Section 209: Protection of the law – Minimum penalty—The appellant appealed

209. Protection of the law – Minimum penalty—The appellant appealed against a sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 which was the minimum that could be imposed by the trial court under section 24 (1) (a) of the Firearms Act. One of his grounds of appeal was that section 24 (1) (a) of the Act is repugnant to section 3 of the Constitution. HELD Parliament was empowered to impose a fixed minimum penalty for an offence as opposed to selecting a penalty for a particular case. Section 24 (1) (a) of the Firearms Act is not compatible with section 3 of the Constitution, given that the National Assembly was free to impose a minimum sentence in respect of the offences with which the appellant was charged, having regard to the public interest involved in the control of firearms and ammunition. Labonne v State (2000).