Malawi Penal Code: Sections Overview
Malawi Penal Code: Sections Overview
PENAL CODE
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
2. Saving of certain laws
CHAPTER II
INTERPRETATION
3. General rule of construction of Code
4. Interpretation
CHAPTER III
TERRITORIAL APPLICATION OF THIS CODE
5. Offence committed partly within and partly beyond the jurisdiction
6. Jurisdiction and procedure in respect of certain offences committed in countries
outside the Republic.
CHAPTER IV
GENERAL RULES AS TO CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
7. Ignorance of law
8. Bona fide claim of right
9. Intention: motive
10. Mistake of fact
11. Presumption of sanity
12. Insanity
13. Intoxication
14. Immature age
15. Judicial officers
16. Compulsion
17. Defence of person or property
18. Use of force in effecting arrest
19. Compulsion by husband
20. Person not to be punished twice for the same offence
CHAPTER V
PARTIES TO OFFENCES
21. Principal offenders
22. Offences committed by joint offenders in prosecution of common purpose
23. Counselling another to commit an offence
24. Offences by corporations, societies, etc.
CHAPTER VI
PUNISHMENTS
25. Different kinds of punishment
26. Sentence of death
27. Imprisonment
28. Corporal punishment
29. Fines
30. Forfeiture
31. Suspension or forfeiture of right to carry on business
32. Compensation
33. Costs
34. General punishment for misdemeanours
35. Sentences cumulative unless otherwise ordered
36. Escaped convicts to serve unexpired sentences when recaptured
37. [Repealed by 5 of 1969]
PART II
CRIMES
Division I
Offences Against Public Order
CHAPTER VII
TREASON AND OTHER OFFENCES AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT'S AUTHORITY
38. Treason
39. Concealment of treason
40. Promoting war amongst Africans
41. Inciting to mutiny
42. Aiding soldiers or policemen in acts of mutiny
43. Inducing soldiers or policemen to desert
44. Aiding prisoners of war to escape
45. Definitions
46. Power to prohibit importation of publications
47. Offences in relation to publications, the importation of which is prohibited
48. Delivery of prohibited publication to administrative officer or police station
49. Power to examine
50. Seditious intention
51. Seditious offences
52. Forfeiture of machine and prohibition of publication
53. Legal proceedings
54. Unlawful oaths to commit capital offences
55. Other unlawful oaths to commit offences
56. Compelling another person to take an oath
57. Compulsion, how far a defence
58. Person present deemed to consent to administering of oath unless he reports to
authorities
59. Unlawful drilling
60. Publication of false news likely to cause fear and alarm to the public
60A. Communication of false statements, etc., which may be published generally, etc.,
outside Malawi [Repealed by 17 of 1994]
CHAPTER VIII
OFFENCES AFFECTING RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN STATES AND EXTERNAL
TRANQUILLITY
61. Defamation of foreign princes
62. Foreign enlistment
63. Piracy
CHAPTER IX
UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLIES, RIOTS AND OTHER OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC
TRANQUILLITY
64. Definition of society and unlawful society
65. Managing unlawful society
66. Being member of unlawful society
67. Prosecutions under sections 65 and 66
68. Power of entry, arrest, search, etc.
69. Declaration by Minister
70. Forfeiture of insignia, etc.
71. Unlawful assembly
Riot
72. Punishment of unlawful assembly
73. Punishment of riot
74. Making proclamation for rioters to disperse
75. Dispersion of rioters after proclamation made
76. Rioting after proclamation
77. Preventing or obstructing the making of proclamation
78. Rioters demolishing buildings, etc.
79. Rioters injuring buildings, machinery, etc.
80. Riotously preventing the sailing of ship
81. Prohibition of carrying offensive weapons without lawful authority or reasonable
excuse
82. Forcible entry
83. Forcible detainer
84. Fighting in public
85. Challenge to fight a duel
86. Threatening violence
87. Proposing violence at assemblies
88. Intimidation
89. Assembling for the purpose of smuggling
Division II
Offences Against the Administration of Lawful Authority
CHAPTER X
CORRUPTION AND THE ABUSE OF OFFICE
90. Official corruption
91. Extortion by public officers
92. Public officers receiving property to show favour
93. Officers charged with administration of property of a special character or with
special duties
94. False claims by officials
95. Abuse of office
96. False certificates by public officers
97. Unauthorized administration of oaths
98. False assumption of authority
99. Personating public officers
100. Threat of injury to persons employed in public service
CHAPTER XI
OFFENCES RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
101. Perjury and subornation of perjury
102. Perjury in written statement
103. False statements by interpreters
104. Punishment of perjury and subornation
105. Fabricating evidence
106. False swearing
107. Deceiving witnesses
108. Destroying evidence
109. Conspiracy to defeat justice and interference with witnesses
110. Compounding felonies
111. Compounding penal actions
112. Advertisements for stolen property
113. Offences relating to judicial proceedings
CHAPTER XII
RESCUES, ESCAPES AND OBSTRUCTING OFFICERS OF COURT OF LAW
114. Rescue
115. Escape
116. Permitting prisoners to escape
117. Aiding prisoners to escape
118. Removal, etc., of property under lawful seizure
119. Obstructing court officers
CHAPTER XIII
MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC AUTHORITY
120. Frauds and breaches of trust by public officers
121. Neglect of official duty
122. False information to person employed in the public service
123. Disobedience of statutory duty
124. Soliciting, etc., to break the law
125. Soliciting public officers, etc., to fail to carry out their duties
126. Arrest without warrant
Division III
Offences Injurious to the Public in General
CHAPTER XIV
OFFENCES RELATING TO RELIGION
127. Insult to religion of any class
128. Disturbing religious assemblies
129. Trespassing on burial places
130. Writing or uttering words with intent to wound religious feelings
131. Hindering burial of dead body etc.
132. Definition of rape
133. Punishment of rape
134. Attempted rape
135. Abduction
136. Abduction of girls under sixteen
137. (1) Indecent assaults on females
(3) Insulting the modesty of a woman
138. (1) Defilement of girls under 13 years of age
(2) Attempt
139. Defilement of idiots or imbeciles
140. Procuration
141. Procuring defilement of woman by threats or fraud or administering drugs
142. Householder, etc., permitting defilement of girl under 13 years of age on his
premises
143. Detention with intent or in brothel
Constructive detention by withholding clothes
144. Power of search
145. Male person living on earnings of prostitution or persistently soliciting
146. Woman aiding, etc., for gain prostitution of another woman
147. Brothels
148. Conspiracy to defile
149. Attempts to procure abortion
150. The like by woman with child
151. Supplying drugs or instruments to procure abortion
152. Knowledge of age of female immaterial
153. Unnatural offences
154. Attempt to commit unnatural offences
155. Indecent assault of boys under fourteen
156. Indecent practices between males
157. (1) Incest by males
(2) Consent immaterial
(3) Attempt
(4) Order for guardianship
158. Incest by females
159. Test of relationship
160. Sanction of Chief Public Prosecutor
CHAPTER XVI
OFFENCES RELATING TO MARRIAGE AND DOMESTIC OBLIGATIONS
161. Fraudulent pretence of marriage
162. Bigamy
163. Marriage ceremony fraudulently gone through without lawful marriage
164. Desertion of children
165. Neglecting to provide food, etc., for children
166. Master not providing for servants or apprentices
167. Child stealing
CHAPTER XVII
NUISANCES AND OFFENCES AGAINST HEALTH AND CONVENIENCE
168. Common nuisance
169. Gaming houses
170. Betting houses Totalizator
171. Authorized lotteries
172. Small lotteries incidental to certain entertainments to be authorized lotteries
173. Lotteries
174. Exemption of private lotteries
175. Keeper of premises defined
176. Offence to organize or manage or conduct pools
177. Chain letters
178. Opening of postal article suspected of containing a chain letter
179. Obscene matters or things
180. Idle and disorderly persons
181. Conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace
182. Use of insulting language
183. Nuisances by drunken persons, etc.
184. Rogues and vagabonds
185. Power to order removal of undesirable persons from certain Municipalities,
Townships and other areas
186. Appeal against removal order
187. Detention in custody pending consideration of making of removal order
188. Subsistence allowance where removal order made
189. Penalty for failing to comply with removal order, etc.
190. Review of removal orders
191. (1) Wearing uniform without authority prohibited
(2) Bringing contempt on uniform
(3) Importation and sale of uniform, etc., without authority, prohibited
(4) Forfeiture of uniform, etc., on conviction
192. Negligent act likely to spread disease dangerous to life
193. Adulteration of food or drink intended for sale
194. Sale of noxious food or drink
195. Adulteration of drugs
196. Sale of adulterated drugs
197. Fouling water
198. Fouling air
199. Offensive trades
CHAPTER XVIII
DEFAMATION
200. Definition of libel
201. Definition of defamatory matter
202. Definition of publication
203. Definition of unlawful publication
204. Cases in which publication of defamatory matter is absolutely privileged
205. Cases in which publication of defamatory matter is conditionally privileged
206. Explanation as to good faith
207. Presumption as to good faith
Division IV
Offences against the Person
CHAPTER XIX
MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER
208. Manslaughter
209. Murder
210. Punishment of murder
211. Punishment of manslaughter
212. Malice aforethought
213. Killing on provocation
214. Provocation defined
215. Causing death defined
216. When child deemed to be a person capable of being killed
217. [Repealed by 23 of 1970]
CHAPTER XX
DUTIES RELATING TO THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE AND HEALTH
218. Responsibility of person who has charge of another
219. Duty of head of family
220. Duty of masters
221. Duty of persons doing dangerous acts
222. Duty of persons in charge of dangerous things
CHAPTER XXI
OFFENCES CONNECTED WITH MURDER AND SUICIDE
223. Attempt to murder
224. Attempt to murder by convict
225. Accessory after the fact to murder
226. Written threats to murder
227. Conspiracy to murder
228. Aiding suicide
229. Attempting suicide
230. Offence of infanticide
231. Killing unborn child
232. Concealing the birth of children
CHAPTER XXII
OFFENCES ENDANGERING LIFE OR HEALTH
233. Disabling in order to commit felony or misdemeanour
234. Stupefying in order to commit felony or misdemeanour
235. Acts intended to cause grievous harm or prevent arrest
236. Preventing escape from wreck
237. Intentionally endangering safety of persons travelling by railway
238. Grievous harm
239. Attempting to injure by explosive substances
240. Maliciously administering poison with intent to harm
241. Wounding and similar acts
242. Failure to supply necessaries
243. Surgical operation
244. Excess of force
245. Consent
CHAPTER XXIII
CRIMINAL RECKLESSNESS AND NEGLIGENCE
246. Reckless and negligent acts
247. Other negligent acts causing harm
248. Dealing in poisonous substances in negligent manner
249. Endangering safety of persons travelling by railway
250. Exhibition of false light, mark or buoy
251. Conveying person by water for hire in unsafe or overloaded vessel
252. Danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation
CHAPTER XXIV
ASSAULTS
253. Common assault
254. Assaults occasioning actual bodily harm
255. Assaults on persons protecting wreck
256. Assaults punishable with five years' imprisonment
CHAPTER XXV
OFFENCES AGAINST LIBERTY
257. Definition of kidnapping from the Republic
258. Definition of kidnapping from lawful guardianship
259. Definition of abduction
260. Punishment for kidnapping
261. Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder
262. Kidnapping or abducting with intent to confine person
263. Kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous harm, slavery, etc.
264. Wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement kidnapped or abducted person
265. Kidnapping or abducting child under fourteen years with intent to steal from its
person
266. Punishment for wrongful confinement
267. Buying or disposing of any person as a slave
268. Habitual dealing in slaves
269. Unlawful compulsory labour
Division V
Offences Relating to Property
CHAPTER XXVI
THEFT
270. Things capable of being stolen
271. Definition of theft
272. Special cases
273. Funds, etc., held under direction
274. Funds, etc., received by agents for sale
275. Money received for another
276. Theft by persons having an interest in the thing stolen
277. Husband and wife
278. General punishment for theft
279. Stealing wills
280. Stealing postal matter, etc.
281. Stealing cattle
282. Stealing from the person; stealing goods in transit, etc.
283. Stealing by persons in public service
284. Negligence by public officer in preserving money or other property
285. Theft of public subscriptions
286. Stealing by clerks and servants
287. Stealing by directors or officers of companies
288. Stealing by agents, etc.
289. Stealing by tenants or lodgers
290. Stealing after previous conviction
CHAPTER XXVII
OFFENCES ALLIED TO STEALING
291. Concealing registers
292. Concealing wills
293. Concealing deeds
294. Killing animals with intent to steal
295. Severing with intent to steal
296. Fraudulent disposal of mortgaged goods
297. Fraudulently dealing with minerals in mines
298. Fraudulent appropriation of power
299. Unlawful use of vehicles, animals, etc.
CHAPTER XXVIII
ROBBERY AND EXTORTION
300. Definition of robbery
301. Punishment of robbery
302. Attempted robbery
303. Assault with intent to steal
304. Demanding property by written threats
305. Attempts at extortion by threats
306. Procuring execution of deeds, etc., by threats
307. Demanding property with menaces with intent to steal
CHAPTER XXIX
BURGLARY, HOUSEBREAKING AND SIMILAR OFFENCES
308. Definitions
309. Housebreaking and burglary
310. Entering dwelling-house with intent to commit felony
311. Breaking into building and committing a felony
312. Breaking into building with intent to commit a felony
313. Persons found armed, etc., with intent to commit felony
314. Criminal trespass
315. Forfeiture
CHAPTER XXX
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
316. Unauthorized user of land and premises
317. (1) Forfeiture of aircraft, vessel or vehicle
(4) Damaging or unlawfully removing detained aircraft, vessel or vehicle
(5) Interpretation
CHAPTER XXXI
FALSE PRETENCES
318. Definition of false pretence
319. Obtaining by false pretences
320. Obtaining execution of a security by false pretences
321. Cheating
322. Obtaining credit, etc., by false pretences
323. Conspiracy to defraud
324. Frauds on sale or mortgage of property
325. Pretending to tell fortunes
326. Obtaining registration, etc., by false pretence
327. False declaration for passport
CHAPTER XXXII
RECEIVING PROPERTY STOLEN OR UNLAWFULLY OBTAINED AND LIKE
OFFENCES
328. (1) Receiving stolen property, etc.
(2) Receiving property unlawfully obtained
329. Person having in possession property suspected of being stolen
330. Tracing possession
331. Receiving or bringing in property dishonestly acquired outside the Republic
CHAPTER XXXIII
FRAUDS BY TRUSTEES AND PERSONS IN A POSITION OF TRUST, AND FALSE
ACCOUNTING
332. Trustees fraudulently disposing of trust property
333. Directors and officers of corporations or companies fraudulently appropriating
property, or keeping fraudulent accounts or falsifying books or accounts
334. False statements by officials of companies
335. Fraudulent false accounting
336. False accounting by public officer
Division VI
Malicious Injuries to Property
CHAPTER XXXIV
OFFENCES CAUSING INJURY TO PROPERTY
337. Arson
338. Attempts to commit arson
339. Setting fire to crops and growing plants
340. Attempting to set fire to crops, etc.
341. Casting away ships
342. Attempts to cast away ships
343. Killing or injuring animals
344. (1) Punishment for malicious injuries in general
(2) In special cases: Destroying or damaging an inhabited house or a vessel with
explosives
(3) River bank or wall, or navigation works, or bridges
(4) Wills and registers
(5) Wrecks
(6) Railways
(7) Other things of special value
(8) Deeds and records
345. Attempts to destroy property by explosives
346. Communicating infectious diseases to animals
347. Removing boundary marks with intent to defraud
348. Wilful damage, etc., to survey and boundary marks
349. Penalties for damage, etc., to railway works
350. Threats to burn, etc.
Division VII
Forgery, Coining and Counterfeiting
CHAPTER XXXV
DEFINITIONS
351. Definition of forgery
352. Document
353. Making a false document
354. Intent to defraud
CHAPTER XXXVI
PUNISHMENTS FOR FORGERY
355. Definition of currency note
356. General punishment for forgery
357. Forgery of wills, etc.
358. Forgery of judicial or official documents
359. Forgery, etc., of stamps
360. Uttering false document
361. Uttering cancelled or exhausted documents
362. Procuring execution of documents by false pretences
363. Obliterating crossings on cheques
364. Making documents without authority
365. Demanding property upon forged testamentary instruments
366. Importing or purchasing forged notes
367. Falsifying warrants for money payable under public authority
368. Falsification of register
369. Sending false certificate of marriage to Registrar
370. False statements for registers of births, deaths and marriages
CHAPTER XXXVII
OFFENCES RELATING TO COIN AND TO BANK AND CURRENCY NOTES
371. Definitions
372. Counterfeiting coin
373. Preparations for coining
374. Making or having in possession paper or implements for forgery
375. Clipping
376. Melting down of currency
377. Impounding and destruction of counterfeit coin
378. Possession of clippings
379. Uttering counterfeit coin
380. Repeated uttering
381. Uttering metal or coin not current as coin
382. Selling articles bearing designs in imitation of currency
383. Exporting counterfeit coin
384. Forfeiture
CHAPTER XXXVIII
COUNTERFEIT STAMPS
385. Possession of die used for purpose of making stamps
386. Paper and dies for postage stamps
CHAPTER XXXIX
TRADE MARKS
387. Trade mark defined
388. Counterfeiting trade marks misdemeanour
CHAPTER XL
PERSONATION
389. Personation in general
390. Falsely acknowledging deeds, recognizances, etc.
391. Personation of a person named in a certificate
392. Lending, etc., certificate for personation
393. Personation of person named in a testimonial of character
394. Lending, etc., testimonial for personation
CHAPTER XLI
SECRET COMMISSIONS AND CORRUPT PRACTICES
395. Interpretation
396. Corrupt practices
397. Secret commission on Government contracts
398. Presumption as to corrupt practices
399. Consent of Chief Public Prosecutor to prosecution
Division VIII
Attempts and Conspiracies to commit Crimes, and Accessories after the fact
CHAPTER XLII
ATTEMPTS
400. Attempt defined
401. Attempts to commit offences
402. Punishment of attempts to commit certain felonies
403. Neglect to prevent felony
CHAPTER XLIII
CONSPIRACIES
404. Conspiracy to commit felony
405. Conspiracy to commit misdemeanour
406. Other conspiracies
CHAPTER XLIV
ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT
407. Definition of accessories after the fact
408. Punishment of accessories after the fact to felonies
409. Punishment of accessories after the fact to misdemeanours
22 of 1929
18 of 1934
8 of 1935
18 of 1936
3 of 1937
13 of 1937
16 of 1939
3 of 1945
8 of 1947
19 of 1949
31 of 1951
13 of 1952
6 of 1953
28 of 1953
43 of 1953
12 of 1954
38 of 1954
1 of 1955
39 of 1955
23 of 1955(F)
17 of 1994
21 of 1995
21 of 1996
8 of 1999
G.N. 22/1963
22 of 1956
15 of 1957
32 of 1958
40 of 1958
3 of 1959
16 of 1960
28 of 1964(N)
24 of 1965
53 of 1965
61 of 1965
10 of 1967
32 of 1967
37 of 1967
45 of 1967
5 of 1969
32 of 1969
23 of 1970
44 of 1970
11 of 1973
20 of 1973
5 of 1976
6 of 1987
11 of 1989
19 of 1992
12 of 1993
32 of 1993
219/1964(N)
16/1964(M)
137/1966
166/1967
263/1969
An Act to establish a Code of Criminal Law
[1ST APRIL 1930]
PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
[Ch0701s1]1. Short title
This Act may be cited as “The Penal Code” and hereinafter referred to as “this Code".
[Ch0701s2]2. Savings of certain laws
Nothing in this Code shall affect—
(1) the liability, trial or punishment of a person for an offence against the Common Law
or against any other law in force in the Republic other than this Code; or
(2) the liability of a person to be tried or punished for an offence under the provisions of
any law in force in relation to the jurisdiction of courts in respect of acts done beyond the
ordinary jurisdiction of such courts; or
(3) the power of any court to punish a person for contempt of such court; or
(4) the liability or trial of a person, or the punishment of a person under any sentence
passed or to be passed, in respect of any act done or commenced before the commencement of
this Code; or
(5) any power of the President to grant any pardon to remit or commute in whole or in
part or to respite the execution of any sentence passed or to be passed; or
(6) any of the Acts or Regulations for the time being in force for the armed forces or the
police force of the Republic:
Provided that if a person commits an offence which is punishable under this Code and is
also punishable under another Act or Regulation, he shall not be punished for that offence both
under that Act, or Regulation and also under this Code.
CHAPTER II
INTERPRETATION
[Ch0701s3]3. General rule of construction of Code
This Code shall be interpreted in accordance with the principles of legal interpretation
obtaining in England, and expressions used in it shall be presumed, so far as is consistent with
their context, and except as may be otherwise expressly provided, to be used with the meaning
attaching to them in English criminal law and shall be construed in accordance therewith.
[Ch0701s4]4. Interpretation
In this Code, unless the context otherwise requires—
“Act” includes any orders, rules or regulations made under the authority of any Act;
“court” means a court of competent jurisdiction;
“dangerous harm” means harm endangering life;
“dwelling-house” includes any building or structure or part of a building or structure
which is for the time being kept by the owner or occupier for the residence therein of himself, his
family or servants or any of them, and it is immaterial that it is from time to time uninhabited; a
building or structure adjacent to or occupied with a dwelling-house is deemed to be part of the
dwelling-house if there is a communication between such building or structure and the dwelling-
house, either immediate or by means of a covered and enclosed passage leading from the one to
the other, but not otherwise;
“felony” means an offence which is declared by law to be a felony or, if not declared to
be a misdemeanour, is punishable, without proof of previous conviction, with death, or with
imprisonment with hard labour for three years or more;
“grievous harm” means any harm which amounts to a main or dangerous harm, or
seriously or permanently injures health or which is likely so to injure health, or which extends to
permanent disfigurement or to any permanent or serious injury to any external or internal organ,
membrane or sense;
“harm” means any bodily hurt, disease or disorder whether permanent or temporary;
“judicial proceeding” includes any proceeding had or taken in or before any court,
tribunal, commission of inquiry, or person, in which evidence may be taken on oath, or in or
before a Traditional Court, whether such court takes evidence on oath or not;
“knowingly” used in connexion with any term denoting uttering or using, implies
knowledge of the character of the thing uttered or used;
“maim” means the destruction or permanent disabling of any external or internal organ,
membrane or sense;
“misdemeanor” means any offence which is not a felony;
“money” includes bank notes, bank drafts, cheques and any other orders, warrants or
requests for the payment of money;
“night” or “night-time” means the interval between half-past six o'clock in the evening
and half-past six o'clock in the morning;
“oath” includes affirmation or declaration;
“offence” is an act, attempt or omission punishable by law;
“person” and “owner” and other like term when used with reference to property includes
corporations of all kinds and any other association of persons capable of owning property, and
also when so used includes the Government;
“person employed in the public service” means any person holding any of the following
offices or performing the duty thereof, whether as a deputy or otherwise, namely—
(a) any civil office including the office of President, the power of appointing a person
to which or of removing from which is vested in the President or in a Minister or in any public
Commission or Board; or
(b) any office to which a person is appointed or nominated by Act or by election; or
(c) any civil office, the power of appointing to which or removing from which is
vested in any person or persons holding an office of any kind included in either of the two last
preceding paragraphs of this definition; or
(d) any office of arbitrator or umpire in any proceeding or matter submitted to
arbitration by order or with the sanction of any court, or in pursuance of any Act; and the said
term further includes—
(i) a member of a commission of inquiry appointed under or in pursuance of
any Act;
(ii) any person employed to execute any process of a court, including a
Traditional Court;
(iii) all persons employed in the armed forces or police force of the Republic;
(iv) all persons in the employment of any government department of the
Republic;
(v) a person acting as a Minister of religion of whatsoever denomination, in so
far as he performs functions in respect of the notification of intending marriage or in respect of
the solemnisation of marriage, or in respect of the making or keeping of any register or
certificate of marriage, birth, baptism, death or burial, but not in any other respect;
(vi) a person employed in the service of any Local Authority or of any board,
Council, society or other authority, whether incorporated or otherwise, established by or under
any Act, other than the Companies Act; Cap. 46:03
(vii) a person employed in any class of employment which may be specified as
public service by the Minister by notice published in the Gazette;
(viii) a member of the National Assembly;
(ix) any Chief.
“possession”, “be in possession of” or “have in possession” includes not only having in
one's own personal possession, but also knowingly having anything in the actual possession or
custody of any other person, or having anything in any place (whether belonging to, or occupied
by oneself or not) for the use or benefit of oneself or of any other person; and if there are two or
more persons and any one or more of them with the knowledge and consent of the rest has or
have anything in his or their custody or possession, it shall be deemed and taken to be in the
custody and possession of each and all of them;
“property” includes anything animate or inanimate capable of being the subject of
ownership;
“public” refers not only to all persons within Malawi but also to the persons inhabiting or
using any particular place, or any number of such persons, and also to such indeterminate
persons as may happen to be affected by the conduct in respect of which such expression is used;
“public way” includes any highway, market place, square, street, bridge or other way
which is lawfully used by the public;
“public place” or “public premises” includes any public way and any building, place or
conveyance to which, for the time being,the public are entitled or permitted to have access either
without any condition or upon condition of making any payment, and any building or place
which is for the time being used for any public or religious meetings or assembly or as an open
court;
“publicly” when applied to acts done means either (a) that they are so done in any public
place as to be seen by any person whether such person be or be not in a public place; or (b) that
they are so done in any place not being a public place as to be likely to be seen by any person in
a public place;
“utter” means and includes using or dealing with and attempting to use or deal with and
attempting to induce any person to use, deal with or act upon the thing in question;
“valuable security” includes any document which is the property of any person, and
which is evidence of the ownership of any property or of the right to recover or receive any
property;
“vessel” includes a ship, a boat and every other kind of vessel used in navigation either
on the sea or in inland waters and includes aircraft;
“wound” means any incision or puncture which divides or pierces any exterior membrane
of the body, and any membrane is exterior for the purpose of this definition which can be
touched without dividing or piercing any other membrane.
CHAPTER III
TERRITORIAL APPLICATION OF THIS CODE
[Ch0701s5]5. Offence committed partly within and partly beyond the jurisdiction
When an act which, if wholly done within the jurisdiction of the court, would be an
offence against this Code, is done partly within and partly beyond the jurisdiction, every person
who within the jurisdiction does or makes any part of such act may be tried and punished under
this Code in the same manner as if such act had been done wholly within the jurisdiction.
