PART XVIII
PUNISHMENTS

336 Nature of punishments
(1) Subject to this Act and any other law, a court may impose the following punishments upon a convicted offender
(a) in the case of the High Court, sentence of death, where the offender is convicted of an offence re¬ferred to in section three hundred and thirty-seven;
(b) imprisonment;
(c) extended imprisonment in terms of section three hundred and forty-six;
(d) a fine;
(e) where the convicted person is a male person under the age of eighteen years, corporal punishment;
(f) putting the convicted person under recognizance
with conditions.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as
(a) authorizing a court to impose for any offence a punishment other than, or in excess of, the punish-ment which by law it is competent for that court to impose for that offence; or
(b) preventing a court from imposing a punishment other than a punishment referred to in subsection (1), where the court is specially authorized by any en¬actment to impose such other punishment.

A. Sentence of death

337 Sentence of death for murder

Subject to section three hundred and thirty-eight, the High Court
(a) shall pass sentence of death upon an offender convicted by it of murder:
Provided that the High Court may impose any sentence other than the death sentence when the court is of the opinion that there are extenuating cir¬cumstances or when the offender is a woman convicted the murder of her newly-born child;
(b) may pass sentence of death upon an offender convicted of treason.

338 Parsons upon whom death sentence may not be passed
The High Court shall not pass sentence of death upon an offender who
(a) is a pregnant woman; or
(b) is over the age of seventy years; or
(c) at the time of the offence, was under the age of eighteen years.

339 Sentence of death
(1) The form of sentence to be pronounced upon a per¬son who is convicted of an offence punishable with death and sentenced to death shall be that he be returned to custody and that the sentence of death shall be executed according to law.
(2) Where the sentence of death is carried out the person sentenced shall be hanged by the neck until he is dead.

340 Copy of evidence to be transmitted to President
(I) If any sentence of death is pronounced by the High Court, a copy of the evidence shall be transmitted to the President and the sentence shall not be carried out until confirmed by him.
(2) The President may signify his confirmation in terms of subsection (1) by telegraph.

341 Examination of woman convicted of certain offences
(1) Where upon the conviction of a woman of any of¬fence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of section three hundred and thirty-seven a judge is of the opinion that the death sentence is the appropriate penalty and has reason to suspect that the woman is pregnant, he shall not pass sentence upon her until he has determined from evidence led before him whether the woman is pregnant or not.
(2) For the purpose of making the determination referred to in subsection (I), the judge shall direct one or more medical practitioners who are registered in terms of the Medical, Dental and Allied Professions Act [hapter 27:08] to examine the woman privately, either together or successively, and to ascertain whether she is pregnant or not.

342 Manner of carrying out death sentence
(1) As soon as practicable after a sentence of death is passed the judge who passed the sentence or any other judge of the court shall issue his warrant to the Sheriff or his deputy for the execution of the sentence, but such warrant shall not be executed until the Attorney-General has, in writing signed by him, given notice to the Sheriff or the deputy that the President has decided not to grant a pardon to or reprieve the person so sentenced or otherwise exercise the prerogative of mercy in respect of him.
(2) As soon after the receipt of the notice referred to in subsection (1) by the Sheriff or his deputy as fitting arrangements for the carrying out of the sentence can be made in or in the precincts of a prison appointed in accor¬dance with law for the carrying out of sentences of capital punishment, the Sheriff or his deputy shall execute the judge's warrant issued to him in terms of subsection (1) in the appointed prison or its precincts:
Provided that the Sheriff or his deputy shall not execute the judge's warrant if at any time the Attorney-General, by notice in writing under his own hand to the Sheriff or the deputy sheriff, intimates that the President has decided to grant a pardon or reprieve to the person so sentenced or otherwise to exercise to prerogative of mercy with regard to him.
(3) Any notice by the Attorney-General under the pro¬viso to subsection (2) shall be construed for all purposes as a cancellation of the judge's warrant.

B. Imprisonment and fine

343 Cumulative or concurrent sentences
(1) When a person is convicted at one trial of two or more different offences or when a person under sentence or undergoing punishment for one offence is convicted of another offence, the court may sentence him to such several punishments for such offences or for such last offence, as the case may be, as the court is competent to impose.
(2) When sentencing any person to punishments in terms of subsection (1), the court may direct the order in which the sentences shall be served or that such sentences shall run concurrently.

344 Discretion of court as to amount and nature of punishment
(1) Where any person is liable by law to a sentence of imprisonment for life or for any period, he may be impris¬oned for any shorter period.
(2) A person liable by law to be sentenced to pay a fine of any amount may be sentenced to pay a fine of any lesser amount.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to any of¬fence for which a minimum penalty is prescribed in the enactment prescribing a punishment for the offence.

