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25 judgments found.
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May 2008
Appellants' minor witness contradictions and retracted confessions did not defeat voluntary statements or murder convictions.
Criminal law — Murder — conviction based on eyewitnesses who found accused burying body and on cautioned/confessional statements
Criminal procedure — recording of cautioned statements — no prohibition on recording on different days provided statutory safeguards observed
Evidence — Confessions — retracted/repudiated confession may support conviction without corroboration if the court is fully satisfied of its truth
Evidence — discrepancies in witness statements — distinction between trivial (normal) and material discrepancies affecting credibility
Evidence — voluntariness of confessions
— appellate deference to trial court credibility findings
— trial-within-a-trial
30 May 2008
Minor witness discrepancies did not undermine identification; voluntary retracted confessions sufficed to uphold convictions.
Criminal procedure — cautioned statements — voluntariness — trial‑within‑a‑trial and admissibility
Evidence — Confessions
— corroboration desirable but not mandatory
— retracted/repudiated confessions may ground conviction if trial court is fully satisfied of their truth
Evidence — Criminal evidence — identification — inconsistencies in witness accounts — distinguishing trifling/normal discrepancies from material contradictions affecting credibility
30 May 2008
Convictions upheld where confessions were admitted without objection, not shown to be involuntary, and were corroborated.
Criminal law — admissibility of cautioned and extra-judicial statements — Admissibility where no objection at trial and operation of CPA s 50(1), s 51(1) and s 169
Criminal law — confession and corroboration — Retracted confession may sustain conviction if independently corroborated by material particulars
Criminal law — voluntariness of cautioned statements
— Allegations of torture and the requirement for a trial‑within‑a‑trial
— assessment by reference to conduct and physical appearance
30 May 2008
Court held Rule 92(3) does not require leave to file a supplementary record of appeal; reference dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— Court of appeal rules — Leave to file supplementary record of appeal to cure procedural defects — Court of Appeal Rules r.92(3)
— Reference — Scope of full Court review of single-judge decisions — Full court confined to matters before the single judge
— Drawn order — Amendment or re-issuance for appeal — Whether High Court may issue corrected/new drawn order without Court of Appeal leave (Order XX r.7 CPC)
29 May 2008
Equivocal guilty pleas and improperly admitted caution statements led to quashing convictions and discharge of the appellants.
Criminal law — Plea of guilty — Equivocal plea — Plea rendered equivocal by language barrier and procedural irregularities
Criminal procedure — Cautioned statements — Voluntariness and admissibility — Formal admission of statements/exhibits
Appellate practice — Appellate Jurisdiction Act (s.4(2)) — Power to quash proceedings and judgment of first appellate court where there was no proper appeal
28 May 2008
Conviction after unsworn interpreter and weak prosecution evidence quashed; retrial allowed with credit for time served.
Criminal procedure
— appellate jurisdiction — Revision — Power to quash conviction and set aside sentence
— Evidence — Prima facie case — Identification
— Guilty plea — Requirement that interpreter be sworn
— Sentencing — Consideration of time already served on retrial
28 May 2008
Reported
A decree bearing conflicting dates renders the appellant's appeal incompetent and must be struck out with costs.
Civil procedure — Appeals — Contradictory dates render decree defective and appeal incompetent — Order XX r 7(1) Civil Procedure Code, Cap. 33 R.E.2002
23 May 2008
A routine transfer influenced by an internal inquiry was validly effected by the Civil Service Department; no hearing required.
Administrative law — employment — transfer of civil servant — reliance on a report not tabled before the legislature
22 May 2008
The respondent’s property is immune from attachment and execution absent an express waiver.
International law — Diplomatic and consular immunities — international organisation — immunity from suit and legal process — immunity of property from attachment and execution
16 May 2008
A High Court may determine jurisdictional objections to trade disputes despite an earlier remit to hear the case on the merits.
Labour law — jurisdiction — trade disputes
— Court of Appeal remit to hear on merits does not preclude subsequent jurisdictional objections
— High Court lacks original jurisdiction to determine trade disputes
— retrospective effect of precedent examined
16 May 2008
An appeal is incompetent if the record lacks a properly dated, judge-signed decree; such an appeal is struck out.
Civil procedure
— Appeal competency
— Case law — inconsistent precedents but predominant view is striking out appeals based on defective decrees
— Court of appeal rules
— Preliminary objection under rule 100 — proper remedy where record is defective
Constitutional law — Constitutional provision (Art.107A(2)(e)) — does not permit curing mandatory formal defects in a decree
16 May 2008
An appeal was struck out because the decree lacked the mandatory judgment date, rendering it incurably defective.
Civil procedure
— Applicability of Civil Procedure Code — C.P.C. fills lacuna where Act lacks promulgated rules
— Decree formalities — Requirement that decree be dated (Order XXIII r.7 Civil Procedure Decree Cap.8)
Constitutional law — Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act — Nature of proceedings as suits
15 May 2008
Extension granted where incomplete service address and refusal to accept service justified delayed service.