[Ch0701s6]6. Jurisdiction and procedure in respect of certain offences committed in countries
outside Malawi
(1) Any Malawi citizen being a person employed in the public service of Malawi who
commits, in any other country, when acting or purporting to act in the course of his employment,
any offence which, if committed in Malawi, would be punishable in Malawi, shall be guilty of an
offence of the same nature, and subject to the same punishment, as if the offence had been
committed in Malawi.
(2) A person may be proceeded against, charged, tried and punished for an offence
against this section in any place in Malawi in which he is apprehended or is in custody as if the
offence had been committed in that place; and the offence shall, for all purposes incidental to or
consequential on the trial or punishment thereof, be deemed to have been committed in that
place.
CHAPTER IV
GENERAL RULES AS TO CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
[Ch0701s7]7. Ignorance of law
Ignorance of the law does not afford any excuse for any act or omission which would
otherwise constitute an offence unless knowledge of the law by the offender is expressly
declared to be an element of the offence.
[Ch0701s8]8. Bona fide claim of right
A person is not criminally responsible in respect of an offence relating to property, if the
act done or omitted to be done by him with respect to the property was done in the exercise of an
honest claim of right and without intention to defraud.
[Ch0701s9]9. Intention: motive
Subject to the express provisions of this Code relating to negligent acts and omissions, a
person is not criminally responsible for an act or omission which occurs independently of the
exercise of his will, or for an event which occurs by accident.
Unless the intention to cause a particular result is expressly declared to be an element of
the offence constituted, in whole or part, by an act or omission, the result intended to be caused
by an act or omission is immaterial.
Unless otherwise expressly declared, the motive by which a person is induced to do or
omit to do an act, or to form an intention, is immaterial so far as regards criminal responsibility.
[Ch0701s10]10. Mistake of fact
A person who does or omits to do an act under an honest and reasonable, but mistaken,
belief in the existence of any state of things is not criminally responsible for the act or omission
to any greater extent than if the real state of things had been such as he believed to exist.
The operation of this rule may be excluded by the express or implied provisions of the
law relating to the subject.
[Ch0701s11]11. Presumption of sanity
Every person is presumed to be of sound mind, and to have been of sound mind at any
time which comes in question, until the contrary is proved.
[Ch0701s12]12. Insanity
A person is not criminally responsible for an act or omission if at the time of doing the
act or making the omission he is through any disease affecting his mind incapable of
understanding what he is doing, or of knowing that he ought not to do the act or make the
omission.
But a person may be criminally responsible for an act or omission, although his mind is
affected by disease, if such disease does not in fact produce upon his mind one or other of the
effects above mentioned in reference to that act or omission.
[Ch0701s13]13. Intoxication
(1) Save as provided in this section, intoxication shall not constitute a defence to any
criminal charge.
(2) Intoxication shall be a defence to any criminal charge if by reason thereof the person
charged at the time of the act or omission complained of did not know that such act or omission
was wrong or did not know what he was doing, and—
(a) the state of intoxication was caused without his consent by the malicious or
negligent act of another person; or
(b) the person charged was by reason of intoxication insane, temporarily or
otherwise, at the time of such act or omission.
(3) Where the defence under the preceding subsection is established, then in a case falling
under paragraph (a) thereof the accused person shall be discharged, and in a case falling under
paragraph (b) the provisions of section 12 shall apply.
(4) Intoxication shall be taken into account for the purpose of determining whether the
person charged had formed any intention, specific or otherwise, in the absence of which he
would not be guilty of the offence.
(5) For the purposes of this section “intoxication” shall be deemed to include a state
produced by narcotics or drugs.
[Ch0701s14]14. Immature age
A person under the age of seven years is not criminally responsible for any act or
omission.
A person under the age of twelve years is not criminally responsible for an act or
omission unless it is proved that at the time of doing the act or making the omission he had
capacity to know that he ought not to do the act or make the omission.
A male person under the age of twelve years is presumed to be incapable of having carnal
knowledge.
[Ch0701s15]15. Judicial officers
Except as expressly provided by this Code, a judicial officer is not criminally responsible
for anything done or omitted to be done by him in the exercise of his judicial functions, although
the act done is in excess of his judicial authority or although he is bound to do the act omitted to
be done.
[Ch0701s16]16. Compulsion
A person is not criminally responsible for an offence if it is committed by two or more
offenders, and if the act is done or omitted only because during the whole of the time in which it
is being done or omitted the person is compelled to do or omit to do the act by threats on the part
of the other offender or offenders instantly to kill him or do him grievous bodily harm if he
refuses; but threats of future injury do not excuse any offence.
[Ch0701s17]17. Defence of person or property
Subject to any express provisions in this Code or any other law in operation in Malawi,
criminal responsibility for the use of force in the defence of person or property shall be
determined according to the principles of English common law.
[Ch0701s18]18. Use of force in effecting arrest
Where any person is charged with a criminal offence arising out of the lawful arrest, or
attempted arrest, by him of a person who forcibly resists such arrest or attempts to evade being
arrested, the court shall, in considering whether the means used were necessary, or the degree of
force used was reasonable, for the apprehension of such person, have regard to the gravity of the
offence which had been or was being committed by such person and the circumstances in which
such offence had been or was being committed by such person.
[Ch0701s19]19. Compulsion by husband
A married woman is not free from criminal responsibility for doing or omitting to do an
act merely because the act or omission takes place in the presence of her husband; but on a
charge against a wife for any offence other than treason or murder it shall be a good defence to
prove that the offence was committed in the presence of, and under the coercion of, the husband.
[Ch0701s20]20. Person not to be punished twice for the same offence
A person shall not be punished twice, either under the provisions of this Code or under
the provisions of any other law, for the same offence.
CHAPTER V
PARTIES TO OFFENCES
[Ch0701s21]21. Principal offenders
When an offence is committed, each of the following persons is deemed to have taken
part in committing the offence and to be guilty of the offence, and may be charged with actually
committing it, that is to say—
(a) every person who actually does the act or makes the omission which constitutes
the offence;
(b) every person who does or omits to do any act for the purpose of enabling or
aiding another person to commit the offence;
(c) every person who aids or abets another person in committing the offence; and
(d) any person who counsels or procures any other person to commit the offence.
In the fourth case he may be charged with himself committing the offence or with
counselling or procuring its commission.
A conviction of counselling or procuring the commission of an offence entails the same
consequences in all respects as a conviction of committing the offence.
Any person who procures another to do or omit to do any act of such a nature that if he
had himself done the act or made the omission the act or omission would have constituted an
offence on his part, is guilty of an offence of the same kind, and is liable to the same punishment,
as if he had himself done the act or made the omission; and he may be charged with himself
doing the act or making the omission.
[Ch0701s22]22. Offences committed by joint offenders in prosecution of common purpose
When two or more persons form a common intention to prosecute an unlawful purpose in
conjunction with one another, and in the prosecution of such purpose an offence is committed of
such a nature that its commission was a probable consequence of the prosecution of such
purpose, each of them is deemed to have committed the offence.
[Ch0701s23]23. Counselling another to commit an offence
When such a person counsels another to commit an offence, and an offence is actually
committed after such counsel by the person to whom it is given, it is immaterial whether the
offence actually committed is the same as that counselled or a different one, or whether the
offence is committed in the way counselled or in a different way, provided in either case that the
facts constituting the offence actually committed are a probable consequence of carrying out the
counsel.
In either case the person who gave counsel is deemed to have counselled the other person
to commit the offence actually committed by him.
[Ch0701s24]24. Offences by corporations, societies etc.
Where an offence is committed by any company or other body corporate, or by any
society, association or body of persons, every person charged with or concerned or acting in, the
control or management of the affairs or activities of such company, body corporate, society,
association or body of persons shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be punished
accordingly, unless it is proved by such person that, through no act or omission on his part, he
was not aware that the offence was being or was intended or about to be committed, or that he
took all reasonable steps to prevent its commission.
CHAPTER VI
PUNISHMENTS
[Ch0701s25]25. Different kinds of punishment
8 of 1999The following punishments may be inflicted by a court—
(1) Death.
(2) Imprisonment.
(3) Corporal punishment.
(4) Fine.
(5) Payment of compensation.
(6) Finding security to keep the peace and be of good behaviour; or to come up for
judgment.
(7) Liability to police supervision.
(8) Forfeiture.
(9) Community service.
(10) Any other punishment provided by this Code or by any law or Act.
[Ch0701s26]26. Sentence of death
(1) When any person is sentenced to death the sentence shall direct that he shall suffer
death in the manner authorized by law. The manner authorized by law shall be death by hanging,
or in case of treason such other manner as the Minister may by warrant in the particular case
prescribe, at such place as may be directed by the Minister and specified in the death warrant,
whether within or without the prison in which the convicted person is detained.
(2) Sentence of death shall not be pronounced on or recorded against a person convicted
of an offence if it appears to the court that at the time when the offence was committed he was
under the age of 18 years, but in lieu thereof the court shall sentence him to be detained during
the President's pleasure, and if so sentenced he shall be liable to be detained in such place and
under such conditions as the President may direct, and whilst so detained shall be deemed to be
in legal custody.
(3) When a person has been sentenced to be detained during the President's pleasure
under the last preceding subsection, the presiding judge shall forward to the President a copy of
the notes of evidence taken on the trial, with a report in writing signed by him containing any
recommendation or observations on the case he may think fit to make.
(4) Where a woman convicted of an offence punishable with death is found, in
accordance with section 327 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code, to be pregnant, the
sentence to be passed on her shall be a sentence of imprisonment for life instead of a sentence of
death. Cap. 8:01
[Ch0701s27]27. Imprisonment
(1) All imprisonment shall be with or without hard labour in the discretion of the court,
unless the imposition of imprisonment only without hard labour is expressly prescribed by law.
(2) A person liable to imprisonment for life or any other period may be sentenced for any
shorter term.
(3) A person liable to imprisonment may be sentenced to pay a fine in addition to or
instead of imprisonment.
[Ch0701s28]28. Corporal punishment
(1) A sentence of corporal punishment shall specify the number of strokes, which shall
not exceed twenty-four and which shall be administered with a rod or cane to be approved by the
Minister, or with such other instrument as the Minister may approve. Such sentence shall be
subject to confirmation by the High Court and shall not be carried into effect until such
confirmation shall have been received.
(2) No sentence of corporal punishment shall be passed upon any of the following
persons:—
(a) Females.
(b) Males sentenced to death.
(c) Males whom the court considers to be more than forty-five years of age.
(3) A sentence of corporal punishment shall not be carried out except in the presence of a
Government medical officer, or, if no such medical officer is available, of an administrative
officer, nor before such medical or other officer has after examination certified that in his
opinion the prisoner is physically fit to undergo the sentence of corporal punishment about to be
inflicted upon him.
(4) The medical or administrative officer may at any time during the carrying out of the
sentence of corporal punishment intervene and prohibit the remainder of the sentence from being
carried out, if in his opinion the prisoner is unable to bear such sentence without risk of physical
injury.
(5) No sentence of corporal punishment shall be carried out by instalments.
(6) If any person has been sentenced to corporal punishment in substitution for any other
punishment to which he might have been liable, and such sentence of corporal punishment is,
wholly or partially, prevented from being carried out, such person shall be kept in custody, and
shall as soon as possible be taken before the court which passed sentence of corporal
punishment, and such court may in its discretion either remit such sentence or pass upon such
person any sentence to which he might have been liable.
(7) An offender sentenced to undergo corporal punishment may be detained in a prison or
some other convenient place for such time as may be necessary for carrying the sentence into
effect, or for ascertaining whether the same shall be carried into effect.
[Ch0701s29]29. Fines
11 of 1989(1) Where a fine is imposed under any law, then in the absence of express
provisions relating to such fine in such law the following provisions shall apply—
(a) where no sum is expressed to which the fine may extend the amount of the fine
which may be imposed is unlimited, but shall not be excessive;
(b) in the case of an offence punishable with a fine or a term of imprisonment the
imposition of a fine or a term of imprisonment shall be a matter for the discretion of the court.
(2) In any case in which any person is sentenced to a fine with or without imprisonment,
or is ordered to pay any costs under section 33, or is adjudged to make any compensation under
section 32, or is adjudged to pay any sum under any Act, the court may—
(a) direct by its sentence that, in default of payment of the fine, costs, compensation
or sum, as the case may be, the convicted person shall suffer imprisonment for a certain term,
which imprisonment shall be in addition to any other imprisonment to which he may have been
sentenced or to which he may be liable under a commutation of sentence; and
(b) issue a warrant for the levy of the amount on the moveable and immoveable
property of the offender by distress and sale under warrant:
Provided that if the sentence directs that in default of payment of the fine, costs,
compensation or sum the offender shall be imprisoned, and if such offender has undergone the
whole of such imprisonment in default, no court shall issue a distress warrant unless for special
reasons to be recorded in writing it considers it necessary to do so.
11 of 1989(3) In the absence of express provisions in any Act relating thereto the term of
imprisonment ordered by a court in respect of the non-payment of any sum adjudged to be paid
for costs under section 33 or compensation under section 32 or in respect of the non-payment of
a fine or of any sum adjudged to be paid under any Act shall be such term as in the opinion of the
court will satisfy the justice of the case, but shall not exceed in any case the maximum fixed by
the following scale—
Amount Maximum Period
Not exceeding K100 ...................................... 1 month
Exceeding K100 but not exceeding K1,000 ...... 3 months
Exceeding K1,000 but not exceeding K3,000 .... 6 months
Exceeding K3,000 but not exceeding K5,000 ..... 8 months
Exceeding K5,000 .......................................... 12 months.
(4) Any term of imprisonment imposed under this section in default of the payment of
any fine, costs or compensation, or of any sum adjudged to be paid under any Act, shall
terminate whenever the payment is made or the sum ordered to be paid is levied by process of
law.
[Ch0701s30]30. Forfeiture
When any person is convicted of an offence under any of the following sections, namely,
sections 90, 91, 92, 110, 111 and 396, the court may, in addition to or in lieu of any penalty
which may be imposed, order the forfeiture of any property which has passed in connexion with
the commission of the offence, or, if such property cannot be forfeited or cannot be found, of
such sum as the court shall assess as the value of the property; and any property or sum so
forfeited shall be dealt with in such manner as the Minister may direct. Payment of any sum so
ordered to be forfeited may be enforced in the same manner and subject to the same incidents as
in the case of the payment of a fine.
[Ch0701s31]31. Suspension or forfeiture of right to carry on business
(1) Where a person is convicted of any offence mentioned in Chapter XXXII and such
offence arose out of, or was committed in the course of, any trade or business, whether carried on
by such person or not, the court by which the conviction is recorded may, in addition to any other
penalty which it may impose, make an order, having effect for such period as the court may think
fit, prohibiting such person from carrying on, or being concerned or employed, directly or
indirectly, in carrying on, any such trade or business or any branch of any such trade or business
of the same or similar character.
(2) Any person who fails to comply with an order made under subsection (1) shall be
liable to a fine of £100 and to imprisonment for six months.
[Ch0701s32]32. Compensation
Any person who is convicted of an offence may be adjudged to make compensation to
any person injured by his offence. Any such compensation may be either in addition to or in
substitution for any other punishment.
[Ch0701s33]33. Costs
Subject to the limitations imposed by section 142 of the Criminal Procedure and
Evidence Code a court may order any person convicted of an offence to pay the costs of and
incidental to the prosecution or any part thereof. Cap. 8:01
[Ch0701s34]34. General punishment for misdemeanours
When in this Code no punishment is specially provided for any misdemeanour, it shall be
punishable with a fine or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with both.
[Ch0701s35]35. Sentences cumulative unless otherwise ordered
Where a person after conviction for an offence is convicted of another offence, either
before sentence is passed upon him under the first conviction or before the expiration of that
sentence, any sentence, other than a sentence of death or of corporal punishment, which is passed
upon him under the subsequent conviction, shall be executed after the expiration of the former
sentence, unless the court directs that it shall be executed concurrently with the former sentence
or of any part thereof:
Provided that it shall not be lawful for a court to direct that a sentence of imprisonment in
default of payment of a fine shall be executed concurrently with a former sentence under section
29 (2) (a) or of any part thereof.
[Ch0701s36]36. Escaped convicts to serve unexpired sentences when recaptured
When sentence is passed under this Code on an escaped convict, such sentence—
(a) if of death, fine or corporal punishment shall, subject to this Code and of any
other law, take effect immediately;
(b) if of imprisonment, shall run consecutively or concurrently, as the court shall
order, with the unexpired portion of the sentence which the convict was undergoing when he
escaped.
[Ch0701s37]37. Repealed by 5 of 1969
[Repealed by 5 of 1969].
PART II
CRIMES
Division I
Offences Against Public Order
CHAPTER VII
TREASON AND OTHER OFFENCES AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT'S AUTHORITY
[Ch0701s38]38. Treason
(1) Any person who—
(a) prepares, endeavours or conspires to overthrow the lawfully constituted
Government by force or other unlawful means;
(b) prepares, endeavours or conspires to procure by force any alteration of the law or
the policies of the lawfully constituted Government;
(c) prepares, endeavours or conspires to carry out by force any enterprise which
would, if effected, usurp the executive power of the State;
(d) incites or assists any person or conspires to invade the Republic with force or
unlawfully to subject any part of the Republic to armed attack by land, sea or air, or assists in the
preparation of any such invasion or attack;
(e) in time of war and with intent to give assistance to the enemy, does any act which
is likely to assist the enemy; or
(f) recruits or trains persons for the implementation of any of the aforementioned
purposes, or participates in any such recruitment or training,
shall be guilty of treason and shall on conviction be sentenced to death.
(2) In this section, the expressions—
(a) "the lawfully constituted Government” includes the President and any Minister of
the Government;
(b) "force” means either—
(i) force used in such a manner as, whether by reason of the number of
persons involved or the means used or both, to imperil or be likely to imperil the safety of the
State or to cause, or be likely to cause, death or grievous bodily harm or serious damage to
property, or
(ii) a show of aggression calculated to arouse reasonable apprehension that
force, as defined in subparagraph (i) will be used;
(c) "armed attack” shall include any unlawful use of force constituting an act of
rebellion against or calculated to undermine the authority of the Government or any arm thereof.
(3) A person may be tried and punished for an offence against this section whether
committed within or outside the Republic.
[Ch0701s39]39. Concealment of treason
Any person who—
(a) becomes an accessory after the fact to treason; or
(b) knowing that any person intends to commit treason, does not give information
thereof with all reasonable despatch to the President, an administrative officer, magistrate, or
officer of police or use other reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence,
shall be guilty of the felony termed misprision of treason and liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s40]40. Promoting war amongst Africans
Any person who, without lawful authority, carries on, or makes preparation for carrying
on, or aids in or advises the carrying on of, or preparation for, any war or warlike undertaking
with, for, by, or against any African chief, or with, for, by, or against any band of Africans, shall
be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s41]41. Inciting to mutiny
Any person who advisedly attempts to effect any of the following purposes, that is to
say—
(a) to seduce any person serving in the armed forces or the police force of the
Republic from his duty and allegiance to the President; or
(b) to incite any such persons to commit an act of mutiny or any traitorous or
mutinous act; or
(c) to incite any such persons to make or endeavour to make a mutinous assembly,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s42]42. Aiding soldiers or policemen in acts of mutiny
Any person who—
(a) aids, abets, or is accessory to, any act of mutiny by; or
(b) incites to sedition or to disobedience to any lawful order given by a superior
officer,
any non-commissioned officer or private of the military forces of the Republic or any police
officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s43]43. Inducing soldiers or policemen to desert
Any person who, by any means whatever, directly or indirectly—
(a) procures or persuades or attempts to procure or persuade to desert; or
(b) aids, abets, or is accessory to the desertion of; or
(c) having reason to believe he is a deserter, harbours or aids in concealing,
any non-commissioned officer or private of the said military forces, or any police officer, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for six months.
[Ch0701s44]44. Aiding prisoners of war to escape
Any person who—
(a) knowingly and advisedly aids an alien enemy of the Republic, being a prisoner of
war in the Republic, whether such prisoner is confined in a prison or elsewhere or is suffered to
be at large on his parole, to escape from his prison or place of confinement, or, if he is at large on
his parole, to escape from the Republic shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to
imprisonment for life;
(b) negligently and unlawfully permits the escape of any such person as is mentioned
in the last preceding paragraph, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s45]45. Definitions
For the purposes of the eight next following sections of this Code—
“import” includes—
(a) to bring into the Republic; and
(b) to bring within the inland waters of the Republic whether or not the publication is
brought ashore, and whether or not there is an intention to bring the same ashore;
“publication” includes all written and printed matter, and any gramophone or other
record, perforated roll, recording tape, cinematograph film or other contrivance by means of
which any words or ideas may be mechanically produced, represented or conveyed, and
everything, whether of a nature similar to the foregoing or not, containing any visible
representation or by its form, shape or other characteristics, or in any manner capable of
producing, representing or conveying words or ideas, and every copy or reproduction of any
publication;
“periodical publication” includes every publication issued periodically or in parts or
numbers at intervals whether regular or irregular;
“seditious publication” means a publication having a seditious intention.
“seditious words” means words having a seditious intention.
[Ch0701s46]46. Power to prohibit importation of publication
12 of 1993If the Minister is of opinion that the publication or the importation of—
(a) any publication; or
(b) all publications published by any person,
would be contrary to the public interest, he may, in his absolute discretion, by order, prohibit the
importation of such publication or publications, and in the case of a periodical publication may,
by the same or a subsequent order, prohibit the importation of any past or future issue thereof.
[Ch0701s47]47. Offences in relation to publications, the importation of which is prohibited
12 of 1993(1) Any person who imports, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or
reproduces any publication, the publication or the importation of which has been prohibited
under section 46, or any extract therefrom, shall be liable for a first offence to a fine of £400 and
to imprisonment for three years and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for four years; and
such publication or extract therefrom shall be forfeited.
(2) Any person who without lawful excuse has in his possession any publication, the
publication or the importation of which has been prohibited under section 46, or any extract
therefrom, shall be liable for a first offence to a fine of £200 and to imprisonment for two years
and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for three years; and such publication or extract
therefrom shall be forfeited.
[Ch0701s48]48. Delivery of prohibited publication to administrative officer or police
station
12 of 1993(1) Any person to whom any publication the publication or importation of
which has been prohibited under section 46, or any extract therefrom, is sent without his
knowledge or privity or in response to a request made before the prohibition of the importation
of such publication came into effect, or who has such a publication or extract therefrom in his
possession at the time when the prohibition of its publication or importation comes into effect,
shall forthwith if or as soon as the nature of its contents have become known to him, or in the
case of a publication or extract therefrom coming into the possession of such person before an
order prohibiting its importation has been made forthwith upon the coming into effect of an order
prohibiting the importation of such publication deliver such publication or extract therefrom to
the nearest administratative officer or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station, and in
default thereof shall be liable to a fine of £200 and to imprisonment for two years and such
publication or extract therefrom shall be forfeited.
(2) Any person who complies with subsection (1) or is convicted of an offence under that
subsection shall not be liable to be convicted for having imported or having in his possession the
same publication or extract therefrom.
[Ch0701s49]49. Power to examine
(1) Any of the following officer, that is to say—
(a) any police officer not below the rank of assistant superintendent;
(b) any other person employed in the public service authorized in that behalf by the
Minister,
may detain, open and examine, any package or article which he suspects to contain any
publication or extract therefrom which it is an offence under section 47 to import, publish, sell,
offer for sale, distribute, reproduce or possess, and during such examination may detain any
person importing, distributing or posting such package or article or in whose possession such
package or article is found.
(2) If any such publication or extract therefrom is found in such package or article, the
whole package or article may be impounded and retained by the officer and the person
importing, distributing or posting it, or in whose possession it is found, may forthwith be arrested
and proceeded against for the commission of an offence under section 47 or section 48, as the
case may be.
[Ch0701s50]50. Seditious intention
12 of 1993(1) A “seditious intention” is an intention—
(a) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the person of the
President, or the Government;
(b) to excite the subjects of the President to procure the alteration, otherwise than by
lawful means, of any other matter in the Republic; or
(c) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the
administration of justice in the Republic; or
(d) to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the subjects of the President; or
(e) to promote feeling of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the
population of the Republic.
32 of 1993But an act, speech or publication is not seditious if not done, spoken or
published, as the case may be, with intention to incite violence or by reason only that it intends—
(i) to show that the President has been misled or mistaken in any of his
measures; or
(ii) to point out errors or defects in the Government or Constitution or in
legislation or in the administration of justice with a view to the remedying of such errors or
defects; or
(iii) to persuade the subjects of the President to attempt to procure by lawful
means the alteration of any matter in the Republic; or
(iv) to point out, with a view to their removal, any matters which are
producing or have a tendency to produce feelings of ill-will and enmity between different classes
of the population of the Republic.
(2) In determining whether the intention with which any act was done, any words were
spoken, or any document was published, was or was not seditious, every person shall be deemed
to intend the consequences which would naturally follow from his conduct at the time and under
the circumstances which he so conducted himself.
[Ch0701s51]51. Seditious offences
(1) Any person who—
(a) does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do any act with a seditious
intention;
(b) utters any seditious words;
(c) prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious
publication;
(d) imports any seditious publication, unless he has no reason to believe that it is
seditious,
shall be liable for a first offence to a fine of £400 and to imprisonment for five years and for a
subsequent offence to imprisonment for seven years; and any seditious publication shall be
forfeited.
(2) Any person who without lawful excuse has in his possession any seditious publication
shall be liable for a first offence to a fine of £200 and to imprisonment for three years and for a
subsequent offence to imprisonment for four years; and such publication shall be forfeited.
(3) It shall be a defence to a charge under the preceding subsection that, if the person
charged did not know that the publication was seditious when it came into his possession, he did,
as soon as the nature of the publication became known to him, deliver the publication to the
nearest District Commissioner or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station.
[Ch0701s52]52. Forfeiture of machine and prohibition of publication
(1) Any printing machine which has been, or is reasonably suspected of being, used for or
in connexion with the printing or reproduction of a seditious publication may be seized or
otherwise secured by a police officer pending the trial and conviction or discharge or acquittal of
any person accused of printing or reproducing any seditious publication; and, when any person is
convicted of printing or reproducing a seditious publication, the court may, in addition to any
other penalty which it may impose, order that the printing machine on which the publication was
printed or reproduced shall be either confiscated for a period not exceeding one year, or be
forfeited, and may make such order whether or not the person convicted is, or was at the time
when the publication was printed or reproduced, the owner of the printing machine. A printing
machine forfeited under this subsection shall be sold, and the proceeds, less expenses, shall be
paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(2) When a proprietor, publisher, printer or editor of a newspaper is convicted of printing
or publishing a seditious publication in a newspaper, the court may, in addition to any other
punishment it may impose, and whether or not it has made an order under subsection (1), make
an order prohibiting any further publication of the newspaper for a period not exceeding one
year.