345 Periodical imprisonment
(1) For the purposes of this section
"appropriate prison" means a prison specified by the Minister, by statutory instrument, as a prison in which a person may be sentenced to undergo periodical imprison¬ment in terms of this section.
(2) If a court convicts a potion of an offence specified in the Sixth Schedule, it may, in lieu of any other punishment referred to in subsection (2) of section three hundred and thirty-six and after ascertaining from the officer in charge of the appropriate prison that accommodation for the purpose is available, sentence that person to undergo, in accordance with the law relating to prisons, periodical imprisonment in that prison for a period of not less than ninety-six hours and not more than two thousand hours.
(3) The court imposing a sentence of periodical impris¬onment upon any person in terms of this section shall
(a) cause such photographs, finger-prints, palm-prints or footprints of that person to be taken as are reasona¬bly necessary for identification purposes; and
(b) cause that person to be furnished with a written notice in the prescribed form directing that he shall, on a date and at a time specified in the notice or, if prevented from doing so by circumstances beyond his control, as soon as possible thereafter, surrender himself for the purpose of undergoing that impris¬onment to the officer in charge of the prison speci¬fied in the notice.
(4) A copy of the notice referred to in subsection (3) shall serve as a warrant for the admission into the prison concerned of the convicted person and his confinement therein it accordance with the law relating to prisons.
(5) A person who
(a) without lawful excuse, the proof whereof shall be on him, fails to comply with a notice with which he has been furnished in terms of paragraph (b) of subsec¬tion (3); or
(b) surrenders himself for the purpose of undergoing periodical imprisonment while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs; or
(c) impersonates or falsely represents himself to be a person who has been directed to surrender himself for the purpose of undergoing periodical imprison¬ment;
shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months.
(6) If, before the expiry of a sentence of periodical imprisonment imposed on a person in terms of this section, that person undergoes punishment consisting of any other form of detention imposed by any court, any magistrate before whom that person is brought shall set aside the unexpired portion of the sentence of periodical imprison¬ment and, after considering the evidence recorded in respect of the offence in respect of which the sentence of periodical imprisonment was imposed, may impose, in lieu of such unexpired portion, any punishment which is competent for that offence and does not exceed his own punitive jurisdiction in respect of that offence.
(7) The Minister may, by notice in a statutory instrument, add to, amend or replace the whole or any part of the Sixth Schedule:
Provided that it shall not be competent to include in the Sixth Schedule any offence for which a sentence of death or a minimum penalty is prescribed by any enactment
(8) A sentence of periodical imprisonment provided for by this section shall not be regarded as a sentence ox imprisonment without the option of a fine for the put vases of any enactment relating to a disqualification unless that enactment provides otherwise.

346 Extended imprisonment
(1) Subject to this section, in the exercise of his powers in terms of section two hundred and twenty-eight or three hundred and thirty-three, a judge may sentence to extended imprisonment any person who has been convicted of offence specified in the Seventh Schedule if that person
(a) has, either in Zimbabwe or elsewhere, been previously convicted in a least three separate trials of any
one or more of the offences specified in the Seventh Schedule; and
(b) had attained the age of twenty-five years when he sustained the last of the three convictions referred to in paragraph (a).
(2) In deciding whether or not to sentence a person to extended imprisonment in terms of this section, a judge shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case and the offender, and in particular to
(a) the seriousness of the offences specified in the Seventh Schedule of, which the offender has been convicted; and
(b) the need to protect the public; and
(c) the prospects for reforming the offender.
(3) A sentence of extended imprisonment imposed in terms of this section shall endure
(a) where the offender has not previously been sen¬tenced to extended imprisonment, of not less than seven years, and not more than fifteen years;
(b) where the offender has previously been sentenced to extended imprisonment, for not less that fifteen years and not more than twenty years;
and, when imposing such a sentence, a judge shall inform the offender of the maximum and minimum periods of the sentence specified in paragraph (a) or (b), as may be appropriate.
(4) A person sentenced to extended imprisonment in terms of this section shall be dealt with as provided in any enactment relating to the management of prisons and the treatment of persons so sentenced.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (3), a person who, before the 6th May, 1983, had been declared a habitual criminal shall be deemed to have previously been sen¬tenced to extended imprisonment.

