On 21/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 21/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 21/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 24/08/2012.
239.
—(1) Where in respect of any case it appears to the High Court that —
(a)
a fair and impartial trial cannot be had in any Subordinate Court;
(b)
some question of law of unusual difficulty is likely to arise; or
(c)
a transfer of the case is expedient for the ends of justice or is required by this Code or any other written law,
the High Court may order —
(i)
that the case be transferred from a Subordinate Court to any other Subordinate Court of equal or superior jurisdiction; or
(ii)
that the case be transferred to and tried before the High Court.
(2) An application for the transfer of a case may be made only after a court has fixed the case for trial in accordance with the pre-trial procedures in the Subordinate Courts in Part IX, and the order may be granted at any time thereafter before the conclusion of the trial.
(3) The application for the transfer of a case shall be by way of a motion and Division 5 of Part XX shall apply, except that where the applicant is the Public Prosecutor, the motion need not be supported by affidavit.
(4) When an accused makes an application under this section for the transfer of a case, the High Court may, if it thinks fit, order him to execute a bond with or without sureties requiring him, if convicted, to pay the costs of the prosecution.
240.
—(1) In any trial before a Magistrate’s Court in which it appears at any stage of the proceedings that from any cause the case is one which the Magistrate’s Court is not competent to try or one which in the opinion of that Court ought to be tried by a District Court or by the High Court, or if before or during the trial an application is made by the Public Prosecutor, the Magistrate’s Court shall stay proceedings and —
(a)
transfer the case to a District Court;
(b)
in a case where the committal procedures under Division 2 of Part X are to be held by virtue of section 175, arrange for a criminal case disclosure conference to be held in accordance with section 176, and that Division shall apply in relation to the case; or
(c)
in a case where the transmission procedures under Division 5 of Part X are to be held by virtue of section 175, forward the case to the Public Prosecutor, and that Division shall apply in relation to the case.
(2) In any trial before a District Court in which it appears at any stage of the proceedings that from any cause the case is one which the District Court is not competent to try or one which in the opinion of that Court ought to be tried by the High Court, or if before or during the trial an application is made by the Public Prosecutor, the District Court shall stay proceedings and —
(a)
in a case where the committal procedures under Division 2 of Part X are to be held by virtue of section 175, arrange for a criminal case disclosure conference to be held in accordance with section 176 and that Division shall apply in relation to the case; or
(b)
in a case where the transmission procedures under Division 5 of Part X are to be held by virtue of section 175, forward the case to the Public Prosecutor, and that Division shall apply in relation to the case.
(3) The Magistrate’s Court and the District Court shall record its order on the proceedings made under subsections (1) and (2), respectively.
(4) The powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2), other than the power of a Magistrate’s Court to transfer a case to a District Court, shall not be exercised except upon the application of the Public Prosecutor or with the consent of the Public Prosecutor.
(5) If in a trial before a Magistrate’s Court or District Court the accused, when charged, has refused to plead or has not pleaded or has claimed to be tried, and no further step has been taken in the proceedings, that Court may, if it thinks fit, stay the proceedings and transfer the case to another Magistrate’s Court or District Court, as the case may be, and shall record its order on the proceedings.