(3) The court may, at any time, on the application of the Attorney General and on taking
such security, if any, for good behaviour as the court may see fit to order, revoke any order made
by it forfeiting or confiscating a printing machine or prohibiting further publication of a
newspaper.
(4) A court, before ordering the forfeiture or confiscation of a printing machine under this
section, shall be satisfied that the printing machine was the printing machine upon or by which
the seditious publication was printed or reproduced.
(5) In any case in which a printing machine has been secured or confiscated under this
section, the Commissioner of Police may, in his discretion, cause—
(a) the printing machine or any part of it to be removed; or
(b) any part of the machine to be sealed so as to prevent its use.
Provided that the owner of the printing machine or his agents shall be entitled to
reasonable access to it to keep it in working order.
(6)The Commissioner of Police or any police officer acting in pursuance of the powers
conferred by this section shall not be liable for any damage caused to a printing machine,
whether by neglect or otherwise, not being damage wilfully caused to the machine.
(7) Any person who uses or attempts to use a printing machine confiscated under
subsection (1) shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
(8) Any person who prints or publishes a newspaper in contravention of an order made
under subsection (2) shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
(9) In this section the expression “printing machine” includes a printing press, copying
press, type-setting machine, photographic, duplicating or engraving apparatus, or other machine
or apparatus used for or in connexion with printing or reproducing publications, and the type,
appurtenances and equipment thereof.
[Ch0701s53]53. Legal proceedings
(1) No prosecution for an offence under section 51 or 52 shall be begun except within six
months after the offence is committed:
Provided that where a person leaves the Republic within six months of committing such
offence, the prosecution for such offence may be begun within six months from the date when
such person returns to the Republic after leaving it.
(2) A person shall not be prosecuted for an offence under section 51 without the written
consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
[Ch0701s54]54. Unlawful oaths to commit capital offences
Any person who—
(a) administers or is present at, and consents to the administering of, any oath, or
engagement in the nature of an oath, purporting to bind the person who takes it to commit any
offence punishable with death; or
(b) takes any such oath or engagement, not being compelled to do so,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s55]55. Other unlawful oaths to commit offences
Any person who—
(a) administers or is present at, and consents to the administering of, any oath or
engagement in the nature of an oath, purporting to bind the person who takes it to act in any of
the ways following, that is to say—
(i) to engage in any mutinous or seditious enterprise;
(ii) to commit any offence not punishable with death;
(iii) to disturb the public peace;
(iv) to be a member of any association, society or confederacy, formed for the
purpose of doing any such act as aforesaid;
(v) to obey the orders or commands of any committee or body of men not
lawfully constituted, or of any leader or commander or other person not having authority by law
for that purpose;
(vi) not to inform or give evidence against any associate, confederate or other
person;
(vii) not to reveal or discover any unlawful association, society or confederacy,
or any illegal act done or to be done or any illegal oath or engagement that may have been
administered or tendered to or taken by himself or any other person, or the import of any such
oath or engagement; or
(b) takes any such oath or engagement, not being compelled to do so,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s56]56. Compelling another person to take an oath
(1) Any person who by the use of physical force, or by threat or intimidation of any kind,
compels another person to take an oath or engagement in the nature of an oath purporting to bind
the person who takes it to act or not to act in any way shall be guilty of a felony and shall be
liable to imprisonment for seven years.
(2) Any person who is present at the consents to the administering, by physical force or
under threat or intimidation of any kind, of any oath or engagement in the nature of an oath, to
any person purporting to bind the person who takes it to act or not to act in any way shall be
guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
[Ch0701s57]57. Compulsion, how far a defence
It shall not be a defence for a person who takes any oath or engagement in the nature of
an oath mentioned in section 54, section 55 or section 56 to prove that he was compelled to do so
unless within five days after the taking of such oath or engagement in the nature of an oath or, if
he is prevented by physical force or sickness, within five days after the termination of such
physical force or sickness, he reported to the police, or, if he is in the actual service of the
military forces in the Republic or in the police force, either he so reported as aforesaid, or he
reported to his commanding officer, everything he knows concerning the matter, including the
person or persons by whom and in whose presence, and the place where, and the time when, the
oath or engagement was administered or taken.
[Ch0701s58]58. Person present deemed to consent to administering of oath unless he
reports to authorities
Any person who is present at the administering of an oath or engagement in the nature of
an oath mentioned in section 54, section 55 or section 56 shall be deemed to have consented to
the administering of such oath or engagement unless within five days thereafter, or, if he is
prevented by physical force or sickness, within five days after the termination of such physical
force or sickness he reports to the police, or if he is in the actual service of the military forces in
the Republic or in the police force he so reports as aforesaid, or he reports to his commanding
officer, everything he knows concerning the matter, including the person or persons by whom
and in whose presence, and the place where, and the time when, the oath or engagement in the
nature of an oath was administered.
[Ch0701s59]59. Unlawful drilling
(1) Any person who—
(a) without the permission of the President trains or drills any other person to the use
of arms or the practice of military exercises, movements, or evolutions; or
(b) is present at any meeting or assembly of persons, held without the permission of
the President, for the purpose of training or drilling any other persons to the use of arms or the
practice of military exercises, movements, or evolutions,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
(2) Any person who, at any meeting or assembly held without the permission of the
President, is trained or drilled to the use of arms or the practice of military exercises, movements,
or evolutions, or who is present at any such meeting or assembly for the purpose of being so
trained or drilled, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s60]60. Publication of false news likely to cause fear and alarm to the public
(1) Any person who publishes any false statement, rumour or report which is likely to
cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
(2) It shall be a defence to a charge under subsection (1) if the accused proves that, prior
to publication, he took such measures to verify the accuracy of such statement, rumour or report
as to lead him reasonably to believe that it was true.
[Ch0701s60A]60A.
[Repealed by Act No. 17 of 1994]
CHAPTER VIII
OFFENCES AFFECTING RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN STATES AND EXTERNAL
TRANQUILLITY
[Ch0701s61]61. Defamation of foreign princes
Any person who without such justification or excuse as would be sufficient in the case of
the defamation of a private person publishes anything intended to be read, or any sign of visible
representation, tending to degrade, revile or expose to hatred or contempt any foreign prince,
potentate, ambassador or other foreign dignitary with intent to disturb the peace and friendship
between the Republic and the country to which such prince, potentate, ambassador or dignitary
belongs, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s62]62. Foreign enlistment
Any person commits a misdemeanour who does any of the following acts without the
licence of the President, that is to say—
(a) who prepares or fits out any naval or military expedition to proceed against the
dominions of any friendly state, or is engaged in such preparation or fitting-out, or assists
therein, or is employed in any capacity in such expedition; or
(b) who, being a citizen of Malawi, accepts or agrees to accept any commission or
engagement in the military or naval service of any foreign state at war with any friendly state, or,
whether a citizen of Malawi or not, induces any other person to accept or agree to accept any
commission or engagement in the military or naval service of any such foreign state as aforesaid;
or
(c) who, being a citizen of Malawi, quits or goes on board any ship with a view of
quitting the Republic, with intent to accept any commission or engagement in the military or
naval service of any foreign state at war with a friendly state, or, whether a citizen of Malawi or
not, induces any other person to quit or to go on board any ship with a view of quitting the
Republic with the like intent; or
(d) who, being the master or owner of any ship, knowingly either takes on board, or
engages to take on board, or has on board such ship any illegally enlisted person; or
(e) who, with intent or knowledge, or having reasonable cause to believe that the
same will be employed in the military or naval service of any foreign state at war with any
friendly state builds, agrees to build, causes to be built, equips, despatches, or causes or allows to
be despatched, any ship, or issues or delivers any commission for any ship:
Provided that a person building, causing to be built, or equipping a ship in any of the
cases aforesaid, in pursuance of a contract made before the commencement of such war as
aforesaid, is not liable to any of the penalties specified in this section in respect of such building
or equipping if—
(i) upon a proclamation of neutrality being issued he forthwith gives notice to
the President that he is so building, causing to be built, or equipping such ship, and furnishes
such particulars of the contract and of any matters relating to, or done, or to be done under the
contract as may be required by the President; and
(ii) he gives such security, and takes and permits to be taken such other
measures, if any, as the President may prescribe for ensuring that such ship shall not be
despatched, delivered, or removed without the licence of the President until the termination of
such war as aforesaid.
[Ch0701s63]63. Piracy
Any person who is guilty of piracy or any crime connected with or relating or akin to
piracy shall be liable to be tried and punished according to the law of England for the time being
in force.
CHAPTER IX
UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLIES, RIOTS AND OTHER OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC
TRANQUILLITY
[Ch0701s64]64. Definition of society and unlawful society
32 of 1993(1)A society includes any combination of persons, whether the society be
known by any name or not.
(2) A society is an unlawful society if formed for any of the following purposes—
(a) levying war or encouraging or assisting any person to levy war on the
Government or the inhabitants of any part of the Republic; or
(b) killing or injuring or inciting to the killing or injuring of any person; or
(c) destroying or injuring or inciting to the destruction or injuring of any property; or
(d) subverting or promoting the subversion of the Government or of any officer
thereof; or
(e) committing or inciting to acts of violence or intimidation; or
(f) interfering with, or resisting, or inciting to interference with or resistance to the
administration of the law; or
(g) disturbing or inciting to the disturbance of peace and order in any part of the
Republic.
[Ch0701s65]65. Managing unlawful society
Any person who manages or assists in the management of an unlawful society shall be
guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
[Ch0701s66]66. Being member of unlawful society
Any person who—
(a) is a member of an unlawful society; or
(b) knowingly allows a meeting of an unlawful society, or of members of an unlawful
society, to be held in any house, building or place belonging to or occupied by him, or over
which he has control; or
(c) carries or displays anything whatsoever indicating that he is a member of or in
any way associated with an unlawful society or shouts or utters any slogan or makes any sign
associated with an unlawful society; or
(d) contributes or solicits anything as a subscription or otherwise in the name of or to
be used directly or indirectly for the benefit of an unlawful society; or
(e) in any way takes part in any activity of an unlawful society or carries on any
activity in the direct or indirect interests of an unlawful society in which activity it was or could
have engaged prior to the date upon which it became an unlawful society,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s67]67. Prosecutions under sections 65 and 66
(1) A prosecution for an offence under the two last preceding sections shall not be
instituted except with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions:
Provided that a person charged with such an offence may be arrested, or a warrant for his
arrest may be issued and executed, and any such person may be remanded in custody or on bail,
notwithstanding that the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the institution of a
prosecution for the offence has not been obtained, but no further or other proceedings shall be
taken until that consent has been obtained.
(2) Any person who attends a meeting of an unlawful society shall be presumed, until and
unless the contrary is proved, to be a member of the society.
(3) When any books, accounts, writings, papers, documents, banners or insignia of, or
relating to, an unlawful society are found in the possession or under the control of any person, or
when any person wears any of the insignia of, or is marked with any mark of,an unlawful
society, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such person is a member of the
unlawful society.
(4) When any books, accounts, lists of members, seals, minutes or correspondence of, or
relating to, an unlawful society are found in the possession or under the control of any person, it
shall further be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such person assists in the
management of the unlawful society.
[Ch0701s68]68. Powers of entry, arrest, search, etc.
Any police officer of or above the rank of inspector may, without warrant, enter, with or
without assistance, any house or building or into any place in which he has reason to believe—
(a) that a meeting of an unlawful society or of persons who are members of an
unlawful society is being held; or
(b) that a member of an unlawful society resides or is; or
(c) that documents, funds, moneys or other information relating to an unlawful
society may be found,
and arrest or cause to be arrested all persons found therein, and search such house, building or
place and seize or cause to be seized all insignia, banners, arms, books, papers, documents and
all other property which he may have reasonable cause to believe to belong to any unlawful
society or to be in any way connected with the purpose of the meeting or with the unlawful
society.
[Ch0701s69]69. Declaration by Minister
(1) When a society is declared to be an unlawful society by an order of the Minister, the
following consequences shall ensue—
(a) the property of the society within the Republic shall forthwith vest in an officer
appointed by the Minister;
(b) the officer appointed by the Minister shall proceed to wind up the affairs of the
society, and after satisfying and providing for all debts and liabilities of the society and the cost
of the winding up, if there shall then be any surplus assets, he shall prepare and submit to the
Minister a scheme for the application of such surplus assets;
(c) such scheme, when submitted for approval, may be amended by the Minister in
such way as he shall think proper in the circumstances of the case;
(d) the approval of the Minister to such scheme shall be denoted by the endorsement
thereon of a memorandum of such approval signed by the Minister, and, upon this being done,
the surplus assets, the subject of the scheme, shall be held by such officer upon the terms and to
the purposes thereby prescribed;
(e) for the purpose of the winding up, the officer appointed by the Minister shall have
all the powers vested in the Official Receiver for the purpose of the discovering of the property
of a debtor and the realization thereof,
(2) The Minister may, for the purpose of enabling a society to wind up its own affairs,
suspend the operation of this section for such period as to him shall seem expedient.
(3) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any property seized at any time under section 68.
[Ch0701s70]70. Forfeiture of insignia, etc.
Subject to the last preceding section, the insignia, banners, arms, books, papers,
documents and other property belonging to an unlawful society shall be forfeited and shall be
dealt with in such manner as the Minister may direct.
[Ch0701s71]71. Unlawful assembly
When three or more persons assemble with intent to commit an offence, or, being
assembled with intent to carry out some common purpose, conduct themselves in a manner likely
to cause persons in the neighbourhood reasonably to fear that the persons so assembled will
commit a breach of the peace, or will by such assembly needlessly and without any reasonable
occasion provoke other persons to commit a breach of the peace, they are an unlawful assembly.
It is immaterial that the original assembling was lawful if, being assembled, they conduct
themselves with a common purpose in such a manner as aforesaid.
Riot
When an unlawful assembly has begun to execute its purpose by a breach of the peace,
the assembly is called a riot, and the persons assembled are said to be riotously assembled.
[Ch0701s72]72. Punishment of unlawful assembly
Any person who takes part in an unlawful assembly shall be guilty of a misdemeanour
and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.
[Ch0701s73]73. Punishment of riot
Any person who takes part in a riot shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable
to imprisonment for five years.
[Ch0701s74]74. Making proclamation for rioters to disperse
Any magistrate or, in his absence, any police officer of or above the rank of assistant
inspector or any commissioned officer in any military force in the Republic, in whose view
twelve or more persons are riotously assembled, or who apprehends that a riot is about to be
committed by twelve or more persons assembled within his view, may make or cause to be made
a proclamation in the President's name, in such form as he thinks fit, commanding the rioters or
persons so assembled to disperse peaceably.
[Ch0701s75]75. Dispersion of rioters after proclamation made
If upon the expiration of a reasonable time after such proclamation made, or after the
making of such proclamation has been prevented by force, twelve or more persons continue
riotously assembled together, any person authorized to make proclamation, or any police officer
or any other person acting in aid of such person or police officer, may do all things necessary for
dispersing the persons so continuing assembled, or for apprehending them or any of them, and, if
any person makes resistance, may use all such force as is reasonably necessary for overcoming
such resistance, and shall not be liable in any criminal or civil proceeding for having, by the use
of such force, caused harm or death to any person.
[Ch0701s76]76. Rioting after proclamation
If proclamation is made, commanding the persons engaged in a riot, or assembled with
the purpose of committing a riot, to disperse, every person who, at or after the expiration of a
reasonable time from the making of such proclamation, takes or continues to take part in the riot
or assembly shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s77]77. Preventing or obstructing the making of proclamation
Any person who forcibly prevents or obstructs the making of such proclamation as is in
section 74 mentioned shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for life; and
if the making of the proclamation is so prevented, every person who, knowing that it has been so
prevented, takes or continues to take part in the riot or assembly shall be liable to imprisonment
for life.
[Ch0701s78]78. Rioters demolishing buildings, etc.
Any persons who, being riotously assembled together, unlawfully pull down or destroy or
begin to pull down or destroy any building, railway, machinery or structures shall be guilty of a
felony and each of them shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s79]79. Rioters injuring buildings,machinery, etc.
Any persons who, being riotously assembled together, unlawfully damage any of the
things in the last preceding section mentioned shall be guilty of a felony and each of them shall
be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s80]80. Riotously preventing the sailing of ship
All persons are guilty of a misdemeanour who, being riotously assembled, unlawfully and
with force prevent, hinder, or obstruct the loading or unloading, or the sailing or navigating of
any vessel, or unlawfully and with force board any vessel with intent to do so.
[Ch0701s81]81. Prohibition of carrying offensive weapons without lawful authority or
reasonable excuse
(1) Any person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, the proof where of
shall lie on him, has with him in any place any offensive weapon shall be liable to a fine of £100
and to imprisonment for two years.
(2) Where any person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1), the court may
make an order for the forfeiture or disposal of any weapon in respect of which the offence was
committed.
(3) A police officer may arrest without warrant any person whom he has reasonable cause
to believe to be committing an offence under subsection (1) if the police officer is not satisfied as
to that person's identity or place of residence, or has reasonable cause to believe that it is
necessary to arrest him in order to prevent the commission by him of any other offence in the
course of committing which an offensive weapon might be used.
(4) In this section, an offensive weapon means any article made or adapted for use. or
suitable, for causing injury to the person or intended by the person having it with him for such
use by him.
[Ch0701s82]82. Forcible entry
Any person who, in order to take possession thereof, enters on any lands or tenements in
a violent manner, whether such violence consists in actual force applied to any other person or in
threats or in breaking open any house or in collecting an unusual number of people, shall be
guilty of the misdemeanour termed forcible entry.
It is immaterial whether he is entitled to enter on the land or not, provided that a person
who enters upon lands or tenements of his own, but which are in the custody of his servants or
bailiff, does not commit the offence of forcible entry.
[Ch0701s83]83. Forcible detainer
Any person who, being in actual possession of land without colour of right, holds
possession of it in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace or reasonable apprehension of a
breach of the peace against a person entitled by law to the possession of the land shall be guilty
of the misdemeanour termed forcible detainer.
[Ch0701s84]84. Fighting in public
Any person who takes part in a fight in a public place shall be guilty of a misdemeanour
and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.
[Ch0701s85]85. Challenge to fight a duel
Any person who challenges another to fight a duel, or attempts to provoke another to
fight a duel, or attempts to provoke any person to challenge another to fight a duel, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s86]86. Threatening violence
Any person who—
(a) with intent to intimidate or annoy any person, threatens to break or injure a
dwelling-house; or
(b) with intent to alarm any person discharges loaded firearms or commits any other
breach of the peace,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
If the offence is committed in the night the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for
four years.
[Ch0701s87]87. Proposing violence at assemblies
(1) Any person who, without lawful excuse, at any assembly makes any statement or
behaves in any manner which is calculated or is likely to incite or induce the persons
assembled—
(a) to kill or do physical injury to any person or to any class or community of
persons, or
(b) wilfully to destroy or do any damage to any property; or
(c) to deprive any person of the possession or use of any property either permanently
or temporarily,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.
(2) In this section the word “assembly” means an assembly of three or more persons.
[Ch0701s88]88. Intimidation
(1) Any person who—
(a) by word, attitude, manner or conduct, threatens another with any injury to his
person, reputation or property or to the person, reputation or property of anyone in whom that
person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any
act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which he is legally entitled to do,
or to prevent that person from carrying out any duties or work essential to the maintenance of
public security, public tranquillity or public order or to the maintenance of essential services, as a
means of avoiding the execution of such threat; or
(b) in the like manner and with the like intention threatens persons generally or any
class or description of persons; or
(c) is the publisher, editor or printer of any newspaper, pamphlet or other document
containing any such threat as is referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); or
(d) is the writer of, or directly or indirectly causes any person to receive, any letter,
writing or other document containing any such threat as is referred to in paragraph (a) or (b),
shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) For the purposes of this section a person is deemed to print a newspaper, pamphlet or
other document if he prepares it by printing, lithography, typewriting, photography, or any other
mode of reproducing matter.
(3) Any person who commits an offence against subsection (1), shall be liable to a fine of
£500 and to imprisonment for five years and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for seven
years; and if the threat be to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any
property by fire, or to cause an offence punishable with death or with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to seven years, shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s89]89. Assembling for the purpose of smuggling
Any persons who assemble together, to the number of two or more, for the purpose of
unshipping, carrying, or concealing any goods subject to customs duty and liable to forfeiture
under any law relating to the customs, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and each of them shall
be liable to a fine of £300 or to imprisonment for two years.
Division II
Offences Against the Administration of Lawful Authority
CHAPTER X
CORRUPTION AND THE ABUSE OF OFFICE
[Ch0701s90]90. Official corruption
Any person who—
21 of 1995(a) being employed in the public service, and being charged with the
performance of any duty by virtue of such employment, corruptly solicits, receives, or obtains, or
agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any
other person on account of anything already done or omitted to be done, or to be afterwards done
or omitted to be done, by him in the discharge of the duties of his office; or
(b) corruptly gives, confers or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to
procure or attempt to procure, to, upon, or for any person employed in the public service, or to,
upon, or for any other person, any property or benefit of any kind on account of any such act or
omission on the part of the person so employed,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than five
years and not more than twelve years.
[Ch0701s91]91. Extortion by public officers
21 of 1995Any person who, being employed in the public service, takes or accepts from
any person for the performance of his duty as such officer, any reward beyond his proper pay and
emoluments, or any promise of such reward, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to
imprisonment for a term of not less than five years and not more than twelve years.
[Ch0701s92]92. Public officers receiving property to show favour
21 of 1995Any person who, being employed in the public service, receives any property
or benefit of any kind for himself, on the understanding, express or implied, that he shall favour
the person giving the property or conferring the benefit, or any one in whom that person is
interested, in any transaction then pending, or likely to take place, between the person giving the
property or conferring the benefit, or any one in whom he is interested, and any person employed
in the public service, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of
not less than five years and not more than twelve years.
[Ch0701s93]93. Officers charged with administration of property of a special character or
with special duties
Any person who, being employed in the public service, and being charged by virtue of
his employment with any judicial or administrative duties respecting property of a special
character, or respecting the carrying on of any manufacture, trade or business of a special
character, and having acquired or holding, directly or indirectly, a private interest in any such
property, manufacture, trade, or business, discharges any such duties with respect to the property,
manufacture, trade, or business in which he has such interest or with respect to the conduct of
any person in relation thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to
imprisonment for one year.
[Ch0701s94]94. False claims by officials
Any person who, being employed in the public service in such a capacity as to require
him or enable him to furnish returns or statements touching any sum payable or claimed to be
payable to himself or to any other person, or touching any other matter required to be certified
for the purpose of any payment of money or delivery of goods to be made to any person, makes a
return or statement touching any such matter which is, to his knowledge, false in any material
particular, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s95]95. Abuse of office
Any person who, being employed in the public service, does or directs to be done, in
abuse of the authority of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of another shall be
guilty of a misdemeanour.
If the act is done or directed to be done for purposes of gain he shall be guilty of a felony
and shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
A prosecution for any offence under this or either of the two last preceding sections shall
not be instituted except by or with the sanction of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
[Ch0701s96]96. False certificates by public officers
Any person who, being authorized or required by law to give any certificate touching any
matter by virtue whereof the rights of any person may be prejudicially affected, gives a
certificate which is, to his knowledge, false in any material particular shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s97]97. Unauthorized administration of oaths
Any person who administers an oath, or takes solemn declaration or affirmation or
affidavit, touching any matter with respect to which he had not by law any authority to do so
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year:
Provided that this section shall not apply to an oath, declaration, affirmation or affidavit
administered by or taken before a magistrate in any matter relating to the preservation of the
peace or the punishment of offences or relating to inquiries respecting sudden deaths, nor to an
oath, declaration, affirmation, or affidavit administered or taken for some purpose which is
lawful under the laws of another country, or for the purpose of giving validity to an instrument in
writing which is intended to be used in another country.
[Ch0701s98]98. False assumption of authority
Any person who—
(a) not being a judicial officer, assumes to act as a judicial officer; or
(b) without authority assumes to act as a person having authority by law to administer
an oath or take a solemn declaration or affirmation or affidavit or to do any other act of a public
nature which can only be done by persons authorized by law to do so; or
(c) represents himself to be a person authorized by law to sign a document testifying
to the contents of any register or record kept by a lawful authority, or testifying to any fact or
event, and signs such document as being so authorized, when he is not, and knows that he is not,
in fact, so authorized,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s99]99. Personating public officers
Any person who—
20 of 1973(a) personates any person employed in the public service on an occasion when
the latter is required to do any act or attend in any place by virtue of his employment; or
(b) falsely represents himself to be a person employed in the public service, and
assumes to do any act or to attend in any place for the purpose of doing any act by virtue of such
employment,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s100]100. Threat of injury to persons employed in public service
Whoever holds out any threat of injury to any person employed in the public service, or
to any person in whom he believes that person employed in the public service to be interested,
for the purpose of inducing that person employed in the public service to do any act or to forbear
or delay to do any act connected with the exercise of the public functions of such person
employed in the public service shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
CHAPTER XI
OFFENCES RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
[Ch0701s101]101. Perjury and subornation of perjury
(1) Any person who, in any judicial proceeding, or for the purpose of instituting any
judicial proceeding, knowingly gives false testimony touching any matter which is material to
any question then depending in that proceeding or intended to be raised in that proceeding, shall
be guilty of the misdemeanour termed perjury.
It is immaterial whether the testimony is given on oath or in any other manner authorized
by law.
The forms and ceremonies used in administering the oath or in otherwise binding the
person giving the testimony to speak the truth are immaterial, if he assents to the forms and
ceremonies actually used.
It is immaterial whether the false testimony is given orally or in writing.
It is immaterial whether the court or tribunal is properly constituted, or is held in the
proper place or not, if it actually acts as a court or tribunal in the proceeding in which the
testimony is given.
It is immaterial whether the person who gives the testimony is a competent witness or
not, or whether the testimony is admissible in the proceeding or not.
(2) Any person who aids, abets, counsels, procures, or suborns another person to commit
perjury shall be guilty of the misdemeanour termed subornation of perjury.
(3) In this section, the expression “judicial proceeding” includes a proceeding before any
court, tribunal, or person having by law power to hear, receive and examine evidence on oath.