347 Imprisonment in default of payment of tine
(1) When a court has convicted an offender of any of¬fence punishable by a fine, whether with or without any other direct or alternative punishment, it may, in imposing a sentence of a fine upon the offender, impose, as a punishment alternative to such fine, a sentence of impris¬onment of any duration within the limits of its punitive jurisdiction:
Provided that, subject to subsection (3), the period of such alternative sentence of imprisonment shall not, either alone or together with any period of imprisonment imposed as a direct punishment, exceed the longest period of imprisonment prescribed by any enactment as a punish¬ment, whether direct or alternative, for such offence.
(2) When a court has imposed upon any offender a sentence of a fine without an alternative sentence of imprisonment and the fine has not been paid in full or has not been recovered in full by a levy in terms of sectionthree hundred and forty-eight, the court which passed sentence on the offender may issue a warrant directing that he be arrested and brought before the court, which may thereupon sentence him to such term of imprisonment as could have been imposed upon him as an alternative punishment in terms of subsection (1).
(3) When by any enactment, a court is empowered to impose upon a person convicted by such court of an offence a sentence of imprisonment, whether direct or as an alternative to a fine, of a duration proportionate to the sum of a fine, that court may, notwithstanding such law, impose upon any person convicted of that offence in lieu of a sentence of imprisonment which is proportionate as aforesaid, any sentence of imprisonment within the limits of the court's punitive jurisdiction.

348 Recovery of fine
(1) When an offender is sentenced to pay a fine, the court passing the sentence may in its discretion issue a warrant addressed to the Sheriff or messenger of the court authorizing him to levy the amount by attachment and sale of any movable property belonging to the offender, although the sentence directs that in default of payment of the fine the offender shall be imprisoned.
(2) The amount which may be levied in terms of sub¬section (1) shall be sufficient to cover, in addition to the fine, the costs and expenses of the warrant and of the attachment and sale thereunder.
(3) A warrant in terms of subsection (I), if issued by the High Court, may be executed anywhere within Zimbabwe.
(4) A warrant in terms of subsection (1), if issued by a magistrate, shall authorize the attachment and sale of the movable property of the offender within the local limits of such magistrate's jurisdiction, and shin without such when endorsed by a magistrate having jurisdiction in the place where the property is found.
(5) If the proceeds of the sale of the movable property are insufficient to satisfy the amount of the fine and the costs and expenses aforesaid, the High Court may issue a warrant or, in the MSC of a sentence by a magistrates court, may authorize such magistrates court to issue a warrant for the levy against the immovable property of the offender of the amount unpaid.
(6) When an offender has been sentenced to pay a fine only or in default of payment of the fine to imprisonment, and the court issues a warrant under this section, it may suspend the execution of the sentence of imprisonment and may release the offender upon his executing a bond with or without sureties as the court thinks fit, conditioned for his appearance before the court or some other court on the day appointed for the return of the warrant, such day not being more than fifteen days from the time of executing the bend, and in the event of the amount of the fine not having been recovered, the sentence of imprisonment may be carried into execution at once or may be suspended as before far a further period or further periods of not more than fifteen days, as the court thinks fit.
(7) In any case in which an order for the payment of money has been made on non-recovery of which impris¬onment may be awarded and the money is not paid forth¬with, the court may require the person ordered to make such payment to enter into a bond as provided in subsection (6), and in default of his doing so, may at once pass sentence of imprisonment as if the money had not been recovered.
(8) When an offender has been sentenced to pay a fine or in default of payment of the fine to a period of impris¬onment and before the expiry of that period any part of the fine is paid or levied, the period of imprisonment shall be reduced by a number of days bearing as nearly as possible the same proportion to the number of days to which such person is sentenced as the sum so paid and levied bears to the amount of the fine.
(9) An amount which would reduce the imprisonment by a fractional part of a day shall not be received.
(10) No payment of any sum under this section need be accepted otherwise than during ordinary office hours.

349 Court may enforce payment of fine from moneys on accused or salary or wages of accused
Where a person is sentenced to pay a fine, whether with or without an alternative sentence of imprisonment, the court may, without prejudice to arty other power wider this Act relating to the payment of a fine, enforce payment of the fine, whether as to the whole or part thereof
(a) by seizure of moneys upon the person concerned; or
(b) if money is due or is to become due as salary or wages from any employer of the person concerned, by
(i) from time to time ordering the employer to deduct a specified amount from the salary or wages so due and to pay over such amount to the clerk of the court in question; or
(ii) ordering the employer to deduct from time to time a specified amount from the salary or wages from the employer due and to pay over such amount to the clerk of the court in question.

350 Levy of fine and costs on conviction of defamation
When any person is convicted of the unlawful publica¬tion of any defamatory matter which was published by means of printing, the prosecutor may levy the fine, if any, and costs out of any property of the offender in like manner as in civil actions.