PART THREE – Offences against Rights of Property
CHAPTER ONE – Offences involving Dishonesty
General Provisions
120. Dishonest appropriation
(1) An appropriation of a thing is dishonest
(a) if it is made with an intent to defraud, or
(b) if it is made by a person without a claim of right, and with a knowledge or belief that the appropriation is without the consent of a person for whom that person for whom that person is trustee or who is owner of the thing or that the appropriation would, if known to the other person, be without the consent of the other person.
(2) It is not necessary, in order to constitute a dishonest appropriation of a thing, that the accused person should know who the owner of the thing is, but it suffices if the accused person has reason to know or believe that any other person, whether certain or uncertain, is interested in or entitled to, that thing whether as owner in that person’s right or by operation of law, or in any other manner; and a person so interested in or entitled to a thing is an owner of that thing for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to criminal misappropriations and frauds.
(3) The general provisions of Part One with respect to consent, and with respect to the avoidance of consent by force, duress, incapacity, and otherwise, apply for the purposes of this section, except as is otherwise provided in this Chapter with respect to deceit.
Illustrations
Subsection (1)
1. A, a commercial traveller, is directed to collect moneys for the employer. If A is at liberty to dispose of the particular moneys which A collects, and is only bound to account for the balance in A’s hands at particular times or when called upon, A does not commit stealing or fraudulent breach of trust merely by spending any or all of the moneys collected by A unless there is an intent to defraud.
2. A being the guest of B writes a letter on B’s paper. Here A has not stolen, because, although A does not use the paper under a claim of right, yet A believes that B, as a reasonable person, would not object to A doing so.
3. A, during a law suit with B as to the right of certain goods, uses or sells some of the goods. Here A has not stolen because, although A believes that B would object, yet A acts under a claim of right.
Subsection (2) A person can be convicted of stealing by appropriating things the ownership of which is in dispute or unknown, or which have been found by another person.
121. Part owners: A person who is an owner of or interested in a thing, or in the amount, value or proceeds of that thing, jointly or in common with another person or as a member of a company, or who is owner of a thing as a trustee and also as a beneficiary of that thing, whether jointly or in common with another person or for a company of which that person is a member, can be convicted of stealing or of fraudulent breach of trust in respect of the thing; and a person can be a clerk, servant, or officer of a company of which that person is a member.
Illustrations
1. A member of a partnership, or of an association or a corporation, can be convicted of stealing a thing belonging to that member and the other members of the partnership, association or corporation.
2. A servant or officer of a partnership, association, or corporation can be convicted of stealing its property, although that person is a member of it.
122. Acts which amount to an appropriation
(1) An appropriation of a thing by a trustee means a dealing with the thing by the trustee, with the intent of depriving a beneficiary of the benefit of the right or interest in the thing, or in its value or proceeds, or a part of that thing.
(2) An appropriation of a thing in any other case means any moving, taking, obtaining, carrying away, or dealing with a thing, with the intent that a person may be deprived of the benefit of the ownership of that thing, or of the benefit of the right or interest in the thing, or in its value or proceeds, or part of that
thing.
(3) An intent to deprive can be constituted by an intent to appropriate the thing temporarily or for a particular use, if the intent is so to use or deal with the thing that it probably will be destroyed, or become useless or greatly injured or depreciated, or to restore it to the owner only by way of sale or exchange, or for reward, or in substitution for another thing to which that owner is otherwise entitled, or if it is pledged or pawned.
(4) It is immaterial whether the act by which a thing is taken, obtained or dealt with (a) is or is not a trespass or a conversion, (b) is or is not in any manner unlawful other than by reason of its being done with a purpose of dishonest appropriation, and it is immaterial whether, before or at the time of doing the act, the accused person had or did not have possession, custody, or control of the thing.
Illustrations
Subsection (1) A is a trustee of stock for B. If A orders the stock to be sold with the intent of appropriating part of the proceeds, A has appropriated the stock.
Subsection (2) A, intending to steal a horse, disguises it by cutting its mane and tail. This is a sufficient appropriation.
Subsection (3)
1. A is a workman paid according to the quantity of metal which A obtains from ore. If A fraudulently puts into the furnace a metal belonging to the employer instead of the ore, with the purpose of increasing A’s wages, A may be convicted of stealing the metal, although A does not mean to deprive the employer of it permanently.
2. A borrows a horse without the consent of its owners intending to keep it until it is worn out and then return it. Here A has committed the criminal offence of stealing the horse.
Subsection (4) A person can be convicted of stealing a thing entrusted to that person to carry or keep, and it is not necessary in order to constitute a stealing by that person, that the package in which the thing is contained should be broken open by that person.