(4) When a statement made for the purposes of a judicial proceeding is, not made on oath
before the tribunal itself, but is made before a person authorized by law to administer an oath to
the person who makes the statement, and to record and authenticate the statement, or is made in
any form and manner permitted by any written law, it shall for the purposes of this section be
treated as having been made in a judicial proceeding.
[Ch0701s102]102. Perjury in written statement
This section shall apply in relation to the making by any person of a written statement
tendered in evidence by virtue of section 175 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code, as it
applies in relation to the making of an oral statement by a person lawfully sworn as a witness.
Cap. 8:01
[Ch0701s103]103. False statements by interpreters
If any person, lawfully sworn as an interpreter in a judicial proceeding, wilfully makes a
statement material in the proceeding which he knows to be false, or does not believe to be true,
he shall be guilty of perjury.
[Ch0701s104]104. Punishment of perjury and subornation
Any person who commits perjury or suborns perjury shall be liable to imprisonment for
seven years.
[Ch0701s105]105. Fabricating evidence
Any person who, with intent to mislead any tribunal in any judicial proceeding—
(a) fabricates evidence by any means other than perjury or subornation of perjury; or
(b) knowingly makes use of such fabricated evidence,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s106]106. False swearing
Any person who swears falsely or makes a false affirmation or declaration before any
person authorized to administer an oath or take a declaration under such circumstances that the
false swearing or declaration if committed in a judicial proceeding would have amounted to
perjury shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s107]107. Deceiving witnesses
Any person who practises any fraud or deceit, or knowingly makes or exhibits any false
statement, representation, token, or writing, to any person called or to be called as a witness in
any judicial proceeding, with intent to affect the testimony of such person as a witness, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s108]108. Destroying evidence
Any person who, knowing that any book, document, or thing of any kind whatsoever, is
or may be required in evidence in a judicial proceeding, wilfully removes or destroys it or
renders it illegible or undecipherable or incapable of identification, with intent thereby to prevent
it from being used in evidence, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s109]109. Conspiracy to defeat justice and interference with witnesses
Any person who—
(a) conspires with any other person to accuse any person falsely of any crime or to do
anything to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or defeat the course of justice; or
(b) in order to obstruct the due course of justice, dissuades, hinders or prevents any
person lawfully bound to appear and give evidence as a witness from so appearing and giving
evidence, or endeavours to do so; or
(c) obstructs or in any way interferes with or knowingly prevents the execution of
any legal process, civil or criminal,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.
[Ch0701s110]110. Compounding felonies
Any person who asks, receives or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any
property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person upon any agreement or
understanding that he will compound or conceal a felony, or will abstain from, discontinue, or
delay a prosecution for a felony, or will withhold any evidence thereof, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s111]111. Compounding penal actions
Any person who, having brought, or under pretence of bringing, an action against another
person in order to obtain from him a penalty for any offence committed or alleged to have been
committed by him, compounds the action without the order or consent of the court in which the
action is brought or is to be brought, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s112]112. Advertisments for stolen property
Any person who—
(a) publicly offers a reward for the return of any property which has been stolen or
lost, and in the offer makes use of any words purporting that no questions will be asked, or that
the person producing such property will not be seized or molested; or
(b) publicly offers to return to any person who may have bought or advanced money
by way of loan upon any stolen or lost property the money so paid or advanced, or any other sum
of money or reward for the return of such property; or
(c) prints or publishes any such offer,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s113]113. Offences relating to judicial proceedings
(1) Any person who—
(a) within the premises in which any judicial proceeding is being had or taken, or
within the precincts of the same, shows disrespect, in speech or manner, to or with reference to
such proceeding, or any person before whom such proceeding is being had or taken; or
(b) having been called upon to give evidence in a judicial proceeding, fails to attend,
or having attended, refuses to be sworn or to make an affirmation or, having been sworn or
affirmed, refuses without lawful excuse to answer a question or to produce a document, or
remains in the room in which such proceeding is being had or taken, after the witnesses have
been ordered to leave such room; or
(c) causes an obstruction or disturbance in the course of a judicial proceeding; or
(d) while a judicial proceeding is pending, makes use of any speech or writing
misrepresenting such proceeding or capable of prejudicing any person in favour of or against any
parties to such proceeding, or calculated to lower the authority of any person before whom such
proceeding is being had or taken; or
(e) publishes a report of the evidence taken hi any judicial proceeding which has been
directed to be held in private; or
(f) attempts wrongfully to interfere with or influence a witness in a judicial
proceeding, either before or after he has given evidence, in connexion with such evidence; or
(g) dismisses a servant because he has given evidence on behalf of a certain party to a
judicial proceeding; or
(h) wrongfully retakes possession of land from any person who has recently obtained
possession by a writ of court; or
(i) commits any other act of intentional disrespect to any judicial proceeding, or to
any person before whom such proceeding is being had or taken,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
(2) When any offence against subsection (1) (a), (b), (c) or (i) is committed in view of the
court, the court may cause the offender to be detained in custody and at any time before the
rising of the court on the same day may take cognizance of the offence and sentence the offender
to a fine of £70 or in default of payment to imprisonment without hard labour for six months.
(3) This section shall be deemed to be in addition to and not in derogation from the power
of the High Court to punish for contempt of court.
CHAPTER XII
RESCUES, ESCAPES AND OBSTRUCTING OFFICERS OF COURT OF LAW
[Ch0701s114]114. Rescue
Any person, who by force rescues or attempts to rescue from lawful custody any other
person—
(a) if such last-named person is under sentence of death or imprisonment for life, or
charged with an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life shall be guilty of a
felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for life; and
(b) if such other person is imprisoned on a charge or under sentence for any offence
other than those specified above, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment
for seven years; and
(c) in any other case, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
If the person rescued is in the custody of a private person, the offender must have notice
of the fact that the person rescued is in such custody.
[Ch0701s115]115. Escape
Any person who, being in lawful custody, escapes from such custody, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s116]116. Permitting prisoners to escape
Any person who, having another person lawfully in his custody, intentionally or
negligently permits that other person to escape, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s117]117. Aiding prisoners to escape
Any person who—
(a) aids a prisoner in escaping or attempting to escape from lawful custody; or
(b) conveys anything or causes anything to be conveyed into a prison with intent to
facilitate the escape of a prisoner,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s118]118. Removal, etc., of property under lawful seizure
Any person who, when any property has been attached or taken under the process of
authority of any court, knowingly ,.and with intent to hinder or defeat the attachment or process
receives, removes, retains, conceals, or disposes of such property, shall be guilty of a felony and
shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
[Ch0701s119]119. Obstructing court officers
Any person who wilfully obstructs or resists any person lawfully charged with the
execution of an order or warrant of any court, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be
liable to imprisonment for one year.
CHAPTER XIII
MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLICAUTHORITY
[Ch0701s120]120. Frauds and breaches of trust by public officers
Any person employed in the public service who, in the discharge of the duties of his
office, commits any fraud or breach of trust affecting the public, whether such fraud or breach of
trust would have been criminal or not if committed against a private person, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s121]121. Neglect of official duty
Every person employed in the public service who wilfully neglects to perform any duty
which he is bound either by common law or by Act to perform, provided that the discharge of
such duty is not attended with greater danger than a man of ordinary firmness and activity may
be expected to encounter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s122]122. False information to person employed in the public service
Whoever gives to any person employed in the public service any information which he
knows or believes to be false intending thereby to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will
thereby cause such person employed in the public service—
(a) to do or omit anything which such person employed in the public service ought
not to do or omit if the true state of facts respecting which such information is given were known
to him; or
(b) to use the lawful power of such person employed in the public service to the
injury or annoyance of any person,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to a fine of £150 and to imprisonment for
three years.
[Ch0701s123]123. Disobedience of statutory duty
Everyone who wilfully disobeys any Act by doing any act which it forbids, or by
omitting to do any act which it requires to be done, and which concerns the public or any part of
the public, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable, unless it appears from the Act
that it was the intention of the Legislature to provide some other penalty for such disobedience,
to imprisonment for two years.
[Ch0701s124]124. Soliciting, etc., to break the law
(1) Any person who, whether in writing or by words or by his behaviour or otherwise—
(a) solicits or incites any other person to fail to comply with or to contravene any law
in force in Malawi or in any part thereof; or
(b) indicates or implies to any person that it would be incumbent or desirable to fail
to comply with or to contravene any such law,
shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.
(2) It shall be no defence to a charge under this section that the solicitation, incitement,
indication or implication, as the case may be, neither has had nor could have had any effect.
[Ch0701s125]125. Soliciting public officers, etc., to fail to carry out their duties
Any person who, whether in writing or by words or by his behaviour or otherwise,
solicits or incites—
(a) any person employed in the public service;
(b) a Chief or any person in the service of a Chief,
to fail to carry out any of his duties as such shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.
[Ch0701s126]126. Arrest without warrant
A police officer or Chief or any person acting under the direction of a police officer or
Chief may arrest without warrant any person whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be
committing or to have committed an offence under section 124 or 125.
Division III
Offences Injurious to the Public in General
CHAPTER XIV
OFFENCES RELATING TO RELIGION
[Ch0701s127]127. Insult to religion of any class
Any person who destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship or any object which is
held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any
class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such
destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to their religion, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s128]128. Disturbing religious assemblies
Any person who voluntarily causes disturbance to any assembly lawfully engaged in the
performance of religious worship or religious ceremony shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s129]129. Trespassing on burial places
Every person who with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person or of
insulting the religion of any person, or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are
likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby, commits
any trespass in any place of worship or in any place of sepulture or in any place set apart for the
performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity
to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the purpose of funeral
ceremonies, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s130]130. Writing or uttering, words with intent to wound religious feelings
Any person who, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any
other person, writes any word, or any person who, with the like intention, utters any word or
makes any sound in the hearing of any other person or makes any gesture or places any object in
the sight of any other person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to
imprisonment for one year.
[Ch0701s131]131. Hindering burial of dead body, etc.
Whoever unlawfully hinders the burial of the dead body of any person, or without lawful
authority in that behalf disinters, dissects, or harms the dead body of any person or, being under a
duty to cause the dead body of any person to be buried, fails to perform such duty, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanour.
In this section the word “burial” means burial in earth, interment or any other form of
sepulture, or the cremation or any other mode of disposal of a dead body and “buried” has a
corresponding meaning.
CHAPTER XV
OFFENCES AGAINST MORALITY
[Ch0701s132]132. Definition of rape
Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent,
or with her consent if the consent is obtained by force or means of threats or intimidation of any
kind, or by fear of bodily harm, or by means of false representations as to the nature of the act, or
in the case of a married woman, by personating her husband, shall be guilty of the felony termed
rape.
[Ch0701s133]133. Punishment of rape
Any person who commits the offence of rape shall be liable to be punished with death or
with imprisonment for life, with or without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s134]134. Attempted rape
Any person who attempts to commit rape shall be guilty of a felony and liable to
imprisonment for life, with or without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s135]135. Abduction
Any person who, with intent to marry or carnally know a woman of any age, or to cause
her to be married or carnally known by any other person, takes her away, or detains her, against
her will, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s136]136. Abduction of girls under sixteen
Any person who unlawfully takes an unmarried girl under the age of sixteen years out of
the custody or protection of her father or mother or other person having the lawful care or charge
of her, and against the will of such father or mother or other person, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s137]137. Indecent assaults on females
(1) Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults any woman or girl shall be guilty
of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years, with or without corporal
punishment.
(2) It shall be no defence to a charge for an indecent assault on a girl under the age of
thirteen years to prove that she consented to the act of indecency.
Insulting the modesty of a woman
(3) Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any
sound or gesture or exhibits any object intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that
such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman or intrudes upon the privacy of such
woman, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.
[Ch0701s138]138. Defilement of girls under thirteen years of age
(1) Any person who unlawfully and carnally knows any girl under the age of thirteen
years shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for life, with or without
corporal punishment.
Attempt
(2) Any person who attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any girl under the
age of thirteen years shall be guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen
years, with or without corporal punishment:
Provided that it shall be a sufficient defence to any charge under this section if it shall be
made to appear to the court, jury or assessors before whom the charge shall be brought that the
person so charged had reasonable cause to believe and did in fact believe that the girl was of or
above the age of thirteen years.
[Ch0701s139]139. Defilement of idiots or imbeciles
Any person who, knowing a woman or girl to be an idiot or imbecile, has or attempts to
have unlawful carnal knowledge of her under circumstances not amounting to rape, but which
prove that the offender knew at the time of the commission of the offence that the woman or girl
was an idiot or imbecile, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for
fourteen years, with or without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s140]140. Procuration
Any person who—
(a) procures or attempts to procure any girl or woman under the age of twenty-one
years to have unlawful carnal connexion, either in Malawi or elsewhere, with any other person or
persons; or
(b) procures or attempts to procure any woman or girl to become, either in Malawi or
elsewhere, a common prostitute; or
(c) procures or attempts to procure any woman or girl to leave Malawi with intent
that she may become an inmate of or frequent a brothel elsewhere; or
(d) procures or attempts to procure any woman or girl to leave her usual place of
abode in Malawi with intent that she may, for the purposes of prostitution, become an inmate of
or frequent a brothel either in the Republic or elsewhere,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and, if a male person, may, at the discretion of the court, and
in addition to any term of imprisonment awarded in respect of the said offence shall be sentenced
to corporal punishment:
Provided that no person shall be convicted of any offence under this section upon the
evidence of one witness only, unless such witness be corroborated in some material particular by
evidence implicating the accused.
[Ch0701s141]141. Procuring defilement of woman by threats or fraud or administering drugs
Any person who—
(a) by threats or intimidation procures or attempts to procure any woman or girl to
have any unlawful carnal connexion, either in Malawi or elsewhere; or
(b) by false pretences or false representations procures any woman or girl to have any
unlawful carnal connexion, either in Malawi or elsewhere; or
(c) applies, administers to, or causes to be taken by any woman or girl any drug,
matter, or thing, with intent to stupefy or overpower so as thereby to enable any person to have
unlawful carnal connexion with such woman or girl,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour:
Provided that no person shall be convicted of an offence under this section upon the
evidence of one witness only, unless such witness be corroborated in some material particular by
evidence implicating the accused.
[Ch0701s142]142. Householder, etc., permitting defilement of girl under thirteen years of age
on his premises
Any person who, being the owner or occupier of premises or having or acting or assisting
in the management or control thereof, induces or knowingly suffers any girl under the age of
thirteen years to resort to or be upon such premises for the purpose of being unlawfully and
carnally known by any man, whether such carnal knowledge is intended to be with any particular
man or generally, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years:
Provided that it shall be a sufficient defence to any charge under this section if it shall be
made to appear to the court or jury before whom the charge shall be brought that the person so
charged had reasonable cause to believe and did in fact believe that the girl was of or above the
age of sixteen years.
[Ch0701s143]143. Detention with intent or in brothel
Any person who detains any woman or girl against her will—
(a) in or upon any premises with intent that she may be unlawfully and carnally
known by any man, whether any particular man or generally; or
(b) in any brothel,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
Constructive detention by withholding clothes
When a woman or girl is in or upon any premises for the purpose of having any unlawful
carnal connexion, or is in any brothel, a person shall be deemed to detain such woman or girl in
or upon such premises or in such brothel, if, with intent to compel or induce her to remain in or
upon such premises or in such brothel, such person withholds from such woman or girl any
wearing apparel or other property belonging to her, or where wearing apparel has been lent or
otherwise supplied to such woman or girl by or by the directions of such person, such person
threatens such woman or girl with legal proceedings if she takes away with her the wearing
apparel so lent or supplied.
No legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal, shall be taken against any such woman
or girl for taking away or being found in possession of any such wearing apparel as was
necessary to enable her to leave such premises or brothel.
[Ch0701s144]144. Power of search
If it appears to any magistrate, on information made before him on oath by any parent,
relative or guardian of any woman or girl or other person who, in the opinion of the magistrate, is
acting bona fide in the interests of any woman or girl, that there is reasonable cause to suspect
that such woman or girl is unlawfully detained for immoral purposes by any person in any place
within the jurisdiction of such magistrate, such magistrate may issue a warrant authorizing the
person named therein to search for, and, when found, to take to and detain in a place of safety
such woman or girl until she can be brought before a magistrate; and the magistrate before whom
such woman or girl is brought may cause her to be delivered up to her parents or guardians, or
otherwise dealt with as circumstances may permit and require.
A magistrate issuing such warrant may, by the same or any other warrant, cause any
person accused of so unlawfully detaining such woman or girl to be apprehended and brought
before a magistrate and proceedings to be taken for punishing such person according to law.
A woman or girl shall be deemed to be unlawfully detained for immoral purposes if she is
so detained for the purpose of being unlawfully and carnally known by any man, whether any
particular man or generally; and—
(a) either is under the age of thirteen years; or
(b) if she is of or over the age of thirteen years and under the age of eighteen years, is
so detained against her will or against the will of her father or mother or of any person having the
lawful care or charge of her; or
(c) if she is of or over the age of eighteen years and is so detained against her will.
Any person authorized by warrant under this section to search for any woman or girl so
detained as aforesaid may enter (if need be by force) any house, building, or other place
mentioned in the warrant and may remove such woman therefrom:
Provided always that every warrant issued under this section authorizing the search for
any woman or girl in any house, building or other place occupied by a non-African shall be
addressed to and executed by a Police Officer of or above the rank of Inspector.
[Ch0701s145]145. Male person living on earnings of prostitution or persistently soliciting
(1) Every male person who—
(a) knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution; or
(b) in any public place persistently solicits or importunes for immoral purposes,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour. In the case of a second or subsequent conviction under this
section the court may, in addition to any term of imprisonment awarded, sentence the offender to
corporal punishment.
(2) If it is made to appear to a magistrate by information on oath that there is reason to
suspect that any house or any part of a house is used by a woman or girl for purposes of
prostitution, and that any person residing in or frequenting the house is living wholly or in part
on the earnings of the prostitute, the magistrate may issue a warrant authorizing any police
officer to enter and search the house and to arrest that person.
(3) Where a male person is proved to live with or to be habitually in the company of a
prostitute or is proved to have exercised control, direction or influence over the movements of a
prostitute in such a manner as to show that he is aiding, abetting or compelling her prostitution
with any other person or generally, he shall unless he shall satisfy the court to the contrary be
deemed to be knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution.
[Ch0701s146]146. Woman aiding, etc., for gain prostitution of another woman
Every woman who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution, or
who is proved to have, for the purpose of gain, exercised control, direction or influence over the
movements of a prostitute in such a manner as to show that she is aiding, abetting or compelling
her prostitution with any person, or generally, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s147]147. Brothels
Any person who keeps a house, room, set of rooms, or place of any kind whatsoever for
purposes of prostitution shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s148]148. Conspiracy to defile
Any person who conspires with another to induce any woman or girl, by means of any
false pretence or other fraudulent means, to permit any man to have unlawful carnal knowledge
of her shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for three years, with or
without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s149]149. Attempts to procure abortion
Any person who, with intent to procure a miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is
not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious
thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, shall be guilty of a felony
and shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
[Ch0701s150]150. The like by woman with child
Any woman who, being with child, with intent to procure her own miscarriage,
unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any
kind, or uses any other means whatever, or permits any such thing or means to be administered
or used to her, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s151]151. Supplying drugs or instruments to procure abortion
Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person any thing whatever,
knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether
she is or is not with child, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for three
years.
[Ch0701s152]152. Knowledge of age of female immaterial
Except as otherwise expressly stated, it is immaterial in the case of any of the offences
committed with respect to a woman or girl under a specified age, that the accused person did not
know that the woman or girl was under that age, or believed that she was not under that age.
[Ch0701s153]153. Unnatural offences
Any person who—
(a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or
(b) has carnal knowledge of an animal; or
(c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of
nature,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years, with or without
corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s154]154. Attempt to commit unnatural offences
Any person who attempts to commit any of the offences specified in the last preceding
section shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years, with or
without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s155]155. Indecent assault of boys under fourteen
Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults a boy under the age of fourteen years
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years, with or without
corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s156]156. Indecent practices between males
Any male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency
with another male person, or procures another male person to commit any act of gross indecency
with him, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with
himself or with another male person, whether in public or private, shall be guilty of a felony and
shall be liable to imprisonment for five years, with or without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s157]157. Incest by males
(1) Any male person who has carnal knowledge of a female person, who is to his
knowledge his grand-daughter, daughter, sister, or mother, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be
liable to imprisonment for five years:
Provided that if it is alleged in the information or charge and proved that the female
person is under the age of thirteen years, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
Consent immaterial
(2) It is immaterial that the carnal knowledge was had with the consent of the female
person.
Attempt
(3) If any male person attempts to commit any such offence as aforesaid he shall be guilty
of a misdemeanour.
Order for guardianship
(4) On the conviction before any court of any male person of an offence under this
section, or of an attempt to commit the same, against any female under the age of twenty-one
years, it shall be in the power of the court to divest the offender of all authority over such female,
and, if the offender is the guardian of such female, to remove the offender from such
guardianship, and in any such case to appoint any person or persons to be the guardian or
guardians of such female during her minority or any less period:
Provided that the High Court may at any time vary or rescind the order by the
appointment of any other person as such guardian, or in any other respect.
[Ch0701s158]158. Incest by females
Any female person of or above the age of sixteen years who with consent permits her
grandfather, father, brother, or son to have carnal knowledge of her (knowing him to be her
grandfather, father, brother, or son, as the case may be), shall be guilty of a felony and shall be
liable to imprisonment for five years.
[Ch0701s159]159. Test of relationship
In the two last preceding sections the expressions “brother” and “sister", respectively,
include half-brother and half-sister, and the said sections shall apply whether the relationship
between the person charged with an offence and the person with whom the offence is alleged to
have been committed is or is not traced through lawful wedlock.
[Ch0701s160]160. Sanction of Chief Public Prosecutor
No prosecution for an offence under section 157 or 158 shall be commenced without the
sanction of the Chief Public Prosecutor.
CHAPTER XVI
OFFENCES RELATING TO MARRIAGE AND DOMESTIC OBLIGATIONS
[Ch0701s161]161. Fraudulent pretence of marriage
Any person who wilfully and by fraud causes any woman who is not lawfully married to
him to believe that she is lawfully married to him and to cohabit or have sexual intercourse with
him in that belief, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s162]162. Bigamy
Any person who, having a husband or wife living, goes through a ceremony of marriage
which is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife, shall be guilty
of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years:
Provided that this section shall not extend to any person whose marriage with such
husband or wife has been declared void by a court of competent jurisdiction, nor to any person
who contracts a marriage during the life of a former husband or wife, if such husband or wife, at
the time of the subsequent marriage, shall have been continually absent from such person for the
space of seven years, and shall not have been heard of by such person as being alive within that
time.
[Ch0701s163]163. Marriage ceremony fraudulently gone through without lawful marriage
Any person who dishonestly or with fraudulent intention goes through the ceremony of
marriage, knowing that he is not thereby lawfully married, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall
be liable to imprisonment for five years.
[Ch0701s164]164. Desertion of children
Any person who being the parent, guardian or other person having the lawful care or
charge of a child under the age of fourteen years, and being able to maintain such child, wilfully
and without lawful and reasonable cause deserts the child and leaves it without means of support,
shall be guilty of a misdeamenour
[Ch0701s165]165. Neglecting to provide food, etc., for children
Any person who, being the parent or guardian or other person having the lawful care or
charge of any child of tender years and unable to provide for itself, refuses or neglects (being
able to do so) to provide sufficient food, clothes, bedding and other necessaries for such child, so
as thereby to injure the health of such child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s166]166. Master not providing for servants or apprentices
Any person who, being legally liable either as master or mistress, to provide for any
apprentice or servant necessary food, clothing, or lodging, wilfully and without lawful excuse
refuses or neglects to provide the same, or unlawfully or maliciously does or causes to be done
any bodily harm to such apprentice or servant so that the life of such apprentice or servant is
endangered or that his health has been or is likely to be permanently injured shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s167]167. Child stealing
Any person who, with intent to deprive any parent, guardian, or other person who has the
lawful care or charge of a child under the age of fourteen years, of the possession of such child—
(a) forcibly or fraudulently takes or entices away, or detains the child; or
(b) receives or harbours the child, knowing it to have been so taken or enticed away
or detained,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
It is a defence to a charge of any of the offences defined in this section to prove that the accused
person claimed in good faith a right to the possession of the child, or, in the case of an
illegitimate child, is its mother or claimed to be its father.
CHAPTER XVII
NUISANCES AND OFFENCES AGAINST HEALTH AND CONVENIENCE
[Ch0701s168]168. Common nuisance
Any person who does an act not authorized by law or omits to discharge a legal duty and
thereby causes any common injury, or danger or annoyance, or obstructs or causes
inconvenience to the public in the exercise of common rights, commits the misdemeanour termed
a common nuisance and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.
It is immaterial that the act or omission complained of is convenient to a larger number of
the public than it inconveniences, but the fact that it facilitates the lawful exercise of their rights
by a part of the public may show that it is not a nuisance to any of the public.
[Ch0701s169]169. Gaming houses
(1) Any person being the owner or occupier, or having the use of, any house, room or
place, who shall open, keep or use the same for the purpose of unlawful gaming being carried on
therein, and any person who, being the owner or occupier of any house, room or place, shall
knowingly and wilfully permit the same to be opened, kept or used by any other person for the
purpose aforesaid, and any person having the care or management of or in any manner assisting
in conducting the business of any house, room or place opened, kept or used for the purpose
aforesaid, is said to keep a common gaming house.
(2) In this section “unlawful gaming” means any game the chances of which are not alike
favourable to all the players, including the banker or other person or persons by whom the game
is managed or against whom the other players stake, play or bet.
(3) Any person who keeps a common gaming house shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(4) Any person other than the persons mentioned in subsection (1) who is found in a
common gaming house shall be deemed, unless the contrary is proved, to be there for the
purpose of unlawful gaming, and shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to a fine
of £5 for the first offence, and for each subsequent offence to a fine of £20 and to imprisonment
for three months.
[Ch0701s170]170. Betting houses
Any house, room or place which is used for any of the purposes following, that is to
say—
(a) for the purpose of bets being made therein between persons resorting to the place
and—
(i) the owner, occupier, or keeper of the place, or any person using the place;
or
(ii) any person procured or employed by or acting for or on behalf of any such
owner, occupier or keeper, or person using the place; or
(iii) any person having the care or management, or in any manner conducting
the business, of the place; or
(b) for the purpose of any money or other property being paid or received therein by
or on behalf of any such owner, occupier or keeper, or person using the place, as, for the
consideration—
(i) for an assurance, undertaking, promise, or agreement, express or implied,
to pay or give thereafter any money or other property on any event or contingency of or relating
to any horse race, or other race, fight, game, sport, or exercise; or
(ii) for securing the paying or giving by some other person of any money or
other property on any such event or contingency,
is called a common betting house.
