Page 199 - Magistrates Conference 2019

What the introduction in Oakes might look like

31years later

⚫ On a July evening in 2017 a police officer searched the respondent David Oakes,

while he was sitting in his parked car. The officer found eight one-gram vials of

hashish oil. Oakes was charged under s 4(2) of the Narcotic Control Act with

possession of a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.

⚫ Oakes told the police that he bought the hashish oil for his personal use. But the

Crown relied on the reverse onus clause in s 8 of the Act, which provides that if a

court finds an accused in possession of a narcotic, the accused shall be presumed to

be in possession for the purpose of trafficking unless the accused can prove the

contrary.