123. Subject matter of stealing
(1) The criminal offence of stealing, fraudulent breach of trust, robbery, extortion, or defrauding by false pretence can be committed in respect of a thing
(a) whether living or dead, and whether fixed to the soil or to a building or fixture, or not so fixed, and
(b) whether the thing is a mineral or water, gas, or electricity, or of any other nature, and
(c) whether the value of the thing is intrinsic or for the purpose of evidence, or is of value only for a particular purpose or to a particular person, and
(d) whether the value of the thing does or does not amount to the value of the lowest denomination of coin.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a document is of value, whether it is complete or incomplete, and whether or not it is satisfied, exhausted, or cancelled.
(3) In proceedings in respect of a criminal offence mentioned in subsection (1), it is not necessary to prove ownership or value.
Stealing
124. Stealing
(1) A person who steals commits a second-degree felony.
(2) Where the Court which finds a person guilty of stealing is satisfied that on not less than two previous occasions the accused was found guilty of stealing, the Court shall order that the whole or a part of a term of imprisonment imposed by it shall be spent in productive hard labour.
(3) A person in respect of whom the Court makes an order under subsection (2) is disqualified for election to Parliament or to a District Assembly within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462), for a period not exceeding five years.
(4) For the purposes of this section, “productive hard labour” means labour in a State Farm or State Factory or any other public co-operative or collective enterprise specified by the Minister; “previous occasions” referred to in subsection (2) may include occasions which occurred prior to the commencement of this Act.31(31)
125. Definition of stealing: A person steals who dishonestly appropriates a thing of which that person is not the owner.
126. Consent by wife in case of stealing
(1) Where it is proved, on behalf of a person accused of having stolen a thing that the wife of the owner of the thing consented to its appropriation by the accused person, the accused person shall not be convicted unless it is proved against the accused person that the accused person had notice that the wife did not have the authority to consent to the appropriation.
(2) Where it appears that the accused person had committed, or designed to commit, adultery with the wife, the accused person shall be deemed to have had notice, but shall not in that case be deemed to have committed the criminal offence of stealing by reason only
(a) of the appropriation, with the consent of the wife, or
(b) of the assistance to the wife to appropriate a wearing apparel of the wife or money or any other thing of which the wife is apparently permitted to have the disposal for her own use.
127. Stealing of thing found: A person who appropriates a thing which appears to have been lost by another person has not committed the criminal offence of stealing it, unless
(a) at the time of appropriating it, that person knows the owner of the thing or by whom it has been lost; or
(b) the character or situation of the thing, the marks on it, or any other circumstances indicate the owner of the thing or the person by whom it has been lost; or
(c) the character or situation of the thing, the marks on it, or any other circumstances indicate that the person who has lost the thing appears likely to be able to recover it by reasonable search and enquiry, if it were not removed or concealed by any other person.
Illustrations
1. A finds a ring in the high road. If the ring has an owner’s or maker’s name or motto engraved on it, or if it is of great value, A will be convicted of stealing it if A appropriates it without making reasonable enquiry.
2. A buys an old chest at the sale of the personal effects of a deceased person. A finds a banknote in a secret drawer of the chest A commits the criminal offence of stealing if A appropriates the note, unless A had expressly bought the right to what A might find in the chest, or makes reasonable enquiry and fails to discover the owner.
127A. Stealing of telephone wires: Despite section 296 of the Criminal and other Offence (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30), a person who steals an underground telephone cable, or a telephone wire attached to or connected with a telephone or telephone pole, commits a criminal offence and is liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than twenty-five years.32(32)
Fraudulent Breach of Trust
128. Fraudulent breach of trust: A person who commits a fraudulent breach of trust commits a second-degree felony.33(33)
129. Definition of fraudulent breach of trust: A person commits a fraudulent breach of trust if that person dishonestly appropriates a thing the ownership of which is invested in that person as a trustee for or on behalf of any other person.
130. Explanation as to a gratuitous trustee: Where a person, who is the owner of a thing in that person’s own right and benefit, undertakes to hold or apply the thing as a trustee for another person, the first-named person does not become a trustee within the meaning of the provisions of this Act relating to fraudulent breaches of trust, unless that owner has constituted the owner as a trustee by an instrument in writing executed by the owner and specifying the nature of the trust and the person to be benefited by the trust.
Illustration
A, on the marriage of A’s daughter, verbally promises to hold certain of A’s moneys in trust for her daughter and the daughter’s children. A is not a trustee within the meaning of the section; but, if the moneys were entrusted to A by the husband for the wife, A would be a trustee within the meaning of the section.