Any person who, being the owner or occupier of any house, room, or place, knowingly
and wilfully permits it to be opened, kept or used, as a common betting house by another person,
or who has the use or management, or assists in conducting the business, of a common betting
house, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year:
[Ch0701s170A]Totalizator
Provided always that nothing herein contained shall make illegal the use of a totalizator
by a race club, gymkhana club or sports club recognized by the Government at any public
meeting, with the approval in each case of the Commissioner of Police. In this proviso,
“totalizator” means and includes the instrument, machine or contrivance commonly known as the
totalizator, and any other instrument, machine or contrivance of a like nature, or any scheme for
enabling any number of persons to make bets with one another on the like principles.
[Ch0701s171]171. Authorized lotteries
For the purposes of sections 173 and 180, “authorized lottery” means—
(a) any lottery—
(i) organized to raise funds within Malawi for social service, public welfare,
relief of distress, patriotic purposes, or to provide sporting or recreational facilities; and
(ii) of which at least one-quarter of the gross proceeds shall be devoted to the
object for which the lottery is conducted; and
(iii) authorized by the Commissioner of Police or by a police officer to whom
power has been delegated by the Commissioner of Police to give such authority;
(b) any lottery deemed to be an authorized lottery under section 172;
(c) any lottery declared by the Minister to be an authorized lottery:
Provided that a lottery declared to be an authorized lottery under the provisions of this
paragraph shall be conducted in accordance with and subject to such conditions as the Minister
may impose.
[Ch0701s172]172. Small lotteries incidental to certain entertainments to be authorized
lotteries
(1) A lottery promoted as an incident of an entertainment to which this section applies
shall be deemed to be an authorized lottery, but the conditions specified in subsection (2) shall be
observed in the promotion and conduct of the lottery, and if any of those conditions is broken the
lottery shall cease to be an authorized lottery.
(2) The conditions referred to in subsection (1) are that—
(a) the whole proceeds of the entertainment (including the proceeds of the lottery)
after deducting—
(i) the expenses of the entertainment excluding the expenses incurred in
connexion with the lottery; and
(ii) the expenses incurred in printing tickets in the lottery; and
(iii) such sum (if any) not exceeding £10 as the promoters of the lottery think
fit to appropriate on account of any expense incurred by them in purchasing prizes in the lottery,
shall be devoted to purposes other than private gain;
(b) tickets or chances in the lottery shall not be sold or issued, nor shall the result of
the lottery be declared, except in the premises on which the entertainment takes place and during
the progress of the entertainment; and
(c) the facilities provided for participating in lotteries shall not be the only, or the
only substantial, inducement to persons to attend the entertainment.
(3) The entertainments to which this section applies are bazaars, sales of work, fetes and
other entertainments of similar character, whether limited to one day or extending over two or
more days.
[Ch0701s173]173. Lotteries
(1) Any person who opens, keeps or uses any place for carrying on a lottery other than an
authorized lottery shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for six
months.
(2) Any person who prints or publishes, or causes to be printed or published, any
advertisement or other notice of or relating to a lottery, not being an authorized lottery, or of or
relating to the sale of any ticket or chance or of any share in any ticket or chance in any lottery
other than an authorized lottery shall be liable to a fine of £50.
(3) In this section “lottery” includes any scheme or device for the sale, gift, disposal, or
distribution of any property, depending upon or to be determined by lot or chance, whether by
the throwing or casting of dice, or by the drawing of tickets, cards, lots, numbers, or figures, or
by means of a wheel or trained animal, or otherwise howsoever.
(4) When any person is convicted of an offence under this section, the court may, in
addition to or in lieu of, any penalty which may be imposed, order the forfeiture of any
instrument or thing used in connexion with the lottery concerning which the conviction has taken
place.
[Ch0701s174]174. Exemption of private lotteries
(1) In this section, the expression “private lottery” means a lottery which is promoted for,
and in which the sale of tickets or chances by the promoters is confined to, either—
(a) members of one society established and conducted for purposes not connected
with gaming, wagering or lotteries; or
(b) persons all of whom work on the same premises; or
(c) persons all of whom reside on the same premises,
and which is promoted by persons each of whom is a person to whom, under the foregoing
provisions, tickets or chances may be sold by the promoters and, in the case of a lottery
promoted for the members of a society, is a person authorized in writing by the governing body
of the society to promote the lottery.
For the purposes of this section, the expression “society” includes a club, institution,
organization or other association of persons by whatever name called, and each local or affiliated
branch or section of a society shall be regarded as a separate and distinct society.
(2) A private lottery shall be deemed to be an authorized lottery, but the following
conditions shall be observed in connexion with the promotion and conduct of the lottery, that is
to say—
(a) the whole proceeds, after deducting only expenses incurred for printing and
stationery, shall be devoted to the provision of prizes for purchasers of tickets or chances or for
other persons being themselves lawful participants in the lottery to whom any purchaser or
purchasers may have sold all of or any share in a ticket or chance or tickets or chances, or, in the
case of a lottery promoted for the members of a society, shall be devoted either to the provision
of prizes as aforesaid or to purposes which are purposes of the society or, as to part, to the
provision of prizes as aforesaid and, as to the remainder, to such purposes as aforesaid;
(b) there shall not be exhibited, published or distributed any written notice or
advertisement of the lottery other than—
(i) a notice thereof exhibited on the premises of the society for whose
members it is promoted or, as the case may be, on the premises on which the persons for whom it
is promoted work or reside; and
(ii) such announcement or advertisement thereof as is contained in the tickets,
if any;
(c) the price of every ticket or chance shall be the same, and the price of every ticket
shall be stated on the ticket;
(d) every ticket shall bear upon the face of it the names and addresses of each of the
promoters and a statement of the persons to whom the sale of tickets or chances by the promoters
is restricted, and a statement that no prize or part thereof won in the lottery shall be paid or
delivered by the promoters to any person other than the person to whom the winning ticket or
chance was sold by them, or to any other person being himself a lawful participant in the lottery
to whom the buyer of a ticket or chance shall have sold all of or a share in such ticket or chance,
and no prize shall be paid or delivered except in accordance with that statement;
(e) no ticket or chance shall be issued or allotted by the promoters except by way of
sale and upon receipt of the full price thereof, and no money or valuable thing so received by a
promoter shall in any circumstances be returned; and
(f) no tickets in the lottery shall be sent through the post.
(3) If any of the conditions specified in subsection (2) is broken, each of the promoters of
the lottery, and where the person by whom the condition is broken is not one of the promoters,
that person also, shall be liable to a fine of £10 and to imprisonment for three months:
Provided that it shall be a defence for a person charged only by reason of his being a
promoter of the lottery that the offence was committed without his knowledge.
(4) The Commissioner of Police, or any other police officer appointed by him for the
purpose, may at any time inspect the accounts of any private lottery, and the promoters of such
lottery shall give to the Commissioner of Police or to such officer access to all vouchers or other
documents connected therewith and such other information as he may require.
[Ch0701s175]175. Keeper of defined premises
Any person who appears, acts, or behaves as master or mistress, or as the person having
the care or management of any such house, room, set of rooms, or place as is mentioned in
section 169, 170 or 173 is to be taken to be the keeper thereof, whether he is or is not the real
keeper.
[Ch0701s176]176. Offence to organize or manage or conduct pools
Any person who takes part in the organization, management or conduct of a pool shall be
guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to a fine of K 1,000 and to imprisonment for six
months.
(2) For the purposes of this section “pool” means any invitation to the public to foretell
the result of any game, race or event.
[Ch0701s177]177. Chain letters
(1) Any person who sends or causes to be sent any chain letter or who sends or receives
any money or money's worth in connexion with any chain letter is guilty of a misdemeanour and
is liable to a fine of K400 and to imprisonment for six months.
(2) For the purposes of this section “chain letter” means a document addressed by one
person to another person suggesting to, requesting or inviting the person to whom it is
addressed—
(a) that he should send or request to be sent a document having the same purport to
one or more other persons; or
(b) that he should communicate, verbally or otherwise, the contents or import of the
first-mentioned document to one or more other persons in order to solicit, induce, canvass or
cause those persons, or any of them, to act in accordance with the suggestion, request or
invitation contained in the first-mentioned document; and in either of the above cases;
(c) that he should remit to a person or to an address specified in the first-mentioned
document money or money's worth.
[Ch0701s178]178. Opening of postal article suspected of containing a chain letter
(1) Any postal article which is suspected by the Postmaster-General of being, or of
containing, a chain letter sent in contravention of any of the provisions of section 177 may, under
the authority of the Postmaster-General, be detained and opened by the Postmaster-General or by
any other officer authorized by the Postmaster-General in that behalf. If any postal article, or the
contents thereof, is found to be a chain letter it, or the contents thereof as the case may be, may
under the authority of the Postmaster-General be destroyed.
(2) Any bank note, currency note, postal order, money order, coin, money or money's
worth found in any such postal article, so opened under subsection (1), may be forfeited.
(3) Section 177 and this section shall have effect and shall for all purposes be deemed
always to have had effect from the first day of January, 1964.
(4) In this section, the expression “postal article” includes any letter, printed paper,
newspaper, parcel or other article whatsoever in course of transmission by post, and a telegram
when conveyed by post.
[Ch0701s179]179. Obscene matters or things
11 of 1973(1) Any person who—
(a) makes, produces or has in his possession any one or more obscene writings,
drawings, prints, paintings, printed matter, pictures, posters, emblems, photographs,
photographic negatives or prints, cinematograph films, gramophone records or other
contrivances for the reproduction of sound or any other obscene objects or any other objects
tending to corrupt morals; or
(b) imports, conveys or exports, or causes to be imported, conveyed or exported, any
such matters or things, or in any manner whatsoever puts any of them in circulation; or
(c) carries on or takes part in any business, whether public or private, concerned with
any such matters or things in any manner whatsoever, or distributes any of them, or exhibits any
of them publicly, or makes a business of lending any of them; or
(d) advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever, with a view to assisting the
circulation of, or traffic in, any such matters or things, that a person is engaged in any of the acts
referred to in this section, or advertises or makes known how, or from whom, any such matters or
things can be procured either directly or indirectly; or
(e) publicly exhibits any indecent show or performance or any show or performance
tending to corrupt morals,
is guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine of one thousand Kwacha and to imprisonment
for a term of two years.
(2) If, in respect of any of the offences specified in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d) of
subsection (1), any constituent element thereof is committed in Malawi such commission shall be
sufficient to render the person accused of such offence triable therefor in Malawi.
(3) A court, on convicting any person of an offence against this section, may order to be
confiscated or destroyed any matter or thing made, possessed or used for the purpose of such
offence.
(4) A court may, on the application of a public prosecutor order the destruction of any
obscene matter or thing to which this section relates, whether any person may or may not have
been convicted under the provisions of this section in respect of such obscene matter or thing. In
this subsection, the term “public prosecutor” bears the meaning ascribed to such term by section
2 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code. Cap. 8:01
(5) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section and the court convicting
him is satisfied that the offence arose out of, or was committed in the course, or furtherance, of
any trade or business carried on by him and in respect of which he holds a licence issued under
the Businesses Licensing Act, such court shall order the cancellation of such licence. Cap. 46:01
(6) No prosecution for an offence under this section shall be instituted without the written
consent of the Director of Public Prosecution.
[Ch0701s180]180. Idle and disorderly persons
The following persons—
(a) every common prostitute behaving in a disorderly or indecent manner in any
public place;
(b) every person wandering or placing himself in any public place to beg or gather
alms, or causing or procuring or encouraging any child or children so to do;
(c) every person playing at any game of chance not being an authorized lottery or a
private lottery for the purposes of section 174, for money or money's worth in any public place;
(d) every person who without lawful excuse publicly does any indecent act;
(e) every person who in any public place solicits for immoral purposes;
(f) every person wandering about and endeavouring by the exposure of wounds or
deformation to obtain or gather alms; and
(g) every male person who wears the hair of his head in such a fashion as, when he is
standing upright, the main line of the bottom of the mass of hair (other than hair growing on his
face or on the nape of his neck) lies below an imaginary line drawn horizontally around his head
at the level of the mouth,
11 of 1973shall be deemed idle and disorderly persons, and shall be liable for the first
offence to a fine of K20 and to imprisonment for three months and for a subsequent offence to a
fine of K50 and to imprisonment for six months.
[Ch0701s181]181. Conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace
Every person who in any public place conducts himself in a manner likely to cause a
breach of the peace shall be liable to a fine of K50 and to imprisonment for three months.
[Ch0701s182]182. Use of insulting language
Every person who uses insulting language or otherwise conducts himself in a manner
likely to give such provocation to any person as to cause such person to break the peace or to
commit any offence against the person shall be liable to a fine of K100 and to imprisonment for
six months.
[Ch0701s183]183. Nuisances by drunken persons etc.
1 of 1932(1) Every person found drunk and incapable in any public place, or on any
premises licensed under the Intoxicating Liquor Ordinance, may be arrested without warrant and
shall be liable to a fine of K20, and on a second or subsequent conviction shall be liable to a fine
of K40.
(2) Every person who, in any public place or on any premises licensed under the
Intoxicating Liquor Ordinance, is guilty while drunk of riotous or disorderly behaviour or who is
drunk when in possession of any loaded fire-arm, may be arrested without warrant and shall be
liable to a fine of K50 and to imprisonment for three months.
[Ch0701s184]184. Rogues and vagabonds
(1) The following persons—
(a) every person going about as a gatherer or collector of alms, or endeavouring to
procure charitable contributions of any nature or kind, under any false or fraudulent pretence;
(b) every suspected person or reputed thief who has no visible means of subsistence
and cannot give a good account of himself;
(c) every person found in or upon or near any premises or in any road or highway or
any place adjacent thereto or in any public place at such time and under such circumstances as to
lead to the conclusion that such person is there for an illegal or disorderly purpose;
(d) every person who, without the prior consent in writing in that behalf of the
District Commissioner, collects or makes any appeal for subscriptions of money in any public
place in such District Commissioner's District for any purpose;
(e) every person who has collected money by subscription in any place in Malawi,
who fails to produce to a District Commissioner or to publish in a newspaper named by a District
Commissioner, correct accounts of any money received by such subscription and of the disposal
thereof, when called upon so to do by such District Commissioner,
shall be deemed to be a rogue and vagabond, and shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be
liable for the first offence to imprisonment for six months, and for every subsequent offence to
imprisonment for eighteen months:
Provided that paragraphs (d) and (e) shall not apply to—
(i) any person or to the duly authorized representative of any organization who has
received the written consent of the Commissioner of Police to collect, or make any appeal for,
subscriptions of money for religious or charitable purposes.
(ii) any person authorized to collect, or make any appeal for subscriptions of money,
under the provisions of any by-law of a local authority which is in force in Malawi:
Provided further that for the purposes of paragraph (d) the definition of “public place” in
section 4 shall not be deemed to include any recognized place of religious worship.
(2) In granting his consent to any person to collect money or to make an appeal for
subscriptions of money under subsection (1) (d), a District Commissioner may impose such
conditions as he may think fit. Any person who, having been granted such consent fails to
comply with any such condition, shall be deemed to have committed an offence against
subsection (1) and shall be liable to the penalties provided by such subsection.
[Ch0701s185]185. Power to order removal of undesirable persons from certain
Municipalities, Townships and other areas
(1) This section shall extend to such Municipalities, Townships and other areas as the
Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, direct, and shall apply to—
(a) persons of any age which, according to law or custom, should render them subject
to control, where the person whose duty it is to exercise control is resident outside a
Municipality, Township or other area to which this section applies; or
(b) persons having no settled home within such a township or such an area whose
District of origin or last place of ordinary residence is outside the Municipality, Township or
other area.
For the purposes of paragraph (b) a person shall be deemed to have a settled home within
a Municipality, Township or other area if he satisfies the magistrate—
(i) that one or other of his parents is ordinarily resident in such Municipality,
Township or other area; or
(ii) that he is, and has been for a period or periods amounting in the aggregate to not
less than eighteen months during the two years immediately preceding the month then current,
ordinarily resident in such Municipality, Township or other area.
(2) Where a magistrate has reasonable cause to believe that a person belongs to one of the
categories specified in subsection (1) and that the presence of such person within any
Municipality, Township or other area within his jurisdiction to which this section extends is, by
reason of any of the matters mentioned in subsection (3), undesirable in the public interest, he
may make an order (in this section referred to as a removal order) requiring such person—
(a) to leave the Municipality, Township or other area not later than such date as may
be specified in the Order;
(b) thereafter to remain outside the Municipality, Township or other area either
during a period to be specified in the order or until further order.
(3) A removal order may be made on any of the following grounds—
(a) that a person has been convicted of an offence under section 184;
(b) that he has no regular employment or other reputable means of livelihood and
cannot give a good account of himself;
(c) that he has been convicted of an offence against the person or in relation to
property.
(4) Before a removal order is made with respect to any person, he shall be informed of
the reasons why it is proposed to make such order and shall be given an opportunity to show
cause why such order should not be made.
[Ch0701s186]186. Appeal against removal order
(1) A person with respect to whom a removal order under section 185 has been made may
appeal against any such order to the High Court, whose decision shall be final.
(2) The High Court may, on receiving notice of appeal within the prescribed time, by
order, suspend the operation of the removal order on such terms (including detention in custody
or the provision of sureties or the entering into recognizances or reporting to the police) as may
appear expedient pending the determination of the appeal:
Provided that any such suspension shall cease to have effect if no appeal against such
removal order is lodged in the manner and within the time prescribed.
(3) The High Court at the hearing of the appeal may receive evidence and may confirm
or, on cause shown, cancel or vary the removal order.
(4) The High Court may make Rules prescribing the manner in which and the time within
which notice of appeal may be given and an appeal lodged, and generally the procedure to be
followed in any appeal to the High Court under this section.
[Ch0701s187]187. Detention in custody pending consideration of making of removal order
(1) Any person with respect to whom it is proposed to make a removal order under
section 185 may be arrested by any police officer without a warrant and may be detained in
custody for a period not exceeding one month for the purpose of enabling the magistrate to make
such inquiries as may be necessary.
(2) During any period of detention under subsection (1) such person shall be treated as a
person awaiting trial and not as a convicted prisoner.
[Ch0701s188]188. Subsistence allowance where removal order made
Every person with respect to whom a removal order is made shall be provided with such
allowance in cash or in kind as the magistrate thinks sufficient to enable him to reach his district
of origin or his last place of ordinary residence.
[Ch0701s189]189. Penalty for failing to comply with removal order, etc.
(1) Any person with respect to whom a removal order has been made under section 185
and who fails to comply with any of the terms of the order shall be guilty of an offence:
Provided that the magistrate may in writing suspend the operation of a removal order for
such period and on such terms as he thinks fit.
(2) Any person who is guilty of an offence against this section shall be liable to a fine of
£10 and to imprisonment for three months.
(3) A second or subsequent removal order may be made with respect to any person who
is convicted of an offence against this section.
(4) Any police officer may arrest without a warrant any person whom he has reason to
believe is guilty of an offence against this section.
(5) In any prosecution for an offence against this section, any document purporting to be
a removal order made under section 185 may be admitted in evidence without proof of its
authenticity.
(6) A magistrate who has made a removal order shall not, by reason of that fact, be
precluded from inquiring into and trying any offence alleged to have been committed against this
section by a person with respect to whom such removal order was made.
[Ch0701s190]190. Review of removal orders
In every case where a removal order has been made under section 185, the person with
respect to whom such order has been made may apply to a magistrate at the end of a period of six
months from the date of the making of the order, and thereafter at the end of every ensuing
period of six months, for a review of such order and the magistrate, after considering the matter,
may, if he thinks fit, vary, suspend or cancel the order.
[Ch0701s191]191. Wearing uniform without authority prohibited
(1) Any person who, not being a person serving in any constabulary or police force in
Malawi, wears, without the permission of the Minister or without other lawful authority, the
uniform of any of those forces or any dress having the appearance or bearing any of the
distinctive marks of such uniform shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to a fine
of £30 or to imprisonment for three months:
Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent any person from wearing any uniform
or dress in the course of a stage play performed in any place in which stage plays may lawfully
be publicly performed or in the course of a music-hall or circus performance.
Bringing contempt on uniform
(2) Any person who unlawfully wears the uniform of any of the forces aforesaid, or any
dress having the appearance or bearing any of the distinctive marks of any such uniform, in such
a manner or in such circumstances as to be likely to bring contempt on that uniform, or employs
any other person so to wear such uniform or dress, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be
liable to a fine of £60 or to imprisonment for nine months.
Importation and sale of uniform, etc., without authority, prohibited
(3) Any person who, not being in the service of Malawi or having previously received the
written permission of the Minister so to do, imports or sells or has in his possession for sale any
such uniform or dress as is mentioned in this section, or the buttons or badges appropriate
thereto, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable to a fine of £100 or to imprisonment for
twelve months:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to prohibit the importation of
any such uniform or dress by any person who, having served in any constabulary or police force
as aforesaid, is lawfully in possession thereof.
Forfeiture of uniform, etc., on conviction
(4) When any person shall have been convicted of any offence under this section, the
uniform, dress, button, badge or other thing in respect of which the offence has been committed
shall be forfeited unless the Minister shall otherwise order.
[Ch0701s192]192. Negligent act likely to spread disease dangerous to life
Any person who unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or
has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s193]193. Adulteration of food or drink intended for sale
Any person who adulterates any article of food, or drink, so as to make such article
noxious as food or drink, intending to sell such article as food or drink, or knowing it to be likely
that the same will be sold as food or drink, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s194]194. Sale of noxious food or drink
Any person who sells, or offers or exposes for sale, as food or drink, any article which
has been rendered or has become noxious, or is in a state unfit for food or drink, knowing or
having reason to believe, that the same is noxious as food or drink, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s195]195. Adulteration of drugs
Any person who adulterates any drug or medical preparation in such a manner as to
lessen the efficacy or change the operation of such drug or medical preparation, or to make it
noxious, intending that it shall be sold or used for, or knowing it to be likely that it will be sold
or used for, any medicinal purpose, as if it had not undergone such adulteration, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s196]196. Sale of adulterated drugs
Any person who, knowing any drug or medical preparation to have been adulterated in
such a manner as to lessen its efficacy, to change its operation or to render it noxious, sells the
same, or offers or exposes it for sale, or issues it from any dispensary for medicinal purposes its
unadulterated, or causes it to be used for medicinal purposes by any person not knowing of the
adulteration, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s197]197. Fouling water
Any person who voluntarily corrupts or fouls the water of any public spring or reservoir,
so as to render it less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s198]198. Fouling air
Any person who voluntarily vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious
to the health of persons in general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or
passing along a public way, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s199]199. Offensive trades
Any person who, for the purposes of trade or otherwise, makes loud noises or offensive
or unwholesome smells in such places and circumstances as to annoy any considerable number
of persons in the exercise of their common rights, commits and shall be liable to be punished as
for a common nuisance.
CHAPTER XVIII
DEFAMATION
[Ch0701s200]200. Definition of libel
Any person who, by print, writing, painting, effigy, or by any means otherwise than
solely by gestures, spoken words, or other sounds, unlawfully publishes any defamatory matter
concerning another person, with intent to defame that other person, shall be guilty of the
misdemeanour termed “libel".
[Ch0701s201]201. Definition of defamatory matter
Defamatory matter is matter likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him
to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or likely to damage any person in his profession or trade by an
injury to his reputation. It is immaterial whether at the time of the publication of the defamatory
matter the person concerning whom such matter is published is living or dead:
Provided that no prosecution for the publication of defamatory matter concerning a dead
person shall be instituted without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
[Ch0701s202]202. Definition of publication
(1) A person publishes a libel if he causes the print, writing, painting, effigy or other
means by which the defamatory matter is conveyed to be so dealt with, either by exhibition,
reading, recitation, description, delivery, or otherwise, as that the defamatory meaning thereof
becomes known or is likely to become known to either the person defamed or any other person.
(2) It is not necessary for libel that a defamatory meaning should be directly or
completely expressed; and it suffices if such meaning and its application to the person alleged to
be defamed can be collected either from the alleged libel itself or from any extrinsic
circumstances, or partly by the one and partly by the other means.
[Ch0701s203]203. Definition of unlawful publication
Any publication of defamatory matter concerning a person is unlawful within the
meaning of this Chapter, unless (a) the matter is true and it was for the public benefit that it
should be published or (b) it is privileged on one of the grounds hereafter mentioned in this
Chapter.
[Ch0701s204]204. Cases in which publication of defamatory matter is absolutely privileged
(1) The publication of defamatory matter is absolutely privileged, and no person shall
under any circumstances be liable to punishment under this Code in respect thereof, in any of the
following cases, namely—
(a) if the matter is published by the President, or by the Cabinet or the National
Assembly, in any official document or proceeding; or
(b) if the matter is published in the Cabinet or the National Assembly by any member
of such bodies; or
(c) if the matter is published by order of the President; or
(d) if the matter is published concerning a person subject to military or naval
discipline for the time being, and relates to his conduct as a person subject to such discipline, and
is published by some person having authority over him in respect of such conduct, and to some
person having authority over him in respect of such conduct; or
(e) if the matter is published in the course of any judicial proceedings by a person
taking part therein as a judge or magistrate or commissioner or legal practitioner or juror or
assessor or witness or party thereto; or
(f) if the matter published is in fact a fair report of anything said, done, or published
in the Cabinet or National Assembly; or
(g) if the person publishing the matter is legally bound to publish it.
(2) Where a publication is absolutely privileged, it is immaterial for the purposes of this
Chapter whether the matter be true or false, and whether it be or be not known or believed to be
false, and whether it be or be not published in good faith:
Provided that nothing in this section shall exempt a person from any liability to
punishment under any other Chapter of this Code or under any other Act in force within the
Republic.