Civil procedure — extension of time — service of notice of appeal — Incomplete address at an organisation and initial refusal to accept service constitute sufficient ground — discretion to enlarge time exercised where justice so requires
15 May 2008
Reported
Appeal dismissed: no error on the face of the record or breach of natural justice in Minister's disciplinary decision.
Administrative law — Judicial review — certiorari — supervisory jurisdiction, grounds for quashing decisions (lack/excess of jurisdiction, illegality, breach of natural justice, unreasonableness, error of law on face of record)
Labour law — termination of employment — substantive and procedural fairness — Applicability of s.9(b) of the Security of Employment Act, procedural fairness in disciplinary dismissal
14 May 2008
Court dismissed applicant's challenge to Minister's employment decision, finding no error of law on the record.
Administrative law — judicial review (certiorari) and mandamus — Review focuses on lawfulness and procedural compliance, not merits — Natural justice
Labour law — termination of employment — substantive and procedural fairness — Section 9(b) Security of Employment Act / Natural justice
14 May 2008
Proceedings under the Basic Rights Act are suits; a decree lacking the judgment date is incurably defective and defeats an appeal.
Constitutional law — Constitutional enforcement proceedings — proceedings treated as suits
Constitutional law — drawn order equating to a decree must comply with Order XX, rule 7 (date of judgment)
— article 107A(2)(e) cannot rescue non‑existent appeal
— defective decree renders appeal incompetent
9 May 2008
Conviction quashed due to improper amendment of charge and unsafe, contradictory evidence regarding trap money.
Criminal law — Corruption — Receiving a bribe
— Proof beyond reasonable doubt
— contradictions and irregular trap-money exhibit
Criminal procedure
— Amendment of charge at judgment stage — Trial court has no authority to amend charges during judgment — Deprives accused of right to answer
— Conviction for uncharged offence — Irregularity curable where re-enactment is identical and no prejudice
8 May 2008
Failure to admit and test a s220 psychiatric report warranted quashing conviction and ordering a retrial.
Criminal law — Insanity defence — Committal for psychiatric examination under s.220 CPA — Medical report must be admitted and parties entitled to adduce evidence
Criminal procedure — Failure to call material witnesses — Uncalled material witness may weaken the prosecution’s case and affect safety of conviction — Mistrial/retrial for failure to follow s.220 and to call medical witnesses
7 May 2008
Reported
Failure to admit and test a s220 psychiatric report caused a miscarriage of justice; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
Criminal law
— Expert evidence — Postmortem and psychiatric testimony — Need to call medical witnesses to clarify cause/timing of death and mental state
— Insanity defence — Committal for psychiatric examination under s.220 CPA — Requirement to admit psychiatric report as evidence before reliance
Criminal procedure — miscarriage of justice — Failure to follow statutory procedure for medical reports mandates quashing conviction and ordering retrial
7 May 2008
Proceedings before a magistrate sitting in the High Court without a transfer order are a nullity; trial must resume post-preliminary hearing.
Criminal procedure — Jurisdiction — Transfer — Proceedings by magistrate without transfer are nullity
2 May 2008
A defective notice of appeal and an improperly dated decree rendered the appeal incompetent and High Court proceedings a nullity.
Appellate practice — Appellate jurisdiction — Revision — quashing High Court proceedings founded on a defective decree
Civil procedure
— Civil procedure code, order XX r.7 — failure renders decree and record defective
— Court of appeal rules — Record of appeal
— Notice of appeal
2 May 2008
Vague, unparticularised allegations do not warrant magistrate recusal; revision under s372 not appropriate for interlocutory recusation rulings.
Criminal law — Recusal — Standards for judicial disqualification — Whether vague or unparticularised allegations suffice to disqualify a judicial officer
Criminal procedure
— Interlocutory orders — Appealability/revisionability of interlocutory rulings — Whether recusation rulings are challenged by appeal rather than revision
— Revision jurisdiction of High Court under s.372(1) CPA — High Court power to call for and examine subordinate court records under s.372 CPA — Criminal Procedure Act s.372
2 May 2008
Appeal struck out where the record lacked a decree dated as required by Order XX r.7; costs awarded against the appellant.
Civil procedure
— Appeal — discrepancy in dates renders decree defective and appeal incompetent — Order XX r.7 CPC
— Costs — Award of costs — Duty of counsel certifying and verifying record of appeal
— Record of appeal — Missing copy of notice of appeal and decree — Rule 89(1)(h) Court of Appeal Rules
2 May 2008
Illegal post-arrest cautioned statement expunged, but independent witness and receiver evidence upheld conviction.
Criminal law
— Accomplice/receiver evidence — may ground conviction if credible with caution
— Admissibility of cautioned statements
— Evidence — sufficiency of independent witness evidence after expunging illegal confession
— identification — conviction can rest on admissions and subsequent recovery/identification of stolen property
2 May 2008
Stay of execution application struck out for procedural non‑compliance (no citation of law and no decree annexed).
Civil procedure
— revisional jurisdiction — exercise suo motu
— Stay of execution — procedural requirements for notice of motion
2 May 2008