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Citation
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Judgment date
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| November 1993 |
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Conviction for possession cannot rest on mere presence and speculative attribution of ownership; appeal allowed.
Criminal law – possession of narcotics – joint possession – presence on premises – inference of knowledge and control – conviction based on speculation v. evidence beyond reasonable doubt.
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25 November 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure — Appeals - Appeal against Order of the High Court - Whether by an order of the High Court refusing leave to appeal to that Court is appealable to the Court of Appeal on a point of law only.
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Appeals - Leave of the High
Court to appeal against orders — Whether orders of the High Court appealable only with leave. |
15 November 1993 |
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Conviction in absentia where accused absconded pre-close was improperly handled; matter remitted for hearing under section 226(2).
Criminal procedure — Conviction in absentia — Distinction between section 226 and section 227 Criminal Procedure Act 1985 — Where accused absconds before close of prosecution, section 226(2) governs reopening to allow accused to be heard — Misapplication of section 227 warrants remittal to trial court.
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15 November 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal practice and procedure - Right of accused to he heard - Accused persons jump bail and do not appear in court for hearing shortly before close of the prosecution case - Case proceeds in their absence - Whether conviction proper — ss 226 and 227. of the Criminal Procedure Act 1985. |
15 November 1993 |
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Whether reliable identification, undisclosed alibi, and concerted unlawful violence supported conversion of manslaughter convictions to murder.
Criminal law – identification – visual and voice identification at night among neighbours; reliability factors. Criminal law – evidence – minor inconsistencies do not necessarily destroy credibility. Criminal law – participation in concert, aiding and abetting – absence of proof of single fatal blow not fatal to conviction. Criminal procedure – alibi notice – s.194(4)-(6) Criminal Procedure Act; failure to give notice may lead to disregarding alibi. Homicide – murder vs manslaughter – malice aforethought under s.200 and conviction under s.196. Court of Appeal discretion – extension of time for DPP to appeal in interests of justice.
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8 November 1993 |
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Appellate court upheld five-year minimum sentences under the Minimum Sentences Act and remitted record for compensation orders.
Criminal law – sentencing – Minimum Sentences Act – offences against parastatal organisations – monetary threshold for minimum sentences – appellate increase of sentence; Criminal procedure – omission to order compensation – remittal to High Court under Rule 36 of the Court of Appeal Rules.
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8 November 1993 |
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A retrial was ordered where the trial judge’s procedural errors and denial of the prosecution’s right to reply violated natural justice.
Criminal procedure – admissibility of extra-judicial and cautioned statements – trial-within-a-trial – right to be heard/natural justice – appealability of interlocutory orders by Director of Public Prosecutions – remedy of retrial where fairness compromised.
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8 November 1993 |
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Reported
Evidence - Alibi- Supported by witnesses of both defence and prosecution - Rejected - Whether properly rejected.
Evidence - Dying declaration - Corroboration - Corroborative evidence weak and bearing unsatisfactory features - Whether can corroborate. |
8 November 1993 |
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Dying declaration and weak, inconsistent eyewitness evidence insufficient; alibi wrongly rejected—conviction quashed.
Criminal law – murder; dying declaration – admissibility and necessity of reliable corroboration; identification evidence – reliability when attack sudden and from rear; alibi – notice under procedure and assessment of sufficiency; appellate review – quashing conviction where prosecution case has material weaknesses.
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8 November 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Law - Murder- Defence of Insanity - Person suffering from defective reasoning due to delusion but capable of understanding
hat she was doing - Whether defence of insanity applies - Penal Code, s 13.
Evidence - Expert evidence - Evidence by medical expert — Whether courts are bound by such testimony. |
8 November 1993 |
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Psychiatric illness did not negate criminal responsibility; conduct and confession showed appellant knew the nature and wrongfulness of the killing.
Criminal law – Insanity – Section 13 Penal Code – whether accused was incapable of understanding nature or wrongfulness of act; Psychiatry – Expert evidence – medical report not binding on court and may be rejected if inconsistent with other evidence; Criminal law – Diminished responsibility – lack of statutory recognition and need for legislative reform; Evidence – conduct before and after offence and cautioned statement may prove legal sanity.
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8 November 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Assessors - Summing up to the Assessors — Court should not influence Assessors. |
8 November 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Sentencing - Minimum Sentence for corrupt transactions - Sections 5(d) and 4(a) oj the Minimum Sentences Act, 1972. |
8 November 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Accused convicted without having been arraigned - Whether proper - Section 228 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Appeals- Powers of Appeal Court where trial was a nullity - Whether Court of Appeal can order retrial - Rule 36 of the Court of Appeal Rules 1979. |
8 November 1993 |
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Proceeding and convicting an accused without personal arraignment is a nullity; conviction cannot stand.