[Ch0701s205]205. Cases in which publication of defamatory matter is conditionally
privileged
A publication of defamatory matter is privileged, on condition that it was published in
good faith, if the relation between the parties by and to whom the publication is made is such that
the person publishing the matter is under some legal, moral or social duty to publish it to the
person to whom the publication is made or has a legitimate personal interest in so publishing
it,provided that the publication does not exceed either in extent or matter what is reasonably
sufficient for the occasion, and in any of the following cases, namely—
(a) if the matter published is in fact a fair report of anything said, done, or shown in a
civil or criminal inquiry or proceeding before any court:
Provided that if the court prohibits the publication of anything said or shown
before it, on the ground that it is seditious, immoral, or blasphemous, the publication thereof
shall not be privileged; or
(b) if the matter published is a copy or reproduction, or in fact a fair abstract, of any
matter which has been previously published, and the previous publication of which was or would
have been privileged under the last preceding section; or
(c) if the matter is an expression of opinion in good faith as to the conduct of a person
in a judicial, official, or other public capacity or as to his personal character so far as it appears in
such conduct; or
(d) if the matter is an expression of opinion in good faith as to the conduct of a person
in relation to any public question or matter, or as to his personal character so far as it appears in
such conduct; or
(e) if the matter is an expression of opinion in good faith as to the conduct of any
person as disclosed by evidence given in a public legal proceeding, whether civil or criminal, or
as to the conduct of any person as a party, witness, or otherwise in any such proceeding, or as to
the character of any person so far as it appears in any such conduct as in this paragraph
mentioned; or
(f) if the matter is an expression of opinion in good faith as to the merits of any book,
writing, painting, speech, or other work, performance, or act published, or publicly done or
made, or submitted by a person to the judgment of the public, or as to the character of the person
so far as it appears therein; or
(g) if the matter is a censure passed by a person in good faith on the conduct of
another person in any matter in respect of which he has authority, by contract or otherwise, over
the other person, or on the character of the other person, so far as it appears in such conduct; or
(h) if the matter is a complaint or accusation made by a person in good faith against
another person in respect of his conduct in any matter, or in respect of his character so far as it
appears in such conduct, to any person having authority, by contract or otherwise, over that other
person in respect of such conduct or matter, or having authority by law to inquire into or receive
complaints respecting such conduct or matter; or
(i) if the matter is published in good faith for the protection of the rights or interests
of the person who publishes it, or of the person to whom it is published, or of some person in
whom the person to whom it is published is interested.
[Ch0701s206]206. Explanation as to good faith
A publication of defamatory matter shall not be deemed to have been made in good faith
by a person, within the meaning of the last preceding section if it is made to appear either—
(a) that the matter was untrue, and that he did not believe it to be true; or
(b) that the matter was untrue, and that he published it without having taken
reasonable care to ascertain whether it was true or false; or
(c) that in publishing the matter, he acted with intent to injure the person defamed in
a substantially greater degree or substantially otherwise than was reasonably necessary for the
interest of the public or for the protection of the private right or interest in respect of which he
claims to be privileged.
[Ch0701s207]207. Presumption as to good faith
If it is proved, on behalf of the accused person, that the defamatory matter was published
under such circumstances that the publication would have been justified if made in good faith,
the publication shall be presumed to have been made in good faith until the contrary is made to
appear, either from the libel itself, or from the evidence given on behalf of the accused person, or
from evidence given on the part of the prosecution.
Division IV
Offences against the Person
CHAPTER XIX
MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER
[Ch0701s208]208. Manslaughter
Any person who by an unlawful act or omission causes the death of another person shall
be guilty of the felony termed “manslaughter”. An unlawful omission is an omission amounting
to culpable negligence to discharge a duty tending to the preservation of life or health, whether
such omission is or is not accompanied by an intention to cause death or bodily harm.
[Ch0701s209]209. Murder
Any person who of malice aforethought causes the death of another person by an
unlawful act or omission shall be guilty of murder.
[Ch0701s210]210. Punishment of murder
Any person convicted of murder shall be sentenced to death.
[Ch0701s211]211. Punishment of manslaughter
Any person who commits the felony of manslaughter shall be liable to imprisonment for
life.
[Ch0701s212]212. Malice aforethought
Malice aforethought shall be deemed to be established by evidence proving any one or
more of the following circumstances—
(a) an intention to cause the death of or to do grievous harm to any person, whether
such person is the person actually killed or not;
(b) knowledge that the act or omission causing death will probably cause the death of
or grievous harm to some person, whether such person is the person actually killed or not,
although such knowledge is accompanied by indifference whether death or grievous bodily harm
is caused or not, or by a wish that it may not be caused;
(c) an intent to commit a felony;
(d) an intention by the act or omission to facilitate the flight or escape from custody
of any person who has committed or attempted to commit a felony.
[Ch0701s213]213. Killing on provocation
(1) When a person who unlawfully kills another under circumstances which, but for this
section, would constitute murder, does the act which causes death in the heat of passion caused
by sudden provocation as hereinafter defined, and before there is time for his passion to cool, he
is guilty of manslaughter only.
(2) This section shall not apply unless the court is satisfied that the act which causes
death bears a reasonable relationship to the provocation.
[Ch0701s214]214. Provocation defined
The term “provocation” means and includes, except as hereinafter stated, any wrongful
act or insult of such a nature as to be likely, when done or offered to an ordinary person, or in the
presence of an ordinary person to another person who is under his immediate care, or to whom
he stands in a conjugal, parental, filial, or fraternal relation, or in the relation of master and
servant, to deprive him of the power of self-control and to induce him to assault the person by
whom the act or insult is done or offered.
When such an act or insult is done or offered by one person to another, or in the presence
of another to a person who is under the immediate care of that other, or to whom the latter stands
in any such relation as aforesaid, the former is said to give to the latter provocation for an assault.
A lawful act is not provocation to any person for an assault.
An act which a person does in consequence of incitement given by another person in
order to induce him to do the act and thereby to furnish an excuse for committing an assault is
not provocation to that other person for an assault.
An arrest which is unlawful is not necessarily provocation for an assault, but it may be
evidence of provocation to a person who knows of the illegality.
For the purposes of this section the expression “an ordinary person” shall mean an
ordinary person of the community to which the accused belongs.
[Ch0701s215]215. Causing death defined
A person is deemed to have caused the death of another person although his act is not the
immediate or not the sole cause of death in any of the following cases—
(a) if he inflicts bodily injury on another person in consequence of which that other
person undergoes surgical or medical treatment which causes death. In this case it is immaterial
whether the treatment was proper or mistaken, if it was employed in good faith and with
common knowledge and skill; but the person inflicting the injury is not deemed to have caused
the death if the treatment which was its immediate cause was not employed in good faith or was
so employed without common knowledge or skill;
23 of 1970(b) if he inflicts a bodily injury on another which would not have caused death
if the injured person had submitted to proper surgical or medical treatment or had observed
proper precautions as to his mode of living;
(c) if by actual or threatened violence he causes such other person to perform an act
which causes the death of such person, such act being a means of avoiding such violence which
in the circumstances would appear natural to the person whose death is so caused;
(d) if by any act or omission he hastened the death of a person suffering under any
disease or injury which apart from such act or omission would have caused death;
(e) if his act or omission would not have caused death unless it had been
accompanied by an act or omission of the person killed or of other persons.
[Ch0701s216]216. When child deemed to be a person capable of being killed
A child becomes a person capable of being killed when it has completely proceeded in a
living state from the body of its mother, whether it has breathed or not, and whether it has an
independent circulation or not, and whether the navel-string is severed or not.
[Ch0701s217]217.
[Repealed by 23 of 1970]
CHAPTER XX
DUTIES RELATING TO THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE AND HEALTH
[Ch0701s218]218. Responsibility of person who has charge of another
It is the duty of every person having charge of another who is unable by reason of age,
sickness, unsoundness of mind, detention or any other cause to withdraw himself from such
charge, and who is unable to provide himself with the necessaries of life, whether the charge is
undertaken under a contract, or is imposed by law, or arises by reason of any act, whether lawful
or unlawful, of the person who has such charge, to provide for that other person the necessaries
of life; and he is held to have caused any consequences which result to the life or health of the
other person by reason of any omission to perform that duty.
[Ch0701s219]219. Duty of head of family
It is the duty of every person who, as head of a family, has charge of a child under the age
of fourteen years, being a member of his household, to provide the necessaries of life for such
child; and he is held to have caused any consequences which result to the life or health of the
child by reason of any omission to perform that duty, whether the child is helpless or not.
[Ch0701s220]220. Duty of masters
It is the duty of every person who as master or mistress has contracted to provide
necessary food, clothing, or lodging for any servant or apprentice under the age of sixteen years
to provide the same; and he or she is held to have caused any consequences which result to the
life or health of the servant or apprentice by reason of any omission to perform that duty.
[Ch0701s221]221. Duty of persons doing dangerous acts
It is the duty of every person who, except in a case of necessity, undertakes to administer
surgical or medical treatment to any other person, or to do any other lawful act which is or may
be dangerous to human life or health, to have reasonable skill and to use reasonable care in doing
such act; and he is held to have caused any consequences which result to the life or health of any
person by reason of any omission to observe or perform that duty.
[Ch0701s222]222. Duty of persons in charge of dangerous things
It is the duty of every person who has in his charge or under his control anything, whether
living or inanimate, and whether moving or stationary, of such a nature that, in the absence of
care or precaution in its use or management, the life, safety, or health of any person may be
endangered, to use reasonable care and take reasonable precautions to avoid such danger; and he
is held to have caused any consequences which result to the life or health of any person by
reason of any omission to perform that duty.
CHAPTER XXI
OFFENCES CONNECTED WITH MURDER AND SUICIDE
[Ch0701s223]223. Attempt to murder
Any person who—
(a) attempts unlawfully to cause the death of another; or
(b) with intent unlawfully to cause the death of another does any act, or omits to do
any act, which it is his duty to do, such act or omission being of such a nature as to be likely to
endanger human life,
shall be guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s224]224. Attempt to murder by convict
Any person who, being under sentence of imprisonment for three years or more, attempts
to commit murder, shall be liable to imprisonment for life, with or without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s225]225. Accessory after the fact to murder
Any person who becomes an accessory after the fact to murder shall be guilty of a felony,
and is liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s226]226. Written threats to murder
Any person who, knowing the contents thereof, directly or indirectly causes any person to
receive any writing threatening to kill any person is guilty of a felony, and is liable to
imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s227]227. Conspiracy to murder
Any person who conspires with any other person to kill any person, whether such person
is in the Republic or elsewhere, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for
fourteen years.
[Ch0701s228]228. Aiding suicide
Any person who—
(a) procures another to kill himself; or
(b) counsels another to kill himself and thereby induces him to do so; or
(c) aids another in killing himself,
is guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s229]229. Attempting suicide
Any person who attempts to kill himself shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s230]230. Offence of infanticide
Where a woman by any wilful act or omission causes the death of her child being a child
under the age of twelve months, but at the time of the act or omission the balance of her mind
was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the
child or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child, then,
notwithstanding that the circumstances were such that but for this section the offence would have
amounted to murder, she shall be guilty of felony, to wit of infanticide, and may for such offence
be dealt with and punished as if she had been guilty of the offence of manslaughter of the child.
[Ch0701s231]231. Killing unborn child
Any person who, when a woman is about to be delivered of a child, prevents the child
from being born alive by any act or omission of such a nature that, if the child had been born
alive and had then died, he would be deemed to have unlawfully killed the child, shall be guilty
of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s232]232. Concealing the birth of children
Any person who, when a woman is delivered of a child, endeavours, by any secret
disposition of the dead body of the child, to conceal the birth, whether the child died before, at,
or after its birth shall be guilty of the misdemeanour of concealment of birth and shall be liable to
imprisonment for two years.
CHAPTER XXII
OFFENCES ENDANGERING LIFE OR HEALTH
[Ch0701s233]233. Disabling in order to commit felony or misdemeanour
Any person who, by any means calculated to choke, suffocate or strangle, and with intent
to commit or to facilitate the commission of a felony or misdemeanour, or to facilitate the flight
of an offender after (the commission or attempted commission of a felony or misdemeanour,
renders or attempts to render any person incapable of resistance, shall be guilty of a felony and
shall be liable to imprisonment for life, with or without corporal punishment.
[Ch0701s234]234. Stupefying in order to commit felony or misdemeanour
Any person who, with intent to commit or to facilitate the commission of a felony or
misdemeanour, or to facilitate the flight of an offender after the commission or attempted
commission of a felony or misdemeanour, administers or attempts to administer any stupefying
or overpowering drug or thing to any person, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to
imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s235]235. Acts intended to cause grievous harm or prevent arrest
Any person who, with intent to maim, disfigure or disable any person, or to do some
grievous harm to any person, or to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person—
(a) unlawfully wounds or does any grievous harm to any person by any means
whatever; or
(b) unlawfully attempts in any manner to strike any person with any kind of projectile
or with a spear, sword, knife, or other dangerous or offensive weapon; or
(c) unlawfully causes any explosive substance to explode; or
(d) sends or delivers any explosive substance or other dangerous or noxious thing to
any person; or
(e) causes any such substance or thing to be taken or received by any person; or
(f) puts any corrosive fluid or any destructive or explosive substance in any place; or
(g) unlawfully casts or throws any such fluid or substance at or upon any person, or
otherwise applies any such fluid or substance to the person of any person,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s236]236. Preventing escape from wreck
Any person who unlawfully—
(a) prevents or obstructs any person who is on board of, or is escaping from, a vessel
which is in distress or wrecked, in his endeavours to save his life; or
(b) obstructs any person in his endeavours to save the life of any person so situated,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s237]237. Intentionally endangering safety of persons travelling by railway
Any person who, with intent to injure or to endanger the safety of any person travelling
by any railway, whether a particular person or not—
(a) places anything on the railway; or
(b) deals with the railway, or with anything whatever upon or near the railway, in
such a manner as to affect or endanger the free and safe use of the railway or the safety of any
such person; or
(c) shoots or throws anything at, into, or upon or causes anything to come into
contact with any person or thing on the railway; or
(d) shows any light or signal, or in any way deals with any existing light or signal,
upon or near the railway; or
(e) by any omission to do any act which it is his duty to do causes the safety of any
such person to be endangered,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for life, with or without corporal
punishment.
[Ch0701s238]238. Grievous harm
Any person who unlawfully does grievous harm to another shall be guilty of a felony and
shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
[Ch0701s239]239. Attempting to injure by explosive substances
Any person who unlawfully, and with intent to do any harm to another, puts any
explosive substance in any place whatever, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to
imprisonment for fourteen years.
[Ch0701s240]240. Maliciously administering poison with intent to harm
Any person who unlawfully, and with intent to injure or annoy another, causes any
poison or noxious thing to be administered to, or taken by, any person, and thereby endangers his
life, or does him some grievous harm, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to
imprisonment for fourteen years.
[Ch0701s241]241. Wounding and similar acts
Any person who—
(a) unlawfully wounds another; or
(b) unlawfully, and with intent to injure or annoy any person, causes any poison or
other noxious thing to be administered to, or taken by, any person,
shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s242]242. Failure to supply necessaries
Any person who, being charged with the duty of providing for another the necessaries of
life, without lawful excuse fails to do so, whereby the life of that other person is or is likely to be
endangered, or his health is or is likely to be permanently injured, shall be guilty of a felony, and
shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
[Ch0701s243]243. Surgical operation
A person is not criminally responsible for performing in good faith and with reasonable
care and skill a surgical operation upon any person for his benefit, or upon an unborn child for
the preservation of the mother's life, if the performance of the operation is reasonable, having
regard to the patient's state at the time, and to all the circumstances of the case.
[Ch0701s244]244. Excess of force
Any person authorized by law or by the consent of the person injured by him to use force
is criminally responsible for any excess, according to the nature and quality of the act which
constitutes the excess.
[Ch0701s245]245. Consent
Notwithstanding anything contained in section 244 consent by a person to the causing of
his own death or his own maim does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by
whom such death or maim is caused.
CHAPTER XXIII
CRIMINAL RECKLESSNESS AND NEGLIGENCE
[Ch0701s246]246. Reckless and negligent acts
Any person who in a manner so rash or negligent as to endanger human life or to be
likely to cause harm to any person—
(a) drives any vehicle or rides on any public way; or
(b) navigates, or takes part in the navigation or working of, any vessel; or
(c) does any act with fire or any combustible matter, or omits to take precautions
against any probable danger from any fire or any combustible matter in his possession; or
(d) omits to take precautions against any probable danger from any animal in his
possession; or
(e) gives medical or surgical treatment to any person whom he has undertaken to
treat; or
(f) dispenses, supplies, sells, administers, or gives away any medicine or poisonous
or dangerous matter; or
(g) does any act with respect to, or omits to take proper precautions against any
probable danger from, any machinery of which he is solely or partly in charge; or
(h) does any act with respect to, or omits to take proper precautions against any
probable danger from, any explosive in his possession; or
(i) does any act with respect to, or omits to take proper precautions against any
probable danger from, any loaded firearm in his possession,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s247]247. Other negligent acts causing harm
Any person who unlawfully does any act, or omits to do any act which it is his duty to do,
not being an act or omission specified in the preceding section, by which act or omission harm is
caused to any person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for
six months.
[Ch0701s248]248. Dealing in poisonous substances in negligent manner
Whoever does, with any poisonous substance any act in a manner so rash or negligent as
to endanger human life, or to be likely to cause hurt or injury to any other person, or knowingly
or negligently omits to take such care with any poisonous substance in his possession as is
sufficient to guard against probable danger to human life from such poisonous substance, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to a fine of £100 or to imprisonment for six
months.
[Ch0701s249]249. Endangering safety of persons travelling by railway
Any person who, by any unlawful act or omission not specified in section 237, causes the
safety of any person travelling by any railway to be endangered, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s250]250. Exhibition of false light, mark or buoy
Any person who exhibits any false light, mark or buoy, intending or knowing it to be
likely that such exhibition will mislead any navigator, shall be liable to imprisonment for seven
years.
[Ch0701s251]251. Conveying person by water for hire in unsafe or overloaded vessel
Any person who knowingly or negligently conveys, or causes to be conveyed for hire,
any person by water in any vessel, when that vessel is in such a state or so loaded as to be unsafe,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s252]252. Danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation
Any person who by doing any act, or by omitting to take reasonable care with any
property in his possession or under his charge, causes danger, obstruction or injury to any person
in any public way or public line of navigation, shall be liable to a fine.
CHAPTER XXIV
ASSAULTS
[Ch0701s253]253. Common assault
Any person who unlawfully assaults another is guilty of a misdemeanour, and, if the
assault is not committed in circumstances for which a greater punishment is provided in this
Code, shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.
[Ch0701s254]254. Assaults occasioning actual bodily harm
Any person who commits an assault occasioning actual bodily harm is guilty of a
misdemeanour, and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years with or without corporal
punishment.
[Ch0701s255]255. Assaults on persons protecting wreck
Any person who assaults and strikes or wounds any magistrate, officer, or other person
lawfully authorized in or on account of the execution of his duty in or concerning the
preservation of any vessel in distress, or of any vessel or goods or effects wrecked, stranded, or
cast on shore, or lying under water, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable to
imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s256]256. Assaults punishable with five years imprisonment
Any person who—
(a) assaults any person with intent to commit a felony or to resist or prevent the
lawful apprehension or detainer of himself or of any other person for any offence; or
(b) assaults, resists, or wilfully obstructs any police officer in the due execution of his
duty, or any person acting in aid of such officer, or
(c) assaults any person in pursuance of any unlawful combination or conspiracy to
raise the rate of wages, or respecting any trade, business, or manufacture or respecting any
person concerned or employed therein; or
(d) assaults, resists or obstructs any person engaged in such lawful execution of
process, or in making a lawful distress, with intent to rescue any property lawfully taken under
such process or distress; or
(e) assaults any person on account of any act done by him in the execution of any
duty imposed on him by law,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.
CHAPTER XXV
OFFENCES AGAINST LIBERTY
[Ch0701s257]257. Definition of kidnapping from the Republic
Any person who conveys any person beyond the limits of the Republic without the
consent of that person, or of some person legally authorized to consent on behalf of that person,
is said to kidnap that person from Malawi.
[Ch0701s258]258. Definition of kidnapping from lawful guardianship
Any person who takes or entices any minor under fourteen years of age if a male, or
under sixteen years of age if a female, or any person of unsound mind, out of the keeping of the
lawful guardian of such minor or person of unsound mind, without the consent of such guardian,
is said to kidnap such minor or person from lawful guardianship.
[Ch0701s259]259. Definition of abduction
Any person who by force compels, or by any deceitful means induces, any person to go
from any place, is said to abduct that person.
[Ch0701s260]260. Punishment for kidnapping
Any person who kidnaps any person from Malawi or from lawful guardianship, shall be
guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s261]261. Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder
Any person who kidnaps or abducts any person in order that such person may be
murdered, or may be so disposed of as to be put in danger of being murdered, shall be guilty of a
felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s262]262. Kidnapping or abducting with intent to confine person
Any person who kidnaps or abducts any person with intent to cause that person to be
secretly and wrongfully confined, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment
for seven years.
[Ch0701s263]263. Kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous harm,
slavery, etc.
Any person who kidnaps or abducts any person in order that such person may be
subjected, or may be so disposed of as to be put in danger of being subjected, to grievous harm,
or slavery, or to the unnatural lust of any person, or knowing it to be likely that such person will
be so subjected or disposed of, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for
ten years.
[Ch0701s264]264. Wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement kidnapped or abducted
person
Any person who, knowing that any person has been kidnapped or has been abducted,
wrongfully conceals or confines such person, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished in
the same manner as if he had kidnapped or abducted such person with the same intention or
knowledge, or for the same purpose, as that with or for which he conceals or detains such person
in confinement.
[Ch0701s265]265. Kidnapping or abducting child under fourteen years with intent to steal
from its person
Any person who kidnaps or abducts any child under the age of fourteen years with the
intention of taking dishonestly any movable property from the person of such child, shall be
guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s266]266. Punishment for wrongful confinement
Whoever wrongfully confines any person shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be
liable to a fine of £700 or to imprisonment for five years.
[Ch0701s267]267. Buying or disposing of any person as a slave
Any person who imports, exports, removes, buys, sells or disposes of any person as a
slave, or accepts, receives or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be guilty of a
felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s268]268. Habitual dealing in slaves
Any person who habitually imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, traffics or deals in
slaves shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s269]269. Unlawful compulsory labour
Any person who unlawfully compels any person to labour against the will of that person
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
Division V
Offences Relating to Property
CHAPTER XXVI
THEFT
[Ch0701s270]270. Things capable of being stolen
Every inanimate thing whatever which is the property of any person, and which is
movable, is capable of being stolen.
Every inanimate thing which is the property of any person, and which is capable of being
made movable, is capable of being stolen as soon as it becomes movable, although it is made
movable in order to steal it.
Every tame animal, whether tame by nature or wild by nature and tamed, which is the
property of any person, is capable of being stolen.
Animals wild by nature, of a kind which is not ordinarily found in a condition of natural
liberty in Malawi, which are the property of any person, and which are usually kept in a state of
confinement, are capable of being stolen, whether they are actually in confinement or have
escaped from confinement.
Animals wild by nature, of a kind which is ordinarily found in a condition of natural
liberty in Malawi, which are the property of any person, are capable of being stolen while they
are in confinement and while they are being actually pursued after escaping from confinement,
but not at any other time.
An animal wild by nature is deemed to be in a state of confinement so long as it is in a
den, cage, sty, tank, or other small enclosure, or is otherwise so placed that it cannot escape, and
that its owner can take possession of it at pleasure.
Wild animals in the enjoyment of their natural liberty are not capable of being stolen, but
their dead bodies are capable of being stolen.
Everything produced by or forming part of the body of an animal capable of being stolen
is capable of being stolen.
[Ch0701s271]271. Definition of theft
(1) A person who fraudulently and without claim of right takes anything capable of being
stolen, or fraudulently converts to the use of any person other than the general or special owner
thereof anything capable of being stolen, is said to steal that thing.
(2) A person who takes or converts anything capable of being stolen is deemed to do so
fraudulently if he does so with any of the following intents, that is to say—
(a) an intent permanently to deprive the general or special owner of the thing of it;
(b) an intent to use the thing as a pledge or security;
(c) an intent to part with it on a condition as to its return which the person taking or
converting it may be unable to perform;
(d) an intent-to deal with it in such a manner that it cannot be returned in the
condition in which it was at the time of the taking or conversion;
(e) in the case of money, an intent to use it at the will of the person who takes or
converts it, although he may intend afterwards to repay the amount to the owner.
The term “special owner” includes any person who has any charge or lien upon the thing
in question, or any right arising from or dependent upon holding possession of the thing in
question.
(3) When a thing stolen is converted, it is immaterial whether it is taken for the purpose
of conversion, or whether it is at the time of the conversion in the possession of the person who
converts it. It is also immaterial that the person who converts the thing in question is the holder
of a power of attorney for the disposition of it, or is otherwise authorized to dispose of it.
(4) When a thing converted has been lost by the owner and found by the person who
converts it, the conversion is not deemed to be fraudulent if at the time of the conversion the
person taking or converting the thing does not know who is the owner, and believes on
reasonable grounds that the owner cannot be discovered.
(5) A person shall not be deemed to take a thing unless he moves the thing or causes it to
move.
[Ch0701s272]272. Special cases
(1) When a factor or agent pledges or gives a lien on any goods or document of title to
goods entrusted to him for the purpose of sale or otherwise for any sum of money not greater
than the amount due to him from his principal at the time of pledging or giving the lien, together
with the amount of any bill of exchange or promissory note, accepted or made by him for or on
account of his principal, such dealing with the goods or document of title is not deemed to be
theft.
(2) When a servant, contrary to his master's orders, takes from his possession any food in
order that it may be given to an animal belonging to or in the possession of his master, such
taking is not deemed to be theft.
[Ch0701s273]273. Funds, etc., held under direction
When a person receives, either alone or jointly with another person, any money or
valuable security or a power of attorney for the sale, mortgage, pledge or other disposition of any
property, whether capable of being stolen or not, with a direction in either case that such money
or any part thereof, or any other money received in exchange for it, or any part thereof, or the
proceeds or any part of the proceeds of such security or of such mortgage, pledge, or other
disposition, shall be applied to any purpose or paid to any person specified in the direction, such
money and proceeds are deemed to be the property of the person from whom the money,
security, or power of attorney was received until the direction has been complied with.
[Ch0701s274]274. Funds, etc., received by agents for sale
When a person receives, either alone or jointly with another person, any property from
another on terms authorizing or requiring him to sell it or otherwise dispose of it, and requiring
him to pay or account for the proceeds of the property, or any part of such proceeds, or to deliver
anything received in exchange for the property, to the person from whom it is received, or some
other person, then the proceeds of the property, and anything so received in exchange for it, are
deemed to be the property of the person from whom the property was so received, until they have
been disposed of in accordance with the terms on which the property was received, unless it is a
part of those terms that the proceeds, if any, shall form an item in a debtor and creditor account
between him and the person to whom he is to pay them or account for them, and that the relation
of debtor and creditor only shall exist between them in respect thereof.
