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Citation
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Judgment date
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| November 1988 |
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Company law - Agreement to sell shares - No agreed price nor means to ascertain price - Effect of uncertainty on the agreement. Contract - Agreement to sell shares - No agreed price normeans to ascertain price - Effect of uncertainty on the agreement. Contract - Oral agreement to sell farms held under Right of Occupancy - Writing and consent requirements not complied with - Part performance ofthe agreement - Whether Regulation 3(1) ofthe Land Regulations 1948 applicable. I Land law - Agreement to sell farms held under Right of Occupancy - Writing and consent requirements not complied with - Part performance of agreement - Whether Regulation 3(1) ofthe Land Regulations 1948 applicable. |
11 November 1988 |
| September 1988 |
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Credible non‑accomplice testimony and corroboration upheld murder convictions; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – murder – identification and credibility of witnesses; accomplice vs. ordinary witness; corroboration; joint enterprise; adverse inference for failure to call defence evidence (s.293(2)).
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30 September 1988 |
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A credible eyewitness not shown to be an accomplice, corroborated by independent evidence, can sustain a murder conviction.
Criminal law – Murder – Whether eyewitness was an accomplice requiring corroboration; credibility assessment. Evidence – Corroboration by independent witnesses and effect of minor inconsistencies. Criminal procedure – Adverse inference from accused’s silence under section 293(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act. Forensic evidence – Inconclusive chemist’s report not necessarily fatal to prosecution where oral evidence is credible.
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30 September 1988 |
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Circumstantial evidence, supported by inconsistent explanations and conduct, sustained a murder conviction; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Credibility assessed through inconsistent accounts – Conduct after offence – Taking injured victim to hospital – Whether evidence only explicable by guilt – Appeal against conviction dismissed.
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30 September 1988 |
Court of Appeal Rules - No specific rule for withdrawing a notice of motion - Invoking provisions of Rule 3. |
22 September 1988 |
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Second appeal dismissed where the memorandum raised no point of law against the conviction for theft by a public servant.
Criminal law — Appeal — Second appeal requires a point of law to be raised in the memorandum of appeal — Absence of a point of law justifies dismissal. Criminal offence — Theft by person employed in public service — Conviction and sentence not disturbed on second appeal where no legal ground advanced.
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22 September 1988 |
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The appellant’s insanity defence was rejected; sanity established and the manslaughter conviction with a ten-year sentence affirmed.
Criminal law – Insanity defence – requirement of evidence of abnormality or history of mental illness – evaluation of witness testimony and defendant’s statements to determine sanity. Appellate review – assessment of trial court’s findings on credibility and sanity – affirmation of conviction and sentence where no persuasive evidence of insanity exists.
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22 September 1988 |
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Insanity plea rejected; manslaughter conviction and sentence upheld and appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – manslaughter – plea of insanity – evidence required to establish insanity; appellate review of conviction based on witness credibility and appellant’s coherent statements.
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22 September 1988 |
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A second appeal that raises only credibility issues and no point of law must be dismissed.
Criminal law – Appeal – Second appeal requires a point of law; appeals challenging witness credibility only are not competent on second appeal; appellate review of factual findings limited where no legal issue is raised.
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21 September 1988 |
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A second appeal raising only credibility complaints and no point of law is dismissed.
Criminal appeal – Second appeal – Requirement to raise a point of law – Factual or credibility complaints insufficient to sustain a second appeal – Appeal dismissed.
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21 September 1988 |
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Charging occupants who assert a civil right to land with criminal trespass was an abuse of the criminal process and convictions were quashed.
Criminal law – Criminal trespass (s.299(b) Penal Code) – Civil dispute over land occupation – Abuse of criminal process by converting a civil dispute into criminal charges – Compensation for crops and trees is a civil remedy.
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21 September 1988 |
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21 September 1988 |
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Conviction for manslaughter affirmed; late alibi properly discounted and 10-year sentence reduced to 5 years imprisonment.
Criminal law – Manslaughter – single blow with wooden implement causing internal brain injury – sufficiency of eyewitness evidence and causal link to death. Criminal procedure – Late-raised alibi – effect of non-provision of particulars under section 194(5) & (6) – alibi properly discounted. Evidence – identification and credibility of prosecution witnesses – appellate scrutiny and deference to trial court findings. Sentencing – manifestly excessive sentence reduced in light of weapon, single blow and surrounding circumstances.
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21 September 1988 |
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Appellate court upheld murder conviction, crediting eyewitness testimony and rejecting bandit-attack and intoxication defences.
Criminal law Murder Eyewitness identification and credibility Defence of sudden attack/bandits disbelieved Intoxication insufficient to negate intent Appellate review of findings of fact.
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21 September 1988 |
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Appellate court upheld murder conviction based on cautioned statement and circumstantial evidence despite no medical cause of death.