False Pretences and Other Frauds
131. Defrauding by false pretence
(1) A person who defrauds any other person by a false pretence commits a second degree felony.34(34)
(2) A person who by means of a false pretence or by personation obtains or attempts to obtain the consent of another person to part with or transfer the ownership of a thing by a false representation of acting in accordance with the instructions, orders or a request of the President or member of the Cabinet, commits a second degree felony under subsection (1) and is liable to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years and not more than twenty-five years despite section 296 of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30).35(35)
132. Definition of defrauding by false pretence: A person defrauds by false pretences if, by means of a false pretence, or by personation that person obtains the consent of another person to part with or transfer the ownership of a thing.
133. Definition of, and provisions relating to, a false pretence
(1) A false pretence is a representation of the existence of a state of facts made by a person, with the knowledge that the representation is false or without the belief that it is true, and made with an intent to defraud.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1),
(a) a representation may be made by written or spoken words, or by personation, or by any other conduct, sign, or means of any kind;
(b) the expression “a representation of the existence of a state of facts” includes a representation as to the non-existence of a thing or a condition of things, and a representation of any right, liability, authority, ability, dignity or ground or credit or confidence as resulting from an alleged past fact or state of facts, but does not include a mere representation of an intention or a state of mind in the person making the representation, nor a mere representation or promise that anything will happen or will be done, or is likely to happen or to be done;
(c) a consent is not obtained by a false representation as to the quality or value of a thing, unless the thing is substantially worthless for the purpose for which it is represented to be fit, or to have been substantially a different thing from that which it is represented to be; and
(d) subject to paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), if the consent of a person is in fact obtained by a false pretence, it is immaterial that the pretence is of a kind that would not have an effect on the mind of a person using ordinary care and judgment.
Illustrations
Subsection (2)
1. A goes into a shop dressed as an officer in the Army, which A is not. If A does this in order to gain credit which A would not otherwise get, A has committed the criminal offence of a false pretence, although A does not actually say that A is an officer.
2. The following pretences which are false are sufficient “false pretences” by A within the meaning of this Chapter:
(a) that a picture which A is selling once belonged to a particular collector;
(b) that a picture which A is selling was painted by a particular painter;
(c) that a picture which A is selling belongs to A;
(d) that A is entitled to a legacy under the will of a deceased relative;
(e) that A has an account at a particular bank; or
(f) that A has the authority of another person to act on that person’s behalf.
3. The following are not sufficient, although false:
(a) that the picture is a valuable work of A;
(b) that A expects to receive a legacy when a relative dies.
134. Personation
(1) Personation means a false pretence or representation by a person that that person is a different person, whether that different person is living or dead or is a fictitious person.
(2) A person may commit the criminal offence of personation although that person gives or uses that person’s own name, if that is done with intent of being believed to be a different person of the same or of a similar name.
135. Fictitious trading: Where a person orders, or makes a bargain for the purchase of goods or things by way of sale or exchange, and after obtaining the goods or the things, that person defaults in payment of the purchase money or in rendering the goods or things to be rendered by that person by way of an exchange, that person commits the criminal offence of defrauding or attempting to defraud by false pretences if
(a) at the time of giving the order or making the bargain, that person intended to make that default; and
(b) the order was given or the bargain was made with intent to defraud and not in the course of a trade carried on in good faith.
136. Distinction between stealing and false pretences
(1) Where the owner of a thing, or a person having authority to part with the ownership of that thing, gives consent to the appropriation of it by the accused person, then, although the consent has been obtained by deceit, the accused person shall not be convicted of having stolen the thing, but may be convicted of the criminal offence of having defrauded by false pretences, if the acts amounted to the criminal offence.
(2) The consent to be proved by the accused person for the purposes of subsection (1), is an unconditional consent to the immediate and final appropriation of the thing by the accused person, by way of gift or barter, or of sale on credit to the accused person.
Illustrations
Subsection (1)
1. A, intending fraudulently to appropriate a horse belonging to B, obtains it from B, under the pretence that A wants it for a day. Here A, commits the criminal offence of stealing.
2. A, intending to defraud B of a horse without paying for it induces B to sell and deliver it to A without the present payment, by a false pretence that A has the money for the payment at A’s bank. Here A commits the criminal offence of obtaining by false pretence but not of stealing.36(36)
137. Charlatanic advertisements in newspapers
(1) The publication in a journal or newspaper of an advertisement or a notice relating to fortunetelling, palmistry, astrology, or the use of any subtle craft, means or device, by which it is sought to deceive or impose on a member of the public, or which is calculated or is likely to deceive or impose on a member of the public, is illegal.
