A District Court judge on appeal from a magistrate's dismissal following a successful no case submission cannot enter convictions where the defendant was never advised of the right to give or call evidence and never elected whether to do so. The proper course is to remit the matter for further hearing according to law. The well-established practice that a court must rule on a no case submission without requiring the defence to elect whether to call evidence applies equally in the Magistrates Court.
The full text is available to signed-in members.