Skip to document content Skip to main menu Skip to search

Court of Appeal of Tanzania

This is the highest level in the justice delivery system in Tanzania. The Court of Appeal draws its mandate from Article 117(1) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. The Court hears appeals  on both point of law and facts for cases originating from the High Court of Tanzania and Magistrates with extended jurisdiction in exercise of their original jurisdiction or appellate and revisional jurisdiction over matters originating in the District Land and Housing Tribunals, District Courts and Courts of Resident Magistrate. The Court also hears similar appeals  from quasi judicial bodies of status equivalent to that of the High Court. It  further hears appeals  on point of law against the decision of the High Court in  matters originating from Primary Courts. The Court of Appeal also exercises jurisdiction on appeals originating from the High Court of Zanzibar except for constitutional issues arising from the interpretation of the Constitution of Zanzibar and matters arising from the Kadhi Court.

Physical address
26 Kivukoni Road Building P.O. Box 9004, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Visit website
https://jmap.judiciary.go.tz/jmap/jmap-coa
7 judgments
Advanced search

Court registries

All years
Filters
  • Filters
  • Judges
  • Labels
  • Topics
  • Alphabet
Sort by:
7 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
October 1983
Paniel Lazaro and Others vs Republic (Criminal Appeal No. 53 of 1982) [1983] TZCA 30 (20 October 1983)
Appeal allowed: conviction unsafe due to unreliable eyewitnesses and unresolved evidence of possible poisoning.
Criminal law – Murder conviction – Safety of conviction – Reliability and consistency of eyewitness testimony – Evidence suggesting poisoning as alternate cause of death – Incomplete trial record regarding recalled medical evidence – Unsafe conviction quashed.
 20 October 1983
September 1983
Christopher Kimambo and Another vs Republic (Criminal Appeal No. 51 of 1982) [1983] TZCA 59 (5 September 1983)
Confession admissibility depends on when made; exclusion left insufficient evidence against second appellant, but corroborated evidence upheld first appellant's conviction.
Criminal law – admissibility of confessions – timing of confession determines admissibility; statute not retrospective. Corroboration of non-police confession by forensic blood evidence and circumstantial links can sustain conviction. Insufficient circumstantial evidence and indeterminate forensic results render conviction unsafe.
 5 September 1983
Christophoro Kimambo and Another vs Republic (Criminal Appeal No. 51 of 1982) [1983] TZCA 32 (5 September 1983)
Pre‑amendment police confession inadmissible; first appellant’s guilt corroborated and upheld, second appellant’s conviction quashed.
Evidence — Confessions to police — admissibility determined by date made; amendment to s.27 Evidence Act not retrospective; caution statement made pre‑amendment inadmissible; Corroboration — blood‑stained clothing and chemist’s report; post‑mortem consistency with accused’s statements; sufficiency of evidence — suspicion vs proof beyond reasonable doubt; Criminal appeal — conviction unsafe where key confession excluded.
 5 September 1983
Christophoro Kimambo & Another vs Republic (Criminal Appeal 51 of 1982) [1983] TZCA 69 (5 September 1983)
Reported

Evidence — Confession — Confession to police officer — Admissibility in evidence — Effect of the 1980 amendment to S.27 of the Law of Evidence Act. 1967.
Criminal law — Malice-aforethought — Brutal nature of the killing -— Whether malice - aforethought proved..

 5 September 1983
Elias Kimaro and Others vs Republic (Criminal Appeal No. 22 of 1982) [1983] TZCA 31 (5 September 1983)
Fatal blow’s timing and lack of proved malice precluded murder convictions; one appellant acquitted, four convicted of manslaughter.
Criminal law – Causation and timing of fatal injury – Uncertainty whether fatal blow inflicted during initial assault or later; Common intention and malice aforethought – requirement for murder conviction; Liability of non‑participating joiner – benefit of reasonable doubt; Substitution of conviction – murder to manslaughter where malice not proved; Sentence reduction from death to term imprisonment.
 5 September 1983
August 1983
William Bakari and Another vs Chediel Yohane Mgonja and Another (Civil Appeal No. 5 of 1982) [1983] TZCA 44 (4 August 1983)
Taxing officer reduced an excessive appellate instruction fee and taxed the bill at Shs.177,735.
Costs — Taxation of advocates' bill — Whether instruction fee for appeal excessive — Effect of prior High Court research on appeal costs — Admissibility of receipts for copies of proceedings.
 4 August 1983
July 1983
Marmo Barhe and Another vs Marmo Barhe and Another [1983] TZCA 45 (25 July 1983)
Failure to comply with appeal procedural rules and to serve the application rendered the Notice of Appeal deemed withdrawn under Rule 84(a).
Civil procedure – Appeal – Notice of Appeal filed after High Court judgment – procedural compliance required for obtaining and serving copy of proceedings – failure to copy application to other party – Rule 84(a) Court of Appeal Rules 1979 – notice of appeal deemed withdrawn.
 25 July 1983