(2) The editor, publisher, proprietor, and the printer of a journal or newspaper in which the advertisement or notice is published commits a criminal offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five penalty units.37(37)
138. Fraud as to weights and measures: Repealed.38(38)
139. Improper removal of or dealing with stamps
(1) A person commits a criminal offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding five penalty units,39(39)
(a) who unlawfully removes from a postal matter or telegraph form a stamp affixed or impressed on that matter or form in payment for the postage or message, whether it has been cancelled or not;
(b) who knowingly uses or attempts to use, or sells, or buys, or otherwise procures a stamp which has been unlawfully removed;
(c) who knowingly uses or attempts to use in payment for a postage, a stamp or a stamped envelope or card or wrapper which has been used before for a like purpose, or a stamp cut from that envelope or wrapper;
(d) who removes or attempts to remove the cancelling marks from a stamp which has been affixed or impressed, in order that it may be used or otherwise disposed of.
(2) A person employed in the [Posts and Telecommunications Department] who does any of the acts described in subsection (1) commits a misdemeanour.
140. Falsification of accounts
(1) A clerk, a servant or a public officer, or an officer of a partnership, company or corporation commits a second degree felony who does any of the acts mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), with intent to cause or enable a person to be defrauded, or with intent to commit or to facilitate the commission, personally or by any other person, of a criminal offence;
(a) conceals injures, alters or falsifies a book, or an account kept by or belonging or entrusted to the employers or to the partnership, company or corporation; or corporation; or entrusted to the officer, or to which the officer has access, as an officer or omits to make a full and true entry in an account of anything which the officer is bound to enter in the account; or
(b) publishes an account, a statement or prospectus, relating to the affairs of the partnership, company or corporation, which the officer knows to be false in a material particular. 40(40)
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), “officer” means a clerk, a servant, a public officer or an officer of a partnership, company or corporation.
141. Fraud in sale or mortgage of land: A person who, in order to induce another person to become a purchaser or mortgagee of land, fraudulently conceals a document which is material to the title to the land, commits a misdemeanour.
142. Fraud as to boundaries or documents: A person commits a misdemeanour with intent to defraud who
(a) removes, injures, alters or falsifies a boundary mark or thing serving or intended to distinguish the land or other property of that person, or of any other person, from the land or other property of any other person; or
(b) conceals, injures, alters or falsifies a bill of lading invoice, manifest, receipt or any other document evidencing the quantity, character or condition of a property, or the receipt or disposition of or the title of a person to, a property.
143. Fraud as to thing pledged or taken in execution: A person who, secretly or by duress or deceit, and with intent to defraud, takes or obtains property from a person to whom that person has pawned, pledged, or otherwise bailed it or from a person having, by virtue of an execution, a seizure or any other process of law, the possession, custody, or control of the property, commits a misdemeanour.
144. Fraud in removing goods to evade legal process: A person who, knowing an execution, a warrant or any other process of law has been awarded or issued for the seizure of anything belonging to, or in the possession, custody, or control of, that person, removes, conceals or disposes of that thing, with intent to defeat or evade the execution, warrant, or other process, commits a misdemeanour.
145. Fraud by agents
(1) A person commits a misdemeanour who
(a) as an agent dishonestly accepts or obtains, or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain, from any other person, for that person or for any other person, a gift or consideration as an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do or for having done or forborne to do, an act in relation to the principal’s affairs or business, or for showing or forbearing to show favour or disfavour to a person in relation to the principal’s affairs or business; or
(b) dishonestly gives or agrees to give or offers a gift or consideration to an agent as an inducement or reward for forbearing to do, or for having done or forborne to do, an act in relation to the principal’s affairs or business, or for showing or forbearing to show favour or disfavour to a person in relation to the principal’s affairs or business; or
(c) knowingly gives to an agent, or if an agent knowingly uses with intent to deceive the principal, a receipt, an account, or any other document in respect of which the principal is interested, and which contains a statement which is false or erroneous or defective in a material particular, and which is to the knowledge of that person intended to mislead the principal.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), “consideration” includes valuable consideration of any kind; “agent” includes a person employed by or acting for another; “principal” includes an employer.
(3) A civil servant or officer of a local authority is an agent within the meaning of this section.
Receiving
146. Dishonestly receiving property: A person who dishonestly receives property which that person knows has been obtained or appropriated by a criminal offence punishable under this Chapter, commits a criminal offence and is liable to the same punishment as if that person had committed that criminal offence.
147. Dishonestly receiving
(1) A person commits the criminal offence of dishonestly receiving property which that person knows to have been obtained or appropriated by a criminal offence, if that person receives, buys, or assists in the disposal of the property otherwise than with a purpose to restore it to the owner.
(2) It is immaterial whether the criminal offence by which the property was obtained or appropriated was or was not committed within the jurisdiction of the Court.