[Ch0701s275]275. Money received for another
When a person receives, either alone or jointly with another person, any money on behalf
of another, the money is deemed to be the property of the person on whose behalf it is received,
unless the money is received on the terms that it shall form an item in a debtor and creditor
account, and that the relation of debtor and creditor only shall exist between the parties in respect
of it.
[Ch0701s276]276. Theft by persons having an interest in the thing stolen
When any person takes or converts anything capable of being stolen, under such
circumstances as would otherwise amount to theft, it is immaterial that he himself has a special
property or interest therein, or that he himself is the owner of the thing taken or converted subject
to some special property or interest of some other person therein, or that he is lessee of the thing,
or that he himself is one of two or more joint owners of the thing, or that he is a director or
officer of a corporation or company or society who are the owners of it.
[Ch0701s277]277. Husband and wife
A person who, while a man and his wife are living together, procures either of them to
deal with anything which is, to his knowledge, the property of the other in a manner which
would be theft if they were not married, shall be deemed to have stolen the thing, and may be
charged with theft.
[Ch0701s278]278. General punishment for theft
Any person who steals anything capable of being stolen shall be guilty of the felony
termed theft and shall be liable, unless owing to the circumstances of the theft or the nature of
the thing stolen some other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for five years.
[Ch0701s279]279. Stealing wills
If the thing stolen is a testamentary instrument, whether the testator is living or dead, the
offender shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s280]280. Stealing postal matter, etc.
If the thing stolen is postal matter or any chattel, money, or valuable security contained in
any postal matter, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s281]281. Stealing cattle
If the thing stolen is any of the things following, that is to say: a horse, mare, gelding, ass,
mule, bull, cow, ox, ram, ewe, wether, goat, pig, or ostrich, or the young of any such animal, the
offender shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.
[Ch0701s282]282. Stealing from the person; stealing goods in transit, etc.
If a theft is committed under any of the circumstances following, that is to say—
(a) if the thing is stolen from the person of another;
(b) if the thing is stolen in a dwelling-house and its value exceeds K10, or the
offender at or immediately before or after the time of stealing uses or threatens to use violence to
any person in the dwelling-house;
(c) if the thing is stolen from any kind of vessel or vehicle or place of deposit used
for the conveyance or custody of goods in transit from one place to another;
(d) if the thing stolen is attached to or forms part of a railway;
(e) if the thing is stolen from a vessel which is in distress or wrecked or stranded;
(f) if the thing is stolen from a public office in which it is deposited or kept;
(g) if the offender, in order to commit the offence, opens any locked room, box, or
other receptacle, by means of a key or other instrument;
(h) if the thing stolen is a bicycle,
the offender is liable to imprisonment for ten years.
[Ch0701s283]283. Stealing by persons in public service
6 of 1987, 21 of 1996(1) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that any
person employed in the public service has by virtue of his employment received or has in his
custody or under his control any money or other property, and such person has been unable to
produce to his employer such money or other property or to make due account therefor, such
person shall, unless he satisfies the court to the contrary, be presumed to have stolen such money
or other property, and shall be convicted of the felony of theft.
(2) Where a person employed in the public service is charged with theft, and it is proved
to the satisfaction of the court that during a period of that person's employment there has been
paid into a bank, Post Office Savings or other account to the credit of that person a greater
amount in the aggregate than that person has received by way of lawful remuneration during
such period, and the accused person fails to give to the court a satisfactory explanation of how he
came into possession of such excess amount, the court shall take into consideration such failure
in determining whether or not the accused person is guilty of the theft with which he is charged.
(3) Where a person employed in the public service is charged with theft, and it is proved
to the satisfaction of the court that during a period of that person's employment there has been
any sudden or substantial enrichment of that person, or of any member of his family or
household, in respect of money or other property, and no satisfactory explanation of such
enrichment is given to the court, the court shall take into consideration the absence of such
explanation in determining whether or not the accused person is guilty of the theft with which he
is charged.
20 of 1973, 21 of 1996(4) Notwithstanding section 27 (2) and (3), where a person
employed in the public service is convicted of theft under subsection (1), he shall be sentenced to
imprisonment for a period not less than that set out in the following table opposite the amount or
value which corresponds to the amount or value of the money or other property stolen by him
less the amount of any money repaid to the employer by the convicted person by way of
restitution or the value of other property in respect of which restitution has been made by him to
the employer—
(g) knowingly and without lawful excuse, the proof whereof shall lie upon him, has
in his possession any stamp or part of a stamp which has been fraudulently cut, torn, or otherwise
removed from any material, or any stamp which has been fraudulently mutilated, or any stamped
material out of which any name, sum, date, or other matter or thing has been fraudulently erased
or otherwise really or apparently removed,
shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s360]360. Uttering false document
Any person who knowingly and fraudulently utters a false document shall be guilty of an
offence of the same kind and shall be liable to the same punishment, as if he had forged the thing
in question.
[Ch0701s361]361. Uttering cancelled or exhausted documents
Any person who knowingly utters as and for a subsisting and effectual document, any
document which has by any lawful authority been ordered to be revoked, cancelled, or
suspended, or the operation of which has ceased by effluxion of time, or by death, or by the
happening of any other event, shall be guilty of an offence of the same kind and shall be liable to
the same punishment, as if he had forged the document.
[Ch0701s362]362. Procuring execution of documents by false pretences
Any person who, by means of any false and fraudulent representations as to the nature,
contents, or operation of a document, procures another to sign or execute the document, shall be
guilty of an offence of the same kind and shall be liable to the same punishment, as if he had
forged the document.
[Ch0701s363]363. Obliterating crossings on cheques
Any person who, with intent to defraud—
(a) obliterates, adds to, or alters the crossing on a cheque; or
(b) knowingly utters a crossed cheque, the crossing on which has been obliterated,
added to, or altered,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s364]364. Making documents without authority
Any person who, with intent to defraud or to deceive—
(a) without lawful authority or excuse, makes, signs, or executes, for or in the name
or on account of another person, whether by procuration or otherwise, any document or writing;
or
(b) knowingly utters any document or writing so made, signed, or executed by
another person,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s365]365. Demanding property upon forged testamentary instruments
Any person who procures the delivery or payment to himself or any other person of any
property or money by virtue of any probate or letters of administration granted upon a forged
testamentary instrument, knowing the testamentary instrument to have been forged, or upon or
by virtue of any probate or letters of administration obtained by false evidence, knowing the
grant to have been so obtained, shall be guilty of an offence Of the same kind and shall be liable
to the same punishment, as if he had forged the document or thing by virtue whereof he procures
the delivery or payment.
[Ch0701s366]366. Importing or purchasing forged notes
Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, the proof of which lies on him,
imports into the Republic, or purchases or receives from any person, or has in his possession, a
forged bank note, or currency note, whether filled up or in blank, knowing it to be forged, shall
be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s367]367. Falsifying warrants for money payable under public authority
Any person who, being employed in the public service, knowingly and with intent to
defraud makes out or delivers to any person a warrant for the payment of any money payable by
public authority, for a greater or less amount than that to which the person on whose behalf the
warrant is made out is entitled, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for
seven years.
[Ch0701s368]368. Falsification of register
Any person who, having the actual custody of any register or record kept by lawful
authority, knowingly permits any entry which in any material particular is to his knowledge
false, to be made in the register or record, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to
imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s369]369. Sending false certificate of marriage to Registrar
Any person who signs or transmits to a person authorized by law to register marriages, a
certificate of marriage, or any document purporting to be a certificate of marriage, which in any
material particular is to his knowledge false, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to
imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s370]370. False statements for registers of births, deaths and marriages
Any person who knowingly and with intent to procure the same to be inserted in a
register of births, deaths, or marriages, makes any false statement touching any matter required
by law to be registered in any such register, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to
imprisonment for three years.
CHAPTER XXXVII
OFFENCES RELATING TO COIN AND TO BANK AND CURRENCY NOTES
[Ch0701s371]371. Definitions
In this chapter—
the term “coin” includes any coin lawfully current in Malawi or in any other State;
the term “counterfeit coin” means coin not genuine but resembling or apparently intended
to resemble or pass for genuine coin; and includes genuine coin prepared or altered so as to pass
for coin of a higher denomination;
the term “currency note” includes any note (by whatever name called) which is legal
tender in the country in which it is issued.
[Ch0701s372]372. Counterfeiting coin
Any person who makes or begins to make any counterfeit coin shall be guilty of a felony
and shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
[Ch0701s373]373. Preparations for coining
Any person who—
(a) gilds or silvers any piece of metal of a fit size or figure to be coined, with intent
that it shall be coined into counterfeit coin; or
(b) makes any piece of metal into a fit size or figure to facilitate the coining from it of
any counterfeit coin, with intent that such counterfeit coin shall be made from it; or
(c) without lawful authority or excuse, the proof of which lies on him—
(i) buys, sells, receives, pays, or disposes of any counterfeit coin at a lower
rate than it imports or is apparently intended to import, or offers to do any such thing; or
(ii) brings or receives into Malawi any counterfeit coin, knowing it to be
counterfeit; or
(iii) makes or mends, or begins or prepares to make or mend, or has in his
possession, or disposes of any stamp or mould which is adapted to make the resemblance of both
or either of the sides of any coin, or any part of either side thereof, knowing the same to be a
stamp or mould or to be so adapted; or
(iv) makes or mends, or begins or prepares to make or mend, or has in his
possession, or disposes of any tool, instrument or machine which is adapted and intended to be
used for marking coin round the edges with marks or figures apparently resembling those on the
edges of any coin, knowing the same to be so adapted and intended; or
(v) makes or mends, or begins or prepares to make or mend, or has in his
possession, or disposes of any press for coinage, or any tool, instrument, or machine which is
adapted for cutting round blanks out of gold, silver, or other metal, knowing such press, tool,
instrument, or machine to have been used or to be intended to be used for making any counterfeit
coin,
shall be guilty of a felony.
If the offence is committed with respect to current coin, he shall be liable to
imprisonment for life.
If the offence is committed with respect to coin of another State, he shall be liable to
imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s374]374. Making or having in possession paper or implements for forgery
Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, the proof of which lies on him—
(a) makes, uses, or knowingly has in his custody or possession any paper intended to
resemble and pass as a special paper such as is provided and used for making any bank note or
currency note;
(b) makes, uses, or knowingly has in his custody or possession any frame, mould, or
instrument for making such paper, or for producing in or on such paper any words, figures,
letters, marks, lines, or devices peculiar to and used in or on any such paper;
(c) engraves or in anywise makes upon any plate, wood, stone, or other material, any
words, figures, letters, marks, lines or devices, the print whereof resembles in whole or in part
any words, figures, letters, marks, lines or devices peculiar to and used in or on any bank note or
currency note;
(d) uses or knowingly has in his custody or possession any plate, wood, stone, or
other material, upon which any such words, figures, letters, marks, lines or devices have been
engraved or in anywise made as aforesaid;
(e) uses or knowingly has in his custody or possession any paper upon which such
words, figures, letters, marks, lines or devices have been printed or in anywise made as aforesaid,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s375]375. Clipping
Any person who deals with any current coin in such a manner as to diminish its weight
with intent that when so dealt with it may pass as current coin, shall be guilty of a felony and
shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s376]376. Melting down of currency
Any person who melts down, breaks up, defaces by stamping thereon any name, word or
mark, or uses otherwise than as currency any coin current for the time being in Malawi shall be
guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to a fine of £100 and to imprisonment for six
months.
[Ch0701s377]377. Impounding and destruction of counterfeit coin
Any officer of the Government or the manager of any bank who receives, during the
performance of his duties, any coin which he has reasonable ground for believing to be
counterfeit coin shall impound such coin and transmit it to the Accountant General who may cut,
deface or destroy it with or without compensation, as he thinks fit, if in his opinion it is
counterfeit. For the purposes of this section the decision of the Accountant General that a coin is
counterfeit and that compensation shall be granted or withheld shall be final, and no person shall
be entitled to claim and no proceedings or action shall be brought against the Accountant
General, the Government, the officer of the Government concerned, the manager of the bank
concerned or his bank in respect of any loss or damage suffered by reason of such impounding
and cutting, defacing or destruction.
[Ch0701s378]378. Possession of clippings
Any person who unlawfully has in his possession or disposes of any filings, or clippings
of gold or silver, or any gold or silver in bullion, dust, solution, or any other state, obtained by
dealing with current gold or silver coin in such a manner as to diminish its weight, knowing the
same to have been so obtained, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for
seven years.
[Ch0701s379]379. Uttering counterfeit coin
Any person who utters any counterfeit coin, knowing it to be counterfeit, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s380]380. Repeated uttering
Any person who—
(a) utters any counterfeit coin, knowing it to be counterfeit, and at the time of such
uttering has in his possession any other counterfeit coin; or
(b) utters any counterfeit coin, knowing it to be counterfeit, and either on the same
day or on any of the ten days next ensuing utters any other counterfeit coin, knowing it to be
counterfeit; or
(c) receives, obtains, or has in his possession any counterfeit coin, knowing it to be
counterfeit, with intent to utter it,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for three years.
[Ch0701s381]381. Uttering metal or coin not current as coin
(1) Any person who, with intent to defraud, utters as and for coin any medal or piece of
metal shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for twelve months.
(2) Any person who, with intent to defraud, utters as and for coin lawfully current in
Malawi any coin not so lawfully current shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to
imprisonment for twelve months.
[Ch0701s382]382. Selling articles bearing designs in imitation of currency
Any person who without lawful authority or excuse, the proof whereof lies upon him,
sells or offers or exposes for sale any article which bears a design in imitation of any currency or
bank note or coin in current use in Malawi or elsewhere shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and
shall be liable to imprisonment for six months.
[Ch0701s383]383. Exporting counterfeit coin
Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, the proof of which lies on him,
exports or puts on board of a vessel or vehicle of any kind for the purpose of being exported
from Malawi, any counterfeit coin whatever, knowing it to be counterfeit, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s384]384. Forfeiture
When any person is convicted of an offence under this Chapter, or the preceding Chapter,
the court shall order the forfeiture of any forged bank note or currency note or of any counterfeit
coin or any stamp, mould, tool, instrument, machine, press, or any coin, bullion or metal, or any
article bearing a design in imitation of any currency, bank note or coin used or employed in the
commission of any such offence.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
COUNTERFEIT STAMPS
[Ch0701s385]385. Possession of die used for purpose of making stamps
Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, the proof of which lies on him—
(a) makes or mends, or begins or prepares to make or mend, or uses, or knowingly
has in his possession, or disposes of any die, plate or instrument capable of making an
impression resembling that made by any die, plate or instrument used for the purpose of making
any stamp, whether impressed or adhesive, which is used for the purposes of the public revenue
or of the Posts and Telegraphs Department in Malawi or in any part of the Commonwealth, or in
any foreign country, or capable of producing in or on paper any words, figures, letters, marks, or
lines resembling any words, figures, letters, marks or lines used in or on any paper specially
provided by the proper authority for any such purpose; or
(b) knowingly has in his possession or disposes of any paper or other material which
has on it the impression of any such die, plate or instrument, or any paper which has on it or in it
any such words, figures, letters, marks or lines as aforesaid; or
(c) fraudulently, and with intent that use may be made of any such stamp as
aforesaid, or of any part of it, removes the stamp from any material in any way whatever; or
(d) fraudulently, and with intent that use may be made of any part of such stamp,
mutilates the stamp; or
(e) fraudulently fixes or places upon any material or upon any such stamp, any stamp
or part of a stamp which has been in any way removed from any other material, or out of or from
any other stamp; or
(f) fraudulently, and with intent, that use may be made of any such stamp which has
been already impressed upon or attached to any material, erases or otherwise removes, either
really or apparently, from such material anything whatever written on it; or
(g) knowingly has in his possession or disposes of anything obtained or prepared by
any such unlawful act as aforesaid; or
(h) fraudulently, or with intent to cause loss to the Government, uses for any purpose
a stamp issued by Government for the purpose of revenue which he knows to have been before
used,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years, and any die, plate,
instrument, paper or other thing as aforesaid which are found in his possession shall be forfeited.
[Ch0701s386]386. Paper and dies for postage stamps
Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, the proof of which lies on him—
(a) makes, or begins or prepares to make, or uses for any postal purpose, or has in his
possession, or disposes of any imitation or representation on paper or any other material, of any
stamp used for denoting any rate of postage of Malawi, or of any part of the Commonwealth, or
of any foreign country; or
(b) makes or mends, or begins or prepares to make or mend, or uses, or has in his
possession, or disposes of any die, plate, instrument, or material for making any such imitation or
representation,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to a fine of £50 or to imprisonment for
twelve months. And any stamps and any other such things as aforesaid, which are found in his
possession, shall be forfeited.
For the purposes of this section a stamp purporting to denote a rate of postage of any
country is to be taken to be a stamp used for postal purposes in that country until the contrary is
shown.
CHAPTER XXXIX
TRADE MARKS
[Ch0701s387]387. Trade mark defined
A trade mark is—
(a) a mark lawfully used by any person to denote any chattel to be an article or thing
of the manufacture, workmanship, production, or merchandise of such person or to be an article
or thing of any peculiar or particular description made or sold by such person;
(b) any mark or sign which in pursuance of any law in force for the time being
relating to registered designs is to be put or placed upon or attached to any chattel or article
during the existence or continuance of any copyright or other sole right acquired under such law.
[Ch0701s388]388. Counterfeiting trade marks misdemeanour
Any person who does any of the following things with intent to defraud or to enable
another to defraud any person, that is to say—
(a) forges or counterfeits any trade mark;
(b) applies any trade mark, or any forged or courterfeit trade mark, to any chattel or
article, not being the merchandise of any person whose trade mark is so forged or counterfeited;
(c) applies any trade mark or any forged or counterfeited trade mark to any chattel or
article not being the particular or peculiar description of merchandise denoted or intended to be
denoted by such trade mark or by such forged or counterfeited trade mark;
(d) applies any trade mark or any forged or counterfeited trade mark to any thing
intended for any purpose of trade or manufacture, or in, on, or with which any chattel or article is
intended to be sold or is sold or offered or exposed for sale;
(e) encloses or places any chattel or article in, upon, under, or with any thing to
which any trade mark has been falsely applied, or to which any forged or counterfeit trade mark
has been applied;
(f) applies or attaches any chattel or article to any case, cover, reel, ticket, label, or
other thing to which any trade mark has been falsely applied, or to which any false or counterfeit
trade mark has been applied;
(g) encloses, places, or attaches any chattel or article in, upon, under, with, or to any
thing having thereon any trade mark of any other person,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
Every person committing any such misdemeanour as aforesaid forfeits to the
Government—
(i) all chattels and articles to which any such trade mark or counterfeit trade
mark is applied or caused or procured to be applied;
(ii) every instrument for applying any such trade mark or counterfeit trade
mark in his possession or power;
(iii) the chattels and articles and the things mentioned in paragraphs (d), (e)
and (g), and all similar things made to be used in like like manner in his possession or power.
CHAPTER XL
PERSONATION
[Ch0701s389]389. Personation in general
Any person who, with intent to defraud any person, falsely represents himself to be some
other person, living or dead, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
If the representation is that the offender is a person entitled by will or operation of law to
any specific property and he commits the offence to obtain such property or possession thereof,
he shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s390]390. Falsely acknowledging deeds, recognizances, etc.
Any person who, without lawful authority or excuse, the proof of which lies on him,
makes, in the name of any other person, before any court or person lawfully authorized to take
such an acknowledgment, an acknowledgment of liability of any kind, or an acknowledgment of
a deed or other instrument, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s391]391. Personation of a person named in a certificate
Any person who utters any document which has been issued by lawful authority to
another person, and whereby that other person is certified to be a person possessed of any
qualification recognized by law for any purpose, or to be the holder of any office, or to be
entitled to exercise any profession, trade, or business, or to be entitled to any right or privilege,
or to enjoy any rank or status, and falsely represents himself to be the person named in the
document, shall be guilty of an offence of the same kind and shall be liable to the same
punishment as if he had forged the document.
[Ch0701s392]392. Lending, etc., certificate for personation
Any person who, being a person to whom any document has been issued by lawful
authority whereby he is certified to be a person possessed of any qualification recognized by law
for any purpose, or to be the holder of any office, or to be entitled to exercise any profession,
trade, or business, or to be entitled to any right or privilege, or to enjoy any rank or status, sells,
gives, or lends the document to another person with intent that that other may represent himself
to be the person named therein, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s393]393. Personation of person named in a testimonial of character
Any person who, for the purpose of obtaining any employment, utters any document of
the nature of a testimonial of character given to another person, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for twelve months.
[Ch0701s394]394. Leading, etc., testimonial for personation
Any person who, being a person to whom any such document as is mentioned in the last
preceding section has been given, gives, sells, or lends such document to another person with the
intent that that other person may utter such document for the purpose of obtaining any
employment, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
CHAPTER XLI
SECRET COMMISSIONS AND CORRUPT PRACTICES
[Ch0701s395]395. Interpretation
(1) For the purpose of this Chapter, the expression “consideration” includes valuable
consideration of any kind; the expression “agent” includes any person employed by or acting for
another; and the expression “principal” includes an employer.
(2) A person serving under the Government or under any municipal council or board or
under any other public body having power to impose rates or entrusted with the expenditure of
any Government funds or grants, and a member of any such municipal council or board or other
public body is an agent within the meaning of this Chapter.
[Ch0701s396]396. Corrupt practices
(1) If any agent corruptly accepts or obtains, or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain,
from any person, for himself or for any other person, any gift or consideration as an inducement
or reward for doing or forbearing to do or for having done or forborne to do, any act in relation
to his principal's affairs or business or for showing or forbearing to show favour or disfavour to
any person in relation to his principal's affairs or business, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(2) If any person corruptly gives or agrees to give or offers any gift or consideration to
any agent as an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do, or for having done or
forborne to do, any act in relation to his principals affairs or business, or for showing or
forbearing to show favour or disfavour to any person in relation to his principal's affairs or
business, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(3) If any person knowingly gives to any agent, or if any agent knowingly uses, with
intent to deceive his principal, any receipt, account or other document in respect of which the
principal is interested, and which contains any statement which is false or erroneous or defective
in any material particular, and which to his knowledge is intended to mislead the principal, he
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(4) Any person guilty of a misdemeanour under this section shall be liable to a fine of
K600 and to imprisonment for two years.
[Ch0701s397]397. Secret commission on Government contracts
Any person convicted of an offence under this Chapter where the matter or transaction in
relation to which the offence was committed was a contract or a proposal for a contract with the
Government or any Government Department or a municipal council or board or other public
body having power to impose rates or entrusted with the expenditure of any Government funds
or grants, or a sub-contract to execute any work comprised in such contract, shall be liable to a
fine of K1,000 and to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s398]398. Presumption as to corrupt practices
Where in any proceedings against a person for an offence under this Chapter it is proved
that any money, gift or other consideration has been paid or given to or received by a person in
the employment of any Government Department or a municipal council or board or other public
body having power to impose rates or entrusted with the expenditure of any Government funds
or grants, by or from a person or agent of a person holding or seeking to obtain a contract from
any Government Department or municipal council or board or other public body having power to
impose rates or entrusted with the expenditure of any Government funds or grants, the money,
gift or consideration shall be deemed to have been paid or given and received corruptly as such
inducement or reward as is mentioned in this Chapter, unless the contrary is proved.
[Ch0701s399]399. Consent of Chief Public Prosecutor to prosecution
A prosecution for an offence under this Chapter shall not be instituted without the written
consent of the Chief Public Prosecutor.
Division VIII
Attempts and Conspiracies to Commit Crimes, and Accessories after the Fact
CHAPTER XLII
ATTEMPTS
[Ch0701s400]400. Attempt defined
When a person, intending to commit an offence, begins to put his intention into execution
by means adapted to its fulfilment, and manifests his intention by some overt act, but does not
fulfil his intention to such an extent as to commit the offence, he is deemed to attempt to commit
the offence.
It is immaterial, except so far as regards punishment, whether the offender does all that is
necessary on his part for completing the commission of the offence, or whether the complete
fulfilment of his intention is prevented by circumstances independent of his will, or whether he
desists of his own motion from the further prosecution of his intention.
It is immaterial that by reason of circumstances not known to the offender it is impossible
in fact to commit the offence.
[Ch0701s401]401. Attempts to commit offences
Any person who attempts to commit a felony or misdemeanour shall be guilty of an
offence, which, unless otherwise stated, is a misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s402]402. Punishment of attempts to commit certain felonies
Any person who attempts to commit a felony of such a kind that a person convicted of it
is liable to the punishment of death or imprisonment for a term of fourteen years or upwards,
with or without other punishment, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable, if no other
punishment is provided, to imprisonment for seven years.
[Ch0701s403]403. Neglect to prevent felony
Every person who, knowing that a person designs to commit or is committing a felony,
fails to use all reasonable means to prevent the commission or completion thereof, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanour.
CHAPTER XLIII
CONSPIRACIES
[Ch0701s404]404. Conspiracy to commit felony
Any person who conspires with another to commit any felony, or to do any act in any part
of the world which if done in Malawi would be a felony, and which is an offence under the laws
in force in the place where it is proposed to be done, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be
liable, if no other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for seven years, or, if the greatest
punishment to which a person convicted of the felony in question is liable is less than
imprisonment for seven years, then to such lesser punishment.
[Ch0701s405]405. Conspiracy to commit misdemeanour
Any person who conspires with another to commit a misdemeanour, or to do any act in
any part of the world which if done in Malawi would be a misdemeanour, and which is an
offence under the laws in force in the place where it is proposed to be done, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour.
[Ch0701s406]406. Other conspiracies
Any person who conspires with another to effect any of the purposes following, that is to
say—
(a) to prevent or defeat the execution or enforcement of any Act; or
(b) to cause any injury to the person or reputation of any person, or to depreciate the
value of any property of any person; or
(c) to prevent or obstruct the free and lawful disposition of any property by the owner
thereof for its fair value; or
(d) to injure any person in his trade or profession; or
(e) to prevent or obstruct, by means of any act or acts which if done by any individual
person would constitute an offence on his part, the free and lawful exercise by any person of his
trade, profession, or occupation; or
(f) to effect any unlawful purpose; or
(g) to effect any lawful purpose by any unlawful means,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
CHAPTER XLIV
ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT
[Ch0701s407]407. Definition of accessories after the fact
A person who receives or assists another who is, to his knowledge, guilty of an offence,
in order to enable him to escape punishment, is said to become an accessory after the fact to the
offence.
