REDRESS/AMANI regarding “ the full extent of the convicted person’s liability” can also cause a difficulty even if the compensation claim is only for pecuniary loss, such as medical expenses, because the convicted person could argue, for example, that some of the treatment was not necessary or could have been obtained more cheaply. 166 An award will not be made unless the injured party or the prosecutor acting on the injured party’s instructions applies for it,167 and the court must ensure that ‘where appropriate and practicable’ the injured party is acquainted with the right to apply for a compensation award.168 If an award is made, the beneficiary can be made to provide security to repay the compensation in case the conviction is reversed on appeal or review. 169 An award has the same effect as a civil judgment, giving rise to the right to proceed with a writ of execution against the convicted person ’s property,170 and debarring the injured person from bringing civil proceedings against the convicted person arising from the same injuries. 171 If an award is not sought, or is sought but is refused, the injured party is not precluded from seeking a civil remedy against the convicted person. 172 The second mechanism arises from Section 358 (3) of the Act in terms of which a criminal court may postpone or suspend all or part of a sentence (except for murder, conspiracy to murder or any offence where there is a laid down minimum sentence) on listed specified terms, including the payment of compensation for damage or pecuniary loss caused by the offence,173 except where an award has been made for compensation under Part XIX of the Act. 174 This seldom used power to suspend part of a sentence on condition of payment of compensation was exercised in the dramatic case of the prosecution, conviction and sentencing of Zimbabwe’s ex-President, the Reverend Canaan Sodino Banana 175 in 1998, and upheld on appeal.176 Banana was convicted in the High Court on two counts of sodomy and several others involving sexual offences between himself and other men (only one of the encounters was consensual). He was sentenced to a period of imprisonment, a portion of which was suspended on condition that he paid a lump sum as compensation to one of the complainants. He appealed against conviction and sentence, and the Supreme Court held that the discretion reposing in a trial court in relation to the conditions on which a sentence may be suspended are very 166 Section 369 gives the courts authority to call further documentary or verbal evidence to determine whether or not to award compensation, but in practice they are very reluctant to risk converting criminal proceedings into fullblown ‘civil hearings’ to determine damages, for obvious reasons. 167 Section 368 (1). 168 Section 368 (2). 169 Section 370. 170 Section 372. Section 373 gives the court the right to make the award out of monies taken from the convicted person on or after his arrest, or produced during the trial, or known to be in his bank account. 171 Section 374. 172 Section 375. 173 Section 358 (3) (b). 174 Section 358 (3) (c) also provides that another specified term is ‘the rendering of some specified benefit or service to any person injured or aggrieved by the offence,’ with the proviso that this will only apply if the injured or aggrieved person has consented thereto. 175 Banana became the country’s first President at independence in 1980, at that time a largely ceremonial post under the Lancaster House Constitution. Mugabe was the first Prime Minister. In 1987 the Constitution was amended and Mugabe became the first executive President, the position of Prime Minister being at the same time abolished : see above footnote 26. Banana retired from active politics on a generous State pension, and died in 2003. 176 The criminal trial is reported at S v Banana 1998 (2) ZLR 533 (H), and the appeal case at S v Banana 2000 (1) ZLR 607 (S). 35