(3) Where the property was obtained or appropriated beyond the jurisdiction of the Court by an act the doing of which within the jurisdiction would be a criminal offence punishable under this Act, the act is, for the purposes of this section, equivalent to a criminal offence punishable under this Act.
148. Possession of stolen property
(1) Where a person charged with dishonestly receiving is proved to have had in possession or under control, anything which is reasonably suspected of having been stolen or unlawfully obtained, and that person does not give an account, to the satisfaction of the Court, as to the possession or control, the Court may presume that the thing has been stolen or unlawfully obtained, and that person may be convicted of dishonestly receiving in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
(2) The possession or control of a carrier, an agent, or a servant is, for the purposes of subsection (1), possession or control of the person who employed the carrier, agent or servant, and that person is liable accordingly.
Robbery and Extortion
149. Robbery: A person who commits robbery commits a first degree felony.41(41)
150. Definition of robbery: A person who steals a thing commits robbery
(a) if in, and for the purpose of stealing the thing, that person uses force or causes harm to any other person, or
(b) if that person uses a threat or criminal assault or harm to any other person, with intent to prevent or overcome the resistance of the other person to the stealing of the thing.
151. Extortion
(1) A person who extorts property from any other person by means of threat commits a second-degree felony.
(2) When used with reference to extortion, “threat” does not include a threat of criminal assault or harm to the person threatened.
Illustration
If A obtains money from B by threat of violence to B, A does not commit extortion, but the criminal offence of robbery.
Unlawful Entry
152. Unlawful entry: A person who unlawfully enters a building with the intention of committing a criminal offence in the building commits a second degree felony.
153. Explanation as to unlawful entry: A person unlawfully enters a building if that person enters otherwise than in the exercise of a lawful right, or by the consent of any other person able to give the consent for the purposes for which that person enters.
154. Instruments intended or adapted for unlawful entry: A person who has, without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on that person, the possession of a tool or an implement adapted or intended for use in unlawfully entering a building commits a misdemeanour.
155. Being on premises for unlawful purposes
(1) A person who is found in or about a market, wharf, jetty, or landing place, or in or about a vessel, verandah, outhouse, building, premises, passage, gateway, yard, garden or an enclosed piece of land, for an unlawful purpose, commits a misdemeanour.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the expression “enclosed piece of land” includes
(a) land in respect of which a concession, within the meaning of the Concessions Act, 1962 (Act 124) is in force;
(b) land which is held by a person by virtue of a grant made in pursuance of the Administration of Lands Act, 1962 (Act 123);
(c) land in respect of which a licence granted under section 2 of the Minerals Act, 1965 (Act 126) is in force; and
(d) land which is vested in the President by or by virtue of an enactment, or which is Stool Land within the meaning of the Administration of Lands Act, 1962 (Act 123).42(42)
156. Definition of owner and occupier: For the purposes of section 157, “owner” and “occupier” respectively includes a tenant or lessee, and the attorney or agent of an owner or occupier.
157. Trespass: A person who
(a) unlawfully enters in an insulting, annoying or threatening manner on land belonging to or in the possession of any other person, or
(b) unlawfully enters on land after having been forbidden so to do, or
(c) unlawfully enters and remains on land after having been required to depart from that land, or
(d) having lawfully entered on a land, acts in a manner that is insulting, annoying or threatening, or
(e) having lawfully entered on a land, remains on that land after having been lawfully required to depart from that land, commits a criminal offence and is liable, on the complaint of the owner or occupier of the land, to a fine not exceeding twenty-five penalty units; and the Court may order the removal from the land, by force if necessary, of a person, an animal, a structure or a thing.43(43)
CHAPTER TWO – Forgery
158. Forgery of judicial or official document: A person who, with intent to deceive any other person, forges a judicial or an official document, commits a second-degree felony.
159. Forgery of other documents: A person commits a misdemeanour who forges a document,
(a) with intent to defraud or injure another person, or
(b) with intent to evade the requirements of the law, or
(c) with intent to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, a criminal offence.
160. Forging hall-mark on gold or silver plate or bullion
A person who with intent to defraud, forges or counterfeits a hall-mark or mark appointed, under the
authority of a law, by a corporation or public officer to denote the weight, fineness, age, or place of
manufacture of gold or silver-plate or bullion, commits a misdemeanour.
161. Forging trade-mark: A person commits a misdemeanour who
(a) forges or counterfeits a trade-mark or marks with a forged or counterfeited trade-mark, the goods or anything used in, or about, or in connection with the sale of goods, or
(b) sells or offers for sale goods or a thing so marked, or
(c) has in his possession, custody or control the goods or a thing so marked, or the materials or means prepared or contrived for the forging or counterfeiting of a trade-mark, or for the marking of goods or a thing with those materials or means, intending fraudulently to pass off, or to enable any other person fraudulently to pass off, the goods as having been lawfully marked with the trade-mark or as being of a character signified by the trade-mark.
