CONVICTION

• Date: 24 January 2019

(1) "I agree with the definition of the word "conviction" given by Atkinson J. In R. v.London County Quarter Sessions Appeals Committee Exp Metropolitan Police Commissioner (1948) 1 K.B. 670, 679 - 680 wherein the learned Judge said: - " a conviction is an act of a Court of competent jurisdiction adjudging a person to be guilty of a punishable offence. The sentence or resulting order is something distinct from the conviction A conviction is nonetheless a conviction because an ensuring penalty is not imprisonment’s, nor fine, but the finding of sureties for good behaviour". In my respectful view to speak of a conviction, there must be a determination of guilty by an act of a competent Court and this is irrespective of whether or not a sentence is imposed even though the sentence normally follows such a determination. By the definition of "decision" in Section 277(1) of the Constitution, it is possible for an appellant to appeal against his conviction without appealing against the sentence imposed on him where he intends to contest the determination of his guilt without wanting the sentence interfered with in case he loses on the issue of guilt. Similarly, it is possible for a convicted person to appeal against the sentence imposed on him without contesting the correctness of his conviction." - Per Ogundare, J.S.C. in Mohammed v. Olawunmi Suit No. S.C. 147/1991; (1993) 4 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 287) 254 at 287.

(2) "In ordinary parlance, to convict means simply to find guilty. But in Law, a person is "convicted" when he has been found guilty and sentenced for an offence: Burgess v. Boetefeur, 13 L.J.M.C. 126; and "sentence" includes ordering the person found guilty to be bound over to enter into recognizance to be of good behaviour or to come for judgment if called upon. Jephson v. Barker 3 T.L.R. 40; R. v. Blaby (1894) 2 Q.B. 170." - Per Nnaemeka-Agu, J.S.C. in Mohammed v. Olawunmi Suit No. 42/1989; (1990) 21 N.S.C.C. (Pt. II) 36 at 49; (1990) 2 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 133) 458 at 482.

(3) "There is a clear distinction between conviction & sentence. A conviction is not to be nullified merely because the wrong sentence was imposed. This Court had held in Obidiozo v. The State (1987) 4 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 67) 748, that an error in the imposition of the wrong sentence will not......... ipso facto render...