{"id":405,"date":"2023-01-04T14:06:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T14:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.2.253\/?page_id=405"},"modified":"2023-02-28T13:42:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T13:42:24","slug":"charging-the-accused","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/","title":{"rendered":"Charging the Accused"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

When a decision is made to prosecute or not, the DPP will decide the appropriate charge for the accused. It is the duty of the DPP to identify the correct charge having due regard to the evidence on the docket. In some instances it may be appropriate for the DPP to reduce a charge to a lesser one. In doing so, the DPP takes into account the strength of the case, the likelihood of adverse consequences of the criminal trial on witnesses, availability of witnesses, the need to avoid delay in disposing off a pending case or lack of evidence to support a more serious charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Click tabs below to learn more..<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/span>

What happens after an accused has been charged with an offense?<\/h3><\/div>
\n

When the DPP decides to prosecute, an indictment is prepared , and a committal certificate is also prepared where a case is to be heard by the High Court. A cause list is then generated and distributed to all Law Enforcement Agencies and the Subordinate Court, informing them of which accused persons must appear before court on specific dates. The Law Enforcement Agencies will notify the accused persons in custody, as well as those on bond.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/span>

What court can hear criminal cases?<\/h3><\/div>
\n

The Subordinate and the High Court determine trials. Appeal cases are determined by the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

Criminal Justice Procedure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Investigation<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Charging the accused<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Decision to Prosecute<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Court Proceedings<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sentencing and Appeals<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a decision is made to prosecute or not, the DPP will decide the appropriate charge for the accused. It is the duty of the DPP to identify the correct charge having due regard to the evidence on the docket. In some instances it may be appropriate for the DPP to reduce a charge to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-405","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCharging the Accused - National Prosecution Authority<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charging the Accused - National Prosecution Authority\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When a decision is made to prosecute or not, the DPP will decide the appropriate charge for the accused. It is the duty of the DPP to identify the correct charge having due regard to the evidence on the docket. In some instances it may be appropriate for the DPP to reduce a charge to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Prosecution Authority\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100089012211893\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-28T13:42:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NPAZambia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/\",\"name\":\"Charging the Accused - National Prosecution Authority\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-04T14:06:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-28T13:42:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Charging the Accused\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/\",\"name\":\"National Prosecution Authority\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#organization\",\"name\":\"National Prosecution Authority\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/National-Prosecution-Authority-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/National-Prosecution-Authority-1.png\",\"width\":938,\"height\":313,\"caption\":\"National Prosecution Authority\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100089012211893\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/NPAZambia\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Charging the Accused - National Prosecution Authority","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Charging the Accused - National Prosecution Authority","og_description":"When a decision is made to prosecute or not, the DPP will decide the appropriate charge for the accused. It is the duty of the DPP to identify the correct charge having due regard to the evidence on the docket. In some instances it may be appropriate for the DPP to reduce a charge to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/","og_site_name":"National Prosecution Authority","article_publisher":"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100089012211893","article_modified_time":"2023-02-28T13:42:24+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@NPAZambia","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/","url":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/","name":"Charging the Accused - National Prosecution Authority","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-01-04T14:06:54+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-28T13:42:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/charging-the-accused\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Charging the Accused"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/","name":"National Prosecution Authority","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#organization","name":"National Prosecution Authority","url":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/National-Prosecution-Authority-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/National-Prosecution-Authority-1.png","width":938,"height":313,"caption":"National Prosecution Authority"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100089012211893","https:\/\/x.com\/NPAZambia"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1136,"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/405\/revisions\/1136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.npa.gov.zm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}