162. Forgery of, and other offences relating to, stamps: A person commits a criminal offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty penalty units who
(a) forges a stamp, whether impressed or adhesive, used for the purposes of revenue by the Government, or by a foreign country; or
(b) without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on that person, makes or has knowingly in possession a die or an instrument capable of making the impression of that stamp; or
(c) fraudulently cuts, tears, or removes from a material a stamp used for the purposes of revenue by the Government, with intent that a use should be made of the stamp or of a part of the stamp; or
(d) fraudulently mutilates a stamp to which paragraph (c) applies, with intent that a use should be made of a part of the stamp; or
(e) fraudulently fixes or places on a material, or on a stamp to which paragraph (c) applies, a stamp or part of a stamp which, whether fraudulently or not, has been cut, torn or removed from any other material, or out of or from any other stamp; or
(f) fraudulently erases or otherwise really or apparently removes from a stamped material a written name, sum, date, or any other matter or thing with the intent that a use should be made of the stamp on that material; or
(g) knowingly and without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on that person, has in possession a stamp or part of a stamp which has been fraudulently cut, torn or otherwise removed from a material, or a stamp which has been fraudulently mutilated, or a stamped material out of which a name, sum, date or any other matter or thing has been fraudulently erased, or otherwise really or apparently removed. 44(44)
163. Definition of trade-mark and official document
(1) In this Chapter, “trade-mark” means a mark, label, ticket, or any other sign or device lawfully appropriated by a person as a means of denoting that
(a) an article of trade, manufacture or merchandise is an article of the manufacture, workmanship, production, or merchandise of that person, or
(b) is an article or a peculiar or particular description made or sold by a person,
and also means a mark, sign or device which, in pursuance of an enactment relating to registered designs, is to be put or placed on, or attached to, an article during the existence or continuance of a copyright or any other peculiar right.
(2) A mark, label, ticket, or any other sign or device is not lawfully appropriated by a person, within
the meaning of subsection (1), unless it is of a kind and so appropriated
(a) that an injunction or other process would be granted by the Court to restrain its use by any other person without the consent of the person by whom it is appropriated, or
(b) that an action might be maintained by the last mentioned person against any other person making use of it without consent of the person by whom it is appropriated.
(3) In this Chapter, “official document” means a document purporting to be made, used or issued by a public officer for a purpose relating to that public office.
164. Special provisions relating to forgery
(1) A person forges a document if that person makes or alters the document, or a material part of the document, with intent to cause it to be believed
(a) that the document or the part has been so made or altered by a person who did not in fact so make or alter it; or
(b) that the document or the part has been so made or altered with the authority or consent of a person who did not in fact give the authority or consent; or
(c) that the document or the part has been so made or altered at a time different from that at which it was in fact so made or altered.
(2) A person who issues or uses a document which is exhausted or cancelled, with intent that it may pass or have effect as if it were not exhausted or cancelled, commits the criminal offence of forging the document.
(3) The making or alteration of a document or a part of a document by a person in the name of that person is forgery if the making or alteration is with any of the intents mentioned in subsection (1).
(4) The making or alteration of a document or a part of a document by a person in a name which is not the real name or the ordinary name of that person is forgery if the making or alteration is with any of the intents mentioned in subsection (1).
(5) For the purposes of this section,
(a) it is immaterial whether the person by whom, or with whose authority or consent, a document or a part of the document purports to have been made, or is intended to be believed to have been made, is living or dead, or a fictitious person;
(b) a word, letter, figure, mark, seal, or thing expressed on or in a document, or forming part of, or attached to, the document, and a colouring, shape, or device used in the document, which purports to indicate the person by whom, or with whose authority or consent the document or the part has been made, altered executed, delivered, attested, verified, certified, or issued, or which may affect the purport, operation, or validity of the document in a material particular, is a material part of the document;
(c) “alteration” includes any cancelling, erasure, severance, interlineations, or transposition of or in a document or of or in a material part of the document, and the addition of a material part to the document and any other act or device by which the purport, operation, or validity of the document may be affected.
(6) This section applies to the forgery of a stamp or trade-mark in the manner in which it applies to the forgery of a document.
Illustrations
1. A endorses A’s name on a cheque, meaning it to pass as an endorsement by another person of the same name. Here A has committed forgery.
2. A is living under an assumed name. It is not forgery for A to execute a document in that name, unless A does so with the intent to defraud, etc.
