LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE – No Case Submission – Grounds for Upholding Submission
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
A submission of no case to answer may properly be made and upheld (a) when there has been no evidence to prove an essential element in the alleged offence; or (b) even when evidence has been adduced on the essential elements, the evidence has been so discredited as a result of cross-examination or is so manifestly unreliable that no reasonable tribunal could safely convict on it.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Uwaifo, JSC, in Ubanatu v. Commissioner of Police (2000) NLC-691999(SC) at pp. 19–20; Paras E–A.
"A submission of no case to answer may properly be made and upheld (a) when there has been no evidence to prove an essential element in the alleged offence; or (b) even when evidence has been adduced on the essential elements, the evidence has been so discredited as a result of cross-examination or is so manifestly unreliable that no reasonable tribunal could safely convict on it."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
A no-case submission succeeds on two grounds. First, total failure of evidence on any essential element—the prosecution simply has not adduced proof on a required ingredient. Second, where evidence exists but is so discredited by cross-examination or is inherently so unreliable that no reasonable court could convict. The second ground acknowledges that even where some evidence is led, its quality may be so poor that proceeding would be unjust. This dual framework protects against both evidential insufficiency and manifest unreliability.