Article 176: Guilty Plea and Conviction Without Evidence

Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section

1. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 5681/2568 (2025)

   For an offence carrying life imprisonment, a guilty plea alone cannot support conviction; the prosecution must present evidence supporting the plea under Section 176.

   The defendant was charged with an offence punishable by life imprisonment. Because a plea alone was insufficient, the prosecution presented evidence supporting the confession under Section 176, and the trial court convicted on that basis before reducing the sentence for the plea.

2. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1546/2568 (2025)

   Robbery under Penal Code Section 339 carries a minimum of five years, so even with a guilty plea and no defence evidence, the court cannot convict unless the prosecution's evidence satisfies it of guilt under Section 176.

   The offence carried a five-year minimum, so despite the guilty plea the court needed prosecution evidence. When the record showed the prosecutor stated it did not wish to call witnesses, there was no evidence on which to convict for armed robbery, and the point could be raised as a public-order question.

3. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 5492/2567 (2024)

   Where the defendant pleads guilty and the prosecution presents supporting evidence under Section 176 paragraph one, the court finds the facts from that evidence, and a defendant who disputes those findings must exercise the right of appeal rather than reargue them later.

   The defendant pleaded guilty and the prosecution presented supporting evidence under Section 176 paragraph one, from which the trial court found intent to kill and convicted for attempted murder. The Supreme Court noted that if the defendant disputed the finding of intent, the proper course was to appeal the trial court's judgment.

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.