3. A with intent to defraud, makes a promissory note in the name of an imaginary person. Here A commits forgery.
165. Possession of means of forging: A person who without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on that person, has in possession an instrument or a thing specially contrived or adapted for the purposes of forgery commits a misdemeanour.
166. Possessing forged document: A person who with an intent mentioned in this Chapter, has in possession a document or stamp, which is forged, counterfeited, or falsified, or which that person knows is not genuine, commits a criminal offence and is liable to the like punishment as if that person had, with that intent forged, counterfeited, or falsified the document or stamp.
167. Possession or doing an act with respect to document or stamp
(1) A person possesses or does an act with respect to a document knowing it is not genuine, if that person possesses it, does an act with respect to it, knowing that it was not in fact made or altered at the time, or by the person, or with the authority or consent of the person, at which or by whom or with whose authority or consent, it purports or is pretended by that person to have been made or altered; and it is immaterial whether the act of the person who made or altered it was or was not a criminal offence.
(2) In like manner, a person possesses or does an act with respect to a stamp, knowing it is not genuine, if that person possesses it or does an act with respect to it, knowing that it is in fact counterfeited or falsified; and it is immaterial whether the act of the person who counterfeited or falsified it was or was not a criminal offence.
168. Definition of counterfeiting
(1) A person counterfeits a stamp or mark if that person makes an imitation of the stamp or mark, or anything which is intended to pass or which may pass as that stamp or mark.
(2) A person who makes anything which is intended to serve as a specimen, or pattern or trial of a process for counterfeiting a stamp or mark, commits the criminal offence of counterfeiting, within the meaning of this Chapter, although that person does not intend that a person should be defrauded or injured by, or that a further use should be made of, the specimen or pattern.
169. Uttering forged documents: A person who, with an intent mentioned in this Chapter, utters or deals with or uses, a document, or a stamp mentioned in this Chapter, knowing it is forged, counterfeited, or falsified, or knowing it is not genuine, commits a criminal offence and is liable to the like punishment as if that person had with that intent, forged counterfeited, or falsified the document or stamp.
170. Imperfect imitation of forged document: For the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to the forgery, counterfeiting, falsifying, uttering, dealing with, using, or possession of a document, stamp, or trade-mark, it is not necessary that the document, stamp or trade-mark should be so complete, or should be intended to be made so complete, or should be capable of being made so complete, as to be valid or effectual for any of the purposes of a thing of the kind which it purports or is intended to be or to represent, or as to deceive a person of ordinary judgment and observation.
171. Special provision as to jurisdiction: For the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to the possessing or doing an act with respect to a document, stamp, or trade-mark which is forged, counterfeited, or falsified, or which is not genuine, it is immaterial whether the document, stamp or trade-mark has been forged, counterfeited, falsified, made or altered beyond or within the jurisdiction of the Court.
CHAPTER THREE
Unlawful Damage
172. Causing unlawful damage
(1) A person who intentionally and unlawfully causes damage to property
(a) to a value not exceeding one million cedis or without a pecuniary value, commits a misdemeanour,45(45)
(b) to a value exceeding one million cedis commits a second a degree felony.
(2) A person who intentionally and unlawfully causes damage to property in a manner which causes, is likely to cause, danger to life commits a first degree felony.
(3) For the purposes of this section, “property” means movable or immovable property.
173. Definition of damage: For the purposes of this Act, “damage” includes not only damage to the matter of a thing, but also an interruption in the use of that thing, or an interference with that thing by which the thing becomes permanently or temporarily useless, or by which expense is rendered necessary in order to render the thing fit for the purposes for which it was used or maintained.46(46)
174. Explanation of unlawful damage
(1) A person does an act or causes an event unlawfully, within the meaning of the provisions of this Act relating to unlawful damage, where that person is liable to a civil action or proceeding, or to a fine or any other punishment under an enactment,
(a) in respect of the doing of the act causing an event, or
(b) in respect of the consequences of the act or event, or
(c) in which that person would be so liable if that person caused the event directly by a personal act, or
(d) in which that person is liable to be restrained by injunction or any other proceeding from doing that act or causing that event.
(2) It is immaterial whether a person accused of a criminal offence in respect of any premises or a thing is or is not in possession or occupation of the premises or of that thing.
(3) A person who is interested jointly or in common with other persons in any premises or a thing as an owner or otherwise, or who as owner is a trustee for any other person, can commit a criminal offence punishable under the provisions referred to in subsection (1) by an act which is unlawful under this Chapter.
(4) A person who is the sole beneficial owner of any premises or a thing can commit a criminal offence punishable under the provisions referred to in subsection (1) by an act done with intent to injure or defraud a person or to cause harm to a person although the act is not otherwise unlawful.