Criminal law – murder – circumstantial evidence and cautioned statement – decomposed body with no ascertainable cause of death – sufficiency of evidence to sustain conviction.
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20 September 1988 |
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Appellate court upheld murder conviction based on cautioned statement and circumstantial evidence despite decomposed body.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence and cautioned statement – Sufficiency of evidence where body decomposed and cause of death undeterminable – Appellate review of trial court credibility findings.
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20 September 1988 |
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Appeal dismissed; conviction for murder upheld based on a confession and corroborative circumstantial evidence.
Criminal law – Murder – Decomposed body with no ascertainable cause of death – Cautioned statement and circumstantial evidence (possession of victim's key) as sufficient corroboration – Appellate deference to trial court credibility findings.
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20 September 1988 |
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Seven-year manslaughter sentence upheld where appellant was aggressor armed with a knife; not manifestly excessive.
Criminal law – Manslaughter – Sentence – Whether seven years’ imprisonment was manifestly excessive where appellant was aggressor using a knife; pre-sentence custody considered.
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20 September 1988 |
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Seven-year manslaughter sentence upheld as not manifestly excessive despite appellant's three years in custody.
Criminal law – Manslaughter – Sentence – Whether seven years' imprisonment was manifestly excessive – Aggressor’s conduct (initiating quarrel, armed attack) as aggravating factor – Pre-sentence custody as mitigating factor.
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20 September 1988 |
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Seven-year manslaughter sentence upheld as not manifestly excessive despite three years' pre-sentence custody.
Criminal law – Manslaughter – sentence – whether seven years' imprisonment was manifestly excessive. Sentencing – relevance of pre-sentence custody – three years' custody considered but not sufficient to render sentence excessive. Appeal against sentence – standard of review: whether sentence was imposed on a wrong principle or was manifestly excessive.
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20 September 1988 |
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Appeal against conviction and four-year sentence for infanticide dismissed where no fault found in trial judge’s decision.
Criminal law – infanticide – plea of guilty – sentencing – appellate review of sentence where no error is shown.
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20 September 1988 |
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The appeal was dismissed and a four-year sentence for infanticide was affirmed after a guilty plea.
Criminal law – Infanticide – Plea of guilty – Sentencing – Whether sentence of four years' imprisonment was excessive – Appeal dismissed where trial judge properly considered sentence.
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20 September 1988 |
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Appeal against conviction and four-year sentence for infanticide dismissed as sentencing was proper.
Criminal law – Infanticide – Conviction on guilty plea – Sentencing – Appellate review of sentencing discretion where trial judge dealt with sentence in detail – No interference where no error shown.
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20 September 1988 |
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Appellant's belated defences rejected as afterthoughts; contemporaneous admissions and motive sustain murder conviction and dismissal of appeal.
Criminal law – Murder – credibility of defences (intoxication, sexual passion, self‑defence, provocation) – rejection as afterthoughts where not raised contemporaneously – motive and admissions supporting murder conviction.
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1 September 1988 |
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Defences of intoxication, provocation and self‑defence, not promptly disclosed, were rejected and murder conviction affirmed.
Criminal law – murder – motive and intent; spontaneous statements to community officials; defences of intoxication, sexual passion, self‑defence and provocation treated as afterthoughts when not promptly disclosed; appeal against conviction and death sentence dismissed.
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1 September 1988 |
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Appeal dismissed; claimed defences were rejected as afterthoughts and murder conviction affirmed.
Criminal law – Murder – Conviction and death sentence affirmed. Defences – Intoxication, sudden or sexual passion, self-defence and provocation alleged but rejected as afterthoughts. Evidence – weight of immediate extra-judicial admissions to non-judicial persons in assessing motive and credibility. Appellate review – deference to trial judge's findings on credibility and facts.
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1 September 1988 |
| June 1988 |
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Court allowed an applicant recognised as proprietor to be an interested party and granted leave to extend time to file a matrimonial appeal.
Civil procedure – standing/interested party – candidate successor to auction purchaser declared rightful proprietor – application allowed; costs in cause. Civil procedure – extension of time – leave granted to file notice of appeal out of time in matrimonial appeal; notice ordered filed forthwith.
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22 June 1988 |
| February 1988 |
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Whether an engineer's certificate and a timely expulsion notice together enable contractual forfeiture; clause 63 does not effect common-law termination.
Building contract – FIDIC conditions – clause 63 (forfeiture) – engineer's certificate plus employer's expulsion notice required to enable forfeiture. Construction – time for notice after engineer's certificate – absent express limit, notice must be given within reasonable time unless breach is continuing. Effect of clause 63 exercise – does not amount to common-law termination or acceptance of repudiation; parties' rights and duties continue in modified form.
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26 February 1988 |