IN THE MAGISTRATES’ COURT OF FIJI 
AT   SUVA
                                    Criminal    Case   : -   785/2015        
STATE
V
JEKE VAKARARAWA 
For the Prosecution	: 	Cpl Shaw 
For the Accused	: 	Ms.Daunivesi (LAC)  
Date of Ruling		: 	25th of July 2016     
			  RULING ON NO CASE TO ANSWER
1.	The accused is charged with one count of Theft contrary section 291(1) of the Crimes Decree No 44 of 2009. 
2.	At the conclusion of the prosecution case the learned defence counsel made a no case submission pursuant to section 178 of the Criminal Procedure Decree. 
3.	Section 178 of the Criminal Procedure Decree reads :
 “if at the close of the evidence in support of the charge it appears to the court that a case is not made out against the accused person sufficiently to require him or her to make a defence, the court shall dismiss the case and shall acquit the accused”.  
4.	It is trite law that in a magistrate court  no case to answer submission can be upheld only  on  following grounds: 
   [i] When there is no evidence to prove an essential element of the charged offence;
   [ii] When the prosecution evidence has been so discredited or is so manifestly unreliable that no reasonable tribunal could convict.
5.	In this case the complainant said on 11th April 2015 someone stole his Mazda vehicle. PW2 and PW3 who went to search for the vehicle saw the accused driving the vehicle and when the police tried to stop, he ran away leaving the vehicle. He was arrested later. 
6.	Only disputed issue in this case is the identification and at this stage I am satisfied that there is sufficient evidence for that also. Therefore I find there is a prima facie case against the accused and dismiss this application accordingly. 
Shageeth Somaratne 
Resident Magistrate