(5) Despite anything contained in Part One as to mistake of law, a person is not liable to punishment in respect of doing a thing which that person in good faith, believes to be entitled to do.
Illustrations
Subsection (2) A tenant of a house can commit a criminal offence against those provisions by setting fire to the house.
Subsection (3) A person who is a joint owner or in common with other persons of a house or other property can commit a criminal offence against those provisions in respect of the injury caused by that person’s criminal offence to the other joint owners or co-owners.
Subsection (4) A person who intentionally sets fire to that person’s own dwelling-house or ship may commit the criminal offence of causing unlawful damage as, for instance, if the fire is likely to spread to and does spread to other houses or if the property of any other persons is likely to be destroyed and is destroyed.
175. Explanation as to amount of damage
(1) Where an intention to cause damage to a certain amount, or a causing of damage to a certain amount, is required by a provision of this Act relating to unlawful damage, it is not necessary that the damage to that amount should be intended or done to an individual thing of a kind mentioned in this provision, but it suffices if damage to that amount in the aggregate is intended or done to a number or collection of those things.
(2) Where different punishments are provided by a provision of this Act relating to unlawful damage, according to the differences in the amount of damage caused, a person who is accused of having attempted to cause damage to a greater amount shall not be acquitted or relieved from liability to the greater punishment on the ground that a lesser amount of damage was actually caused.
176. Poisoning or using dynamite in river: A person commits a criminal offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty penalty units, who
(a) throws a substance poisonous to fish into a river, stream, or lagoon, in order to poison or stupefy the fish, or
(b) turns or obstructs a river or stream, for the purpose of taking or destroying fish, or
(c) throws a substance poisonous to fish into a part of the sea at the mouth of a river or stream running into the sea, for the purpose of poisoning, stupefying, taking or destroying fish, or
(d) uses dynamite or any other explosive substance to catch or destroy fish in a river, stream, or lagoon, or
(e) uses a mode of catching fish which tends to destroy the fish in a river, stream or lagoon.
177. Repairs endangering train, vessel or aircraft
(1) A person who in constructing or repairing a vessel or an aircraft or a fitting or machinery for a vessel or an aircraft, or any engine, carriage, or apparatus to be used on or forming part of a railway, knowingly uses those materials, or so does a work, or so conceals a defect, so that the safety of the vessel or aircraft, or who may use the railway, is likely to be endangered, commits a second-degree felony.
(2) A person who supplies for use on board a vessel or an aircraft a medical or surgical store or instrument, or a life-belt or an apparatus for saving life, of an inferior quality or in a condition that renders it substantially unfit for the purposes for which it is supplied or likely to endanger life, commits a misdemeanour if that person does so knowingly or negligently.
178. Intentionally endangering train, vessel or aircraft: A person who causes the safety of an engine, a carriage, or a train on a railway, or of a vessel or an aircraft, to be endangered, with intent to cause harm or danger to a person, commits a first degree felony.
179. Interference with signal: A person who unlawfully interferes with or obstructs the working of a lighthouse, beacon, buoy, signal, or any other apparatus or thing which is used or maintained for the safety of navigation, whether on the sea or on a river or any other water or in the air or for the safe working or using of a railway, commits a misdemeanour.
CHAPTER FOUR – Special Offences47(47)
179A. Causing loss, damage or injury to property
(1) A person who by a wilful act or omission causes loss, damage or injury to the property of a public body or an agency of the Republic commits a criminal offence.
(2) A person who in the course of a transaction or business with a public body or an agency of the Republic intentionally causes damage or loss whether economic or otherwise to that body or agency commits a criminal offence.
(3) A person commits a criminal offence through whose wilful, malicious or fraudulent action or omission
(a) the Republic incurs a financial loss, or
(b) the security of the Republic is endangered.
(4) In this section “public body” includes the Republic, the Government, a public board or corporation, a public institution and a company or any other body in which the Republic or a public corporation or other statutory body has a proprietary interest.
179B. Importation of explosives
(1) A person who without lawful authority the proof of which lies on that person, imports any explosives, firearms or ammunition commits a criminal offence.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) explosives, firearms or ammunition have the meaning as provided under section 192.
179C. Using public office for profit: A person commits a criminal offence who
(a) while holding a public office corruptly or dishonestly abuses the office for private profit or benefit; or
(b) not being a holder of a public office acts or is found to have acted in collaboration with a person holding a public office for the latter to corruptly or dishonestly abuse the public office for private profit or benefit.
179D. Penalty
A person convicted of a criminal offence specified in this Chapter is liable to a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty penalty units or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding ten years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.