A wife does not become an accessory after the fact to an offence of which her husband is
guilty by receiving or assisting him in order to enable him to escape punishment; or by receiving
or assisting, in her husband's presence and by his authority, another person who is guilty of an
offence in the commission of which her husband has taken part, in order to enable that other
person to escape punishment; nor does a husband become an accessory after the fact to an
offence of which his wife is guilty by receiving or assisting her in order to enable her to escape
punishment.
[Ch0701s408]408. Punishment of accessories after the fact to felonies
Any person who becomes an accessory after the fact to a felony shall be guilty of a
felony, and shall be liable, if no other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for three years.
[Ch0701s409]409. Punishment of accessories after the facts to misdemeanours
Any person who becomes an accessory after the fact to a misdemeanour shall be guilty of
a misdemeanour.
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION
NOTICE SPECIFYING PUBLIC SERVICE
under s. 46
G.N. 25/1968
The Minister has specified as public service for the purposes of the Code employment of
the following classes, that is to say, employment as an officer, servant, employee or agent of the
Malawi Congress Party.
PROHIBITED PUBLICATIONS ORDER
under s. 46
G.N. 135/1980
107/1983
154/1983
20/1985
29/1985
57/1985
33/1986
146/1987
25/1993
9/1994
84/1995
The importation of the following publications has been prohibited by order—
Guozi Shudian (China Publications Centre), P.O. Box 399, Peking, China—past and
future issues. G.N. 91/1965
True Africa—future issues. G.N. 101/1967
Great—future issues. G.N. 117/1967
Playboy—past and future issues. G.N. 146/1968
Penthouse—past and future issues.
Drum—past and future issues.
Mayfair—past and future issues. G.N. 34/1969
Zeta—past and future issues.
Chance International—oast and future issues. G.N. 79/1969
Man—past and future issues.
Men Only—past and future issues.
Fanny Hill by John Cleland.
Case Book: Nymphomania: published by Victoria Morhaim.
Nymphomania by Albert Ellis and Edward Sagarin.
Women Without Men: published by Marise Querlin.
A Love Affair by Dino Buzzati.
The Homosexual Society by Richard Hauser.
Love and Orgasm by Alexander Lowen.
Marriage, Sex and Society by Martin Arnold.
Sex, Culture and Myth by Bonislaw Malinowski.
Diary of a Nymph by A. Norman Shiff.
The Other Victorians by Steven Marcus.
Sexual Responses in Women by Drs. Phyllis and Eberhard Dronhausen.
My Life and Loves Vol. I, II, III, IV and V by Frank Harris.
The Birth Controllers by Peter Fryer.
A Cold Wind in August by Burton Wohl.
Sex Manners for Men by Robert Chartan.
The Perfumed Garden by The Shaykh Nefzawi. G.N. 103/1969
Sexual Pleasure in Marriage by Jerome and Julia Rainer.
Sexual Adventure in Marriage by Jerome and Julia Rainer.
Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herliny.
History of Pornography by H. Montgomery Hyde.
When the Sweet Talking's Done by Robin Douglas Home.
A Doctor Speaks about Sex by Rebecca Liswood, M.D.
Secret and Forbidden by Paul Tabari.
The Anxiety Makers by Alex Comfort.
Race of Desire by Charles Mergendahl.
An ABZ of Love: published by Inge and Sten Hegeler.
Venus Unmasked by Leonard de Vries and Peter Fryer.
Mamta—past and future issues.
Sex from A to Z by Hugs G. Beigel, PH.D. G.N. 134/1969
My Sister my Bride by Edwina Mark.
Anarchists in Love by Colin Spencer.
Excursion by Francis Pollini.
Human Sexual Responses by Ruth and Edward.
79 Park Avenue by Harold Robbins.
The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins.
The Girls by Nicola Thorne.
The Butchers by Leonard Bishop.
Nothing is for Nothing by David Alan Giacardi.
Brandy for Breakfast by Margot Bland.
Dust in my Throat by John Farrimond.
Candy by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg.
Buddwing by Evan Hunter.
The Sowers of the Wind by the T. A. G. Hungerford.
The Interns by Richard Frede.
The Trojans by Wilt Williams.
The Memoirs of an Oxford Scholar by John Cleland. G.N. 176/1969
Rachel, Rachel by Margaret Lawrence.
One in Twenty by Brian Maggee.
The Bawdy Wind by Nan Maynard.
The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova by Leonard Louis Levinson.
Agni Mani by Baron Richard J. H. de Touche Skadding.
Tender and Violent Elizabeth by Henri Troyat.
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence.
Naked from a Well by W. A. Ballinger. G.N. 201/1969
Equinox by Eva Figes.
Carnival—past and future issues. G.N. 248/1969
Parade—post and future issues.
My Wife Made Me a Polygamist by Walter Trobisch and John Benyolak.
My Wife Has Lost Interest in Sex by Walter Trobisch and John Benyolak.
Here is My Problem by Walter Trobisch and John Benyolak.
The Person Who I Married Does Not Obey Me by Walter Trobisch and John Benyolak.
Can Sex Hurt Love by Walter Trobisch and John Benyolak.
Venus in India by Charles Devereaux.
Kate by Ellen Ryder.
Let Noon be Fair by Willard Mosley.
I Want in Now by Kingsley Amis.
Goodbye England by James Barlow.
The Boston Strangler by Gerold Frank.
Flesh and Blood by Nan Maynard.
Devil Day by Angus Hall.
Transplant by Margaret Jones.
The Grave of Heroes by James Cross. G.N. 2/1970
Joanna by Michael Sarne.
The Symbol by Alvah Bessie.
The Clansman by William Bradford Huie.
Bed for Beginners by Jack Hanley.
How to Undress in Front of Your Husband by Libby Jones.
There was a Young Lady by Hugh de Witt.
Jungle West II by Majbritt Morrison.
On the Yard by Malcolm Braly.
Rugby Songs, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (Gramophone records). G.N. 9/1970
Bathroom Ballads (Gramophone records—performed by Mighty Absolom).
Hollywood Wife Swappers by Woodrow Olivetti. G.N. 16/1970
Pleasure, Pain and Parents by Anthony Crowell.
Covet Thy Sister by Byron Lord.
The Fat Debaucher by Byron Lord.
Street of the Blues by Kate Nickerson.
Bed of Fear by Doug Duperrant.
The Male Lolita by Russell Trainer.
The Strange Ways of Love by Clayton Matthews.
The Cover Girls by Paul W. Fairman.
The “F” Certificate by David Gurney.
Venus U.S.A. by William Iverson.
Memoirs of an Erotic Bookseller by Armand Coppens. G.N. 29/1970
Song of Songs by Noel Mayne.
The Art of Erotic Seduction by Dr. Albert Ellis and Roger O. Conway.
Sex and the Single Man by Dr. Albert Ellis
Pornocrates by Charles Brison.
Phallic Worship by George Ryley Scott.
Bibliotheca Arcana by Speculator Morum.
The Register of Erotic Books Volumes I and II by Alfred Rose.
The Golden Age of Erotica by Bernhardt J. Hurwood.
Akt In Farbe Und Licht by Lucien Lorelle
How to Please Your Mate by Dr. B. J. Cox
Hokey by Donald Stahl.
Song of the Loon by Richard Amory.
Sarv E. Naz by Robert Surieu.
Eros Kalos by Jean Marcade.
Roma Amor by Jean Marcade.
Checan by Rafael Larco Hoyle.
Shunga by Charles Grosbois.
Kama Kala by Mulk Raj Anand.
Ananga Ranga by H. S. Gabers and S. Rama.
Sappho of Lesbos by Beram Saklatvala.
Ovid on Love by Beram Saklatvala.
Beauty Unadorned by Vincent Lussa.
Sommer Mit Andrea by Hans Zeidler.
Beauty from Eastern Europe by Vincent Lussa.
Tahiti Beauty by A. Sylvain.
Aktstudien by Hellmuth Burkhardt
Akt Im Lichtbild Volumes I and II.
The Lust Market by Harold H. U. Cross.
Paris by Night by Jacques Robert.
Paris Cancan by Pierre Mariel and Jean Trocher.
Chastisement Across the Ages by Gervas D'Olbert.
Mr. Madam by Kenneth Marlowe.
Sex Worship by H. Cutner.
An Outline of Sexual Criminology by Nigel Morland
The History of Torture Throughout the Ages by George Ryley Scott.
The Moon of Beauty by J. Andersen-Rosendal.
Ten Ladies of Joy by George Ryley Scott.
The New Art of Love by G. R. Scott.
A Plain Talk on Sex Difficulties by F. B. Rockstro.
A Practical Guide to Birth Control by Dr. Eustace Chesser.
Male Methods of Birth Control by G. R. Scott.
Female Methods of Birth Control by G. R. Scott.
Welcome Sherazad by Alfred Mazure.
Eat the Cake and Have It by Jan Maat.
European Erotic Art by Francis Carr.
Walter: My Secret Life Volumes I and II by Doctor Phyllis and Eberhard Kronhausen.
Flagellation by G. R. Scott.
The Age of Perversion by Jason Douglas.
The Desire to Dominate by Victor Ragano.
The Master Masochist by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.
The Lure of Lust by Oscar Meredith
Ladies of Vice by G. R. Scott.
The Sweet Smell of Sex by Richard K. Champion.
Vice in Bombay by Allen V. Ross.
Solo Sex by Gilbert Oakley.
Nell in Bridewell by W. Reinhard.
The Americas After Dark by Eugene Cramond.
Blackbirds! by Kidge Wurdak.
Pussies in Boots by Kidge Wurdak and Kurt Muller.
Secret Techniques of Erotic Delight by Dr. Vyvyan Howarth.
Slaves to Sin by Paul Lefontenay.
The Cruel and the Meek by Dr. Walter Braun.
Lesbian Love Old and New by Dr. Walter Braun.
The Merry Muses by Robert Burns.
The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk.
Kama Sutra.
Oriental Love in Action by Giovanni Comisso.
Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.
The Daily Girl. G.N. 91/1970
The File of the Golden Goose by John Watson.
The Girl from Boston by Robert H. Rimmer.
The Sound of His Horn by Sarban.
The Hellcats by Robert Slatzer.
The Madame of Marrakech by Margaret Bland.
Spanish Fever by Norman Bogner.
Sweet Seducer by Martin Henry.
The Ecstasy Teacher by Larry Dean.
Rod Worship by Joseph Reynolds.
Rosy Cheeks by Peter Kanto.
The Satin Sheets by Teo F. Praegar.
The Orgiasts by Eunice Charles.
Top to Toe by Kelly Richardson.
House of Debauchery by Dave Lea.
The Odd Threesome by Robert Davies.
Angel by Margot Martell.
The Orgy Makers by C. B. Vanek.
Black Cult by Joseph de Winter.
The Whoremaster by Alexander Keith.
Bend Over by Peter Blue.
The Cough by Michael Chase.
Diary of a Hooker by Alma Ballou.
Silken Thighs by Abdul Rahmess.
The Sex Addicts by Martin Henry.
All Night Stud by Cain Rule.
Hellcats on Wheels by Wooddrow Olivetti.
Bodies in Heat by Theodore Reed.
The Making of a Pervert by Byron Lord.
L. is for Lesbian by Jackson Harmon.
Hot Skin by Wade Andrade.
Coed Sex Club by Dave Vance.
Oversexed Astronauts by M. Coxe.
Sex Marathon by Alan Hunter.
Seduction Classes by Mona.
Lesbo Nurse on the Make by King Coral.
Hooked on Women by Jackson Harmon.
Darling Pussy by Lynn Martin.
Cathouse by Arhen Clare.
Wife and Lovers by Stafford Fox.
Lust Pill by Michael Monahan.
Swap Chicks by Eve Linkletter
Wham Bam Cal by King Coral.
The Sex Set by G. J. Connolly.
Pleasure Chain by Peter Blue.
The French Maid by Alain Cox.
From Infancy to Adultery by Carl Brandt.
Two Weeks of Lust by Byron Lord.
The Flesh Beddlers by A. G. Brentwise, Jnr.
Black Lust by Jean de Villiot.
The Movie Maker by Herbert D. Kastle.
The Official Sex Manual by Gerald Sussman.
One Way Ticket by Jason Hytes.
Wanderers Eastward, Wanderers West by Kathleen Windsor.
Nobody Cries for Me by Sara Harris.
The Gates of Hell by Calder Willingham.
The Love Laboratory by Robert Kyle.
A Girl for the Afternoon by Terry Coleman.
The Deal by G. William Marshall.
Love Positions by Anders Jorgens.
A Programmed Guide to Seduction. G.N. 172/1970
A Place Called Saturday by Mary Astor.
All Night Stand by Thorn Keyes.
Alfie Darling by Bill Naughton.
Akt Adonis by lea Vilander.
A History of Eroticism by Ove Brusendorff and Poul Henningsen.
Akt in Farbe and Licht by Lucien Lorette.
Aktstudien by Hellmuth Burkhardt.
Akt Im Lichtbuld by Hellmuth Burkhardt.
All My Lovers by Gloria Barrett.
A Happier Sex Life by Dr. Sha Kokken.
Beyond All Pity by Carolina Maria de Jesus.
Cruel Venus by Victor Harris.
Cruel Venus by Victor Rogano.
Canned Candies by Paco Rabanne and Jean Clemmer.
Club.
Dear Wolf by Kathleen Sulky.
Exposure by Diana Carter.
Fetish by Clavel Brand.
Georgina by James Paunce.
Home is not a Safe Country by Paige Mitchell.
Harriet Marwood Governess by Anonymous.
Houses of Shame by Maurice Labande.
I. A. Sailor by Morgen Holm.
Kundu by Morrise West.
Love and Libertinism in Art by Florent Fels.
Love's Picture Book by Ove Brusendorff and Poul Henningsen.
Many Slippery Errors by Alfred Grossman.
My Secret Life Vol. III by More Walter.
Never Step on a Rainbow by Winifred Wolfe.
Oz.
Providence Island by Calder Willingham.
Paris by Night by Jacques Robert.
Paris Canean by Pierre Mariel and Jean Trocher.
Seductions by John London.
Sex Change by Gilbert Oakley.
Shock Tactics by Jean Bruce.
Sam's Song by Shirley Schoolnover.
Sexual Fantasy by Ricardo Barros.
Skinhead by Richard Allen.
The Strip by Alison Lord.
The Nymphet by Margaret Taylor.
The Second Sex by Simone de Blauvoir.
The Dangerous Games by Tereska Torres.
The Beauty of their Skins by Henry Maisorley.
The Golden Runaways by Stephen Longstreet.
The Nude Who Never by Ted Mark.
The Garden of Heaven by Peter Dane.
The Passion Players by Edmund P. Marray.
The Innocent Bystanders by James Munro.
The Bond by Jacques Borel.
The Golden Serpent by Nick Carter.
The Puritan Jungle by Sara Harris.
The New Female Sexuality by Manfred F. De Martino.
The Leather Scene by Roger Frárley Gray.
The Kinky Crowd Vol. I by Clavel Brand.
Two-Way Lover by Jason Douglas.
The Order of the Rod by Anonymous.
The Girl Nadja by N. Yurievich.
The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk by Anonymous.
Twilight Women around the World by R. Leighton Hasselrdt.
The Miniskirt and Beyond by Roger Farley Gray.
The Submissives by R. J. B. Krauss.
The New Art of Love by G. R. Scott.
The Jockey by Ronald.
The Reefs of Eden by Conn Maguire.
The Courtyard by James Moffat.
The Gynaecologist by Leslie Herron.
Web of Spices by Nick Carter.
491 by Lars Gorling.
Boys and Sex by Wardell B. Pomeroy. G.N. 4/1971
Callboy by Jeff Lawton.
The Confession of Georgina.
Coming out West by Billy Peale.
Crack by R. John Smythe.
The Diamond Bikini by Charles William.
The Exquisite Thing by Joyce Maclover.
Fallen Angel by Jonathan.
He and She by Kenneth Barnes.
Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson.
Jan Cremer.
Lust in the Woods by Jason Forkes.
The Munich Involvement by Frederic Mullary.
May I Borrow Your Husband by Graham Greene.
The Menstrual Cycle by Katherine Dalton.
The Other Face of Love by Rexmond de Becker.
The Rose of Tibet by Lionel Davidson.
Sex in the Near East by John Rosemberger.
Sex and Censorship in the Visual Arts, Volumes I and II by Donald H. Gilmore.
Shafter by Sonny Barker.
The Strange Affair by Bernard Tome.
2069 + 1 by Larry Townsend.
A Wilderness of Monkeys by Paige Mitchell.
Sexual Behaviour of Young People by Michael Scofield.
Another Country by James Baldwin. G.N. 101/1971
Carter by Ted Lewis
Female Methods of Birth Control published by Luxor Press.
Lesbian Secrets by Evelyn Theodor.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov.
New Approaches to Sex in Marriage by John Eichenlaub, M.D.
Rogue Roman by Lance Horner.
Such Good Friends by Lois Gould.
Several Perceptions by Angela Carter.
Sweet Seventeen/Villette published by Luxor Press.
The Second Window by Robin Mangham.
The Man Above Suspicion by James Mayo.
The New Pamela by Una Stannard.
The Rape of Tamara by Dan Jacobson.
The Way of a Virgin: published by Luxor Press.
The Sexual Love Photo Book: published by Luxor Press.
The Submissives by R. J. B. Krauss.
The Three Sirens by Irving Wallace.
Violation: published by Luxor Press.
Chewsday by Dan Greenburg.
The Slave Stealer by Boyd Upchurch. G.N. 232/1971
Rainbow Child by Annettee Eyre.
Child's Play by Kate Christie.
Philly by Dan Greenburg.
Young Proud & Naked: published by Luxor Press.
The Body by Anthony Smith.
Progress En Amour Assez Lents by Jean Paulhan.
Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules by Bussy-Rabutin.
Sex Power After Forty by Gilbert Oakley.
Bisexuality by Jason Douglas.
Jungle Lovers by Paul Theroux. G.N. 281/1971
Slave Ship by Eric Corder.
The Hand Reared Boy by Brian W. Aldiss.
The Truth About Incest by Daniel Hawkes.
Promiscuous Pauline, translated by R. J. B. Krauss.
School Girl Sex by G. Jorgens.
Hidden Gems of Erotica by James Paunce.
Sex for the Young by A. C. C. Jorgens.
Erotic Letters and Graffiti by Daniel Hawkes.
The Age of Perversion by Jason Douglas.
How to make Love to a Woman by G. and A. Jorgens.
Oh! Oh! Josephine Mutzenbacher: published by Luxor Press.
Sexual Deviation by Roger Farley-Gray.
In the Hands of the Inquisition: published by Luxor Press.
Sex A—Z by Howard Weiner.
The Graduate Mistress by Kenneth Gunnell.
The Drag Scene by Desmond Monthmoreney.
The Garden of Torture by Octave Mirbeau.
The Lovers by Tina Tranter.
The Passions and Lechery of Catherine the Great by Bernard Gib.
Vive Ie Sex by lea Vilander.
Far Eastern Sex Life by G. R. Scott.
Welcome Sherazad by Alfred Mazure.
How You Began by Hilary Spiers.
How Human Life Begins by J. J. Head.
Katrina by R. Kirkbride.
Married Life in an African Tribe by Isaac Schapera.
Sex, The Plain Facts by James Bivan.
Styricon by Paul Gillette.
Everything you Always wanted to know about Sex by David Reuben.
A Kiss a Day keeps the Corpses Away by James Yardley.
A Skeleton for my Mate by George Sava.
They Don't Make them like that Anymore by James Leasor.
Lesbos: A Photobook of Lesbian Love by Axel Hoving.
Love, Sex and Being Human by Paul Bohannan.
One Fearful Yellow Eye by Travis McGee.
The Other Love by H. Montgomery Hide G.N. 21/1972
The Rationale of Dirty Jokes by C. Legman
Going to the Moon by Philip Callow
The Girl Who played Gooseberry by Jill Neville.
The Green Man by Kingsley Amis.
Confession of a Mask by Yukio Mishima.
Jan Gremer 2 by Anonymous.
A Spy in the Family by Alec Waugh
Growing Sideways by Joe Potts
No, John, No by Cressida Lindsay.
The Sexual Radicals by Paul A. Robinson
The School of Venus by Michel Millot and Jean L'ange.
The Mouth by Paul Ableman
The Westbank Group by Henry Sackerman.
King of the Witches by June Johns.
Sindicato Del Terrore by Don brewster.
Un Guinzaglio Chiamato Donna by Perry Landers.
Due Gemelle Bionde by Perry Landers.
Jet Caley e Il Colpo Gobbo by Mike Chandler.
Un Tipo In Gamba by Artie Holland.
Jet Caley e i Quarttro Di Boston by Mike Chandler.
La Nostra Legge by Peter Kane.
La Bionda Del Clan by Jim Reevels.
Operazione Drago D'oro by Jim Reeves.
Il Colpo Del Killer by Fred Burke.
La Donna Della Casa Accanto by Tesmesse Hunger.
Seventeen Part 1 by Soya.
Seventeen Parts 2 and 3 by Soya.
3 In the Attic by S. H. Yafa.
I am the Beautiful Stranger by Rosalyn Drexler.
Spring Fire by Vin Packer.
The Life and Loves of Mr. Jiveass Nigger by Cecil Brown.
Oh, Wicked Wanda by Frederic Mulally.
Dicky by D. D. Bell.
The Image by Jean De Berg.
Love 1 by Various.
Numbers by John Rechy.
Miss High Heels by Anonymous.
New York Unexpurgated by Petronius.
Lily by Sandrine Forge.
La Tarantula by Don Luis de V.
Juliette by Marquis de Sade.
I was Curious by Vilgot Sjoman.
An Excess of Love by Jose Landers.
Life Full of Holes by Driss Ben Hamed Charhadi.
Morfie by Linda Due Breuil.
The Mandarin Orgies by A. De Granamour.
Half Past Sex by D. Barry Linder.
The Loves of Antonio d'Agnolo by Theodore Read.
Sex 69 by Erik Dahl.
The Koka Shastra by Alex Comfort.
Kiss, Screw, Pleasure and Sex by William Teach.
The Memoirs of a Man of Pleasure by James Graham.
Eros Denied by Wayland Young
A study in Incest by Ivan Sagan.
The Incest Sport by Ralph Cingara.
Erotic Exploits of Older Women by Garson Gallico.
Doctor Delight by Amos Dickens Jr.
Lust's Castaways by Harry Best.
The XYZ of Love by Inge and Sten Hegeler.
New York After Dark by Colin Ross.
Deviation by D. Gunther Wilde.
Paris After Dark by Jean de Ballard.
The Tour by Also Lucchesi.
No Score by Chip Harrison.
I, Woman (Part 2) by Siv Holm.
One or Another by Rosalyn Drexler.
Cocksure by Mordecal Richler.
The Judas Boy by Simon.
Under the Hill by Aubrey Beardsley.
Night by Francis Pollini.
Men by Gloria.
The Love Student by Mike Stout.
Radcliffe by David Storey.
The Movie Makers by Herbert Kastle.
The Celluloid Womb by Hoffman and Aid.
Sam's Song by Shirley Schoonover.
The Center of the Action by Joreme Widman.
The Nuptials by John Haase.
The Motor Cycle by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues.
The Wonder of Love by Oswalt Kolle.
Forty Whacks by Fanny Howe.
Octobriana by Peter Sadecky.
The Swingers by Peter Dane.
The Love of Bob and Daphne by B. Aalberge.
Klute by William Johnston.
Let Noon Be Fair by Willard Motley.
The Last Mirage by Oliver Anderson.
Love is a Well Raped Word by Doreen Wayne.
Sex Games That People Play by Daniel Gordon.
Fancy by Robert Krepps.
The Sensualist by George B. Medler.
The Sporting Club by Thomas McGuane.
A Moment of Love by Brian Moore.
Blow Me Hot, Blow Me Cool by Richard Cox.
Neighbourhood Nymph by Ralph Angora.
Leatherbound Wife by Jules Roblais.
Suck Baby by Dore Fox.
Swap 'n Cousins by Andy Grant.
V. for Victoria by Florin du Shane.
Go Down, Go Under by Richard Cox.
Blackmail Swap by Lawrence Leacock.
The Fag Chaser by Warren Brown.
To want a Boy by Bert Sbrader.
Bitch Boy by Dale Evans
The Reamers by Dick Appleby.
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth.
The Basis of Happy Marriage by Louis Berg and Robert Street.
Sexus by Henry Miller.
The Pleasures of Love by Barbara Bross.
Sex and Society in Sweden by B. Linner.
Mademoiselle 1 + 1 by Marcel Veronese and Jean-Claude Peretz.
November Girl by Sam Haskins.
The Exhibitionist by Henry Sutton.
Anatomy of Swearing by Ashley Montague.
The Love Laboratory by Robert Kyle.
Couples by John Updike.
Five Girls by Sam Haskins.
How to Achieve Sexual Ecstasy by Stephen Gregory.
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby.
The Erotic Minorities by Lars Ullerstam.
New Adventure to Sex in Marriage by John Eichenlaub.
Yvonne by Marry Suckit.
Whipped Women by Jean de Villot.
Up in Heaven by Pierre La Tour.
New Ladies' Tickler by Anonymous.
Spartacus: published by JDS Publications, Brighton, England—past and future issues.
TIMM: published by Timm House Limited, London—past and future issues.
Jeremy: published by Jeremy Enterprises Ltd., London—past and future issues.
The Male Swingers: published by Rick Sampson, Washington, U.S.A.—past and future
issues.
Daily Girl: published by Daily Girl Press, Berlin, West Germany—past and future issues.
Playgirl: published by Man Junior Magazine (Pty.) Ltd., Sydney—past and future issues.
Face and Figure: published by Man Junior Magazine (Pty.) Ltd., Sydney—past and future
issues.
Private: published by Private Press AB, Stockholm, Sweden— past and future issues.
Color: published by Delphi Production, Uddevalla, Sweden—past and future issues.
Color Orgasm: published by Delphi Production, Uddevalla, Sweden—past and future
issues.
117 Sexual Positions: published by E. Erikson, Stockholm, Sweden—past and future
issues.
29 Sex Various: published by E. Erikson, Stockholm, Sweden—past and future issues.
Spritz Colour Magazine: published by E. Erikson, Stockholm, Sweden—past and future
issues.
Homo Action: published by Fa. Reflex, Taby, Sweden—past and future issues.
Pocket Porno: published by Fa. Reflex, Taby, Sweden—past and future issues.
Color Passion: published by Fa. Reflex, Taby, Sweden—past and future issues.
Man Alive: published by Spartacus Book Service, Brighton, England—past and future
issues.
Sons of the Zodiac: published by J.D.S. Publications, Brighton, England—past and future
issues.
The Chronicle published by the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd.,
Gordon Avenue G.N. 156/1972