Section 79: Case taken in absence of Counsel—On the day fixed for the trial,

79. Case taken in absence of Counsel—On the day fixed for the trial, Counsel was ill but the information to that effect conveyed by letter reached the Magistrate after the case had been heard and adjourned for judgment. The Magistrate proceeded to judgment on a later day and did not give Counsel an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses for the prosecution and, if deemed necessary, to call additional evidence. HELD the decision of the Magistrate to proceed to judgment amounted in the circumstances to an infringement of the Constitution relating to fundamental rights of the individual. Duval v R (1967).