as an accessory or as a principal if the evidence establishes that he acted as a principal.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1964

Principle established: Mere knowledge of a murder without actual participation or counselling is insufficient to support a criminal conviction as an accomplice.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Mere knowledge that a murder is being or has been committed, absent actual participation, counselling, or encouragement, is insufficient to support a conviction for complicity.

South Africa · 2022

Principle established: To secure a murder conviction on the basis of common purpose with dolus eventualis, the State must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused actively associated with the criminal conduct and foresaw the fatal result.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A person cannot be convicted of incitement without proof of a communication directed to another, and a mere personal declaration of an intention not to pay taxes does not constitute incitement.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: Misprision of felony requires failing to disclose knowledge of a felony to authorities within a reasonable time and opportunity, and an accused's fear of disclosure is relevant evidence.

Zimbabwe · 2022

Principle established: A conviction for murder requires proof that the accused's unlawful assault caused the deceased's death and was performed with the requisite intent to kill.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Where evidence indicates a prosecution witness may be an accomplice, the judge must define an accomplice, warn the jury of convicting without corroboration, and specify what evidence may constitute corroboration.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Mere presence at the scene of an offence is insufficient to establish guilt as an aider and abettor absent evidence of consent, a common purpose, and actual encouragement.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1964

Principle established: Mere presence at the scene of a crime is insufficient for conviction; there must be proof of shared common purpose and intentional encouragement.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: A person present encouraging a perpetrator to cause grievous bodily harm is guilty of murder as a principal in the second degree, and an acquittal by a competent court cannot be appealed.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1968

Principle established: A person present at the scene encouraging a perpetrator to inflict at least grievous bodily harm is guilty of murder as a principal in the second degree.