25
Procedure and evidence
(1) In any criminal proceedings under this Act—
(a)
any quantity of seed in or upon any premises, place or vehicle at the
time a sample thereof is taken under this Act shall, unless the contrary is proved, be
deemed to possess the same properties as such sample;
(b)
any person who is proved to have tampered with any sample shall be
deemed to have acted with fraudulent intent unless the contrary is proved;
(c)
a certificate stating the result of a test, examination or analysis carried
out under the provisions of section fifteen, seventeen or eighteen and purporting to be
signed by the seed analyst who carried out such test, examination or analysis shall be
accepted as prima facie proof of the facts stated therein;
(d)
any statement or entry contained in any book or document kept by any
importer, exporter or owner of seed, or by the manager, agent or employee of such
person, or found upon or in any premises occupied by, or any vehicle used in, the
business of such person, shall be admissible in evidence against him as an admission
of the facts set forth in that statement or entry, unless it is proved that that statement
or entry was not made by such person or by any manager, agent or employee of such
person in the course of his agency or employment.
(2) No prosecution shall be instituted as a result of any test, examination or analysis
carried out in terms of the provisions of section fifteen, seventeen or eighteen unless a
copy of the seed analyst’s certificate has been transmitted at least twenty-one days
before the institution of such prosecution to the person who is to be prosecuted.
26
Special defences in case of prosecutions
It shall be a sufficient defence for a person charged with the sale of any seed in
contravention of paragraph (a) of section ten if he proves to the satisfaction of the
court—
that he purchased such seed from a person residing in Zimbabwe who
(a)
had furnished him with a written warranty that such seed complied with the
prescribed requirements; and
(b)
that he had no reason to believe that such seed did not so comply.
27
Acts or omissions by manager, agent or employee
(1) Whenever any manager, agent or employee of any importer, exporter or owner of
any seed does or omits to do any act which it would be an offence under this Act for
such importer, exporter or owner to do or omit to do, then, unless it is proved that—
(a)
in doing or omitting to do that act the manager, agent or employee was
acting without the connivance or the permission of the importer, exporter or owner;
and
all reasonable steps were taken by the importer, exporter or owner to
(b)
prevent any act or omission of the kind in question; and
(c)
it was not under any condition or in any circumstance within the scope
of the authority or in the course of the employment of the manager, agent or
employee to do or to omit to do acts, whether lawful or unlawful, of the character of
the act or omission charged;
the importer, exporter or owner, as the case may be, shall be presumed himself to
have done or omitted to do that act and be liable to be convicted and sentenced in
respect thereof, and the fact that he issued instructions forbidding any act or omission
of the kind in question shall not, of itself, be accepted as sufficient proof that he took
all reasonable steps to prevent the act or omission.
(2) Whenever any manager, agent or employee of an importer, exporter or owner of
any seed does or omits to do an act which it would be an offence under this Act for
the importer, exporter or owner to do or omit to do, he shall be liable to be convicted