Criminal Law Code as at 1st March 2007 (6) No person who shows that he has been tried by a competent court for a criminal offence upon a good indictment, summons or charge upon which a valid judgment could be entered and either convicted or acquitted shall again be tried for that offence or for any other criminal offence of which he could have been convicted at the trial for that offence… (8) No person who is tried for a criminal offence shall be compelled to give evidence at the trial.”; AND WHEREAS it is desirable to codify and, where necessary, reform the common criminal law of Zimbabwe⎯ (a) in conformity with the fundamental principles set out in the Constitution and other fundamental principles developed over time by our criminal justice system; and (b) in order to set out in a concise and accessible form what conduct our criminal justice system forbids and punishes and what defences can be raised to criminal charges; NOW, THEREFORE, be it enacted by the President and the Parliament of Zimbabwe as follows:⎯ CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY 1 Short title and date of commencement (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act may be cited as the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23].1 (2) References in this Act to “this Code” and in any other enactment to “the Criminal Law Code” shall be construed as references to this Act. (3) This Code shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the President by notice in a statutory instrument. 2 Interpretation (1) In this Code⎯ “accessory”, when used in relation to a crime, has the meaning given to it by section two hundred and five; “alternatively” and “concurrently”, in relation to the charging of a person with two or more crimes, shall be construed in accordance with section two hundred and seventy-nine; “accomplice”, when used in relation to a crime, has the meaning given to it by section one hundred and ninety-five; “accused” means a person accused of committing a crime; “actual perpetrator” has the meaning given to it by section one hundred and ninety-five; “cause”, when used in relation to a consequence ensuing from conduct, means that the conduct has caused the consequence as provided in section eleven; “conduct” includes an act or omission; 1 Section 1(1) as amended by s. 31 of Act 9/2006. - 16 -