Criminal procedure — Arraignment — Mandatory requirement that charge be stated to accused and accused be asked to admit or deny — Failure renders trial a nullity. Criminal procedure — Trial in absentia — Reading charges and recording pleas without personal arraignment invalid. Criminal procedure — Section 226(2) (setting aside convictions in absence) inapplicable where trial is null ab initio. Economic and Organized Crime Control Act — Section 37(4)(a) (continuation where accused absconds) inapplicable where accused never brought before court.
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8 November 1993 |
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Court affirms conviction and dismisses appeal against ten-year sentence for defilement of a child.
Criminal law – Defilement of a child under 14 – Evaluation of witness credibility – Missing PF3 does not necessarily invalidate conviction – Appeal against sentence: principle of interference only where sentence is manifestly excessive or wrong in principle.
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8 November 1993 |
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Reported
Magistrates Courts Act - Jurisdiction - A Court of Resident Magistrate presided over by a District Magistrate - Whether Court properly constituted - Criminal Practice and Procedure - Curable defects - Such defects must proceed from a trial by a Court of competent jurisdiction - Sections 387 and 388 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1985. |
8 November 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Sentencing - Powers of the Court of Appeal to interfere with sentence. |
8 November 1993 |
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Court upheld six-year sentence for fatal, brutal corporal punishment of a ten-year-old; appeal against sentence dismissed.
Criminal law – homicide by excessive corporal punishment of a child – sentencing; appellate review of sentence – mitigation and deterrence – interference only for misdirection or manifest excess.
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8 November 1993 |
| July 1993 |
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Reported
Civil Practice and Procedure - Interest on general damages - Trial Judge awards interest on the principal sum at 5% per month from the date of filing the suit to the date of full settlement — Whether correct to award interest on general damages from the date of filing the suit - Interest - Award of interest on general damages - Award of interest at 5% per month - Whether too high and out of proportion.
Civil Practice and Procedure - Abatement of suits- Actions in respect of torts - legal provisions saving certain causes of action based on tort from abating on the death of either party. |
30 July 1993 |
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Reported
Constitutional Law - Suits against the Government - Statutory provision requiring the Minister’s consent to sue the Government -Whether constitutional- Section 6 of the Government Proceedings Act 1967. |
23 July 1993 |
| May 1993 |
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A village chairman’s alleged authority or obedience to orders does not excuse unlawful destruction of another’s crops.
Criminal law – destruction of property – authority of village officials – obedience to orders – unlawful order no defence; mens rea – knowledge of existence of property; appellate review – second appeal limited to points of law; concurrent findings of fact upheld.
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21 May 1993 |
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Reported
Evidence - Circumstantial evidence - False, incredible or contradictory statements given by way of explanation by the accused- Effect in reaching verdict. |
21 May 1993 |
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Accused's inconsistent explanations and physical evidence made suicide improbable, so conviction for murder was upheld.
Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – Inconsistent or contradictory explanations by accused strengthen prosecution case – Suicide versus homicide – Evaluation of medical and height evidence.
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21 May 1993 |
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Reported
Legal Assistance - Accused charged with murder - Court allows trial to proceed without the accused having the assistance of counsel -Whether trial fair and just.
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Calling of doctor who performed postmortem examination on the body of the deceased - Right of accused to be informed and to decide whether or not he wants the doctor to be called - Section 291 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1985. |
21 May 1993 |
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Reported
Evidence - Circumstantial evidence — Unbroken chain of circumstantial evidence linking the appellants to the death of the deceased - Whether can ground a conviction. |
21 May 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Adjournment of cases — Statutory control of adjournments and remand of accused in custody - Need for a certificate from specified officers stating the need and grounds should further orders of adjournments and of remand custody of the accused be necessary - section 225(1) and (4) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1985 - Consequences of breach of such mandatory statutory provisions. |
21 May 1993 |
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Failure to ensure legal representation and warn the appellant of self‑representation dangers denied him a fair trial.
Criminal procedure – Right to legal representation – Self‑representation in capital trials – Duty of trial court to warn accused of dangers of self‑representation – Illiteracy and juvenile co‑accused – Retrial as remedy for unfair trial.
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21 May 1993 |
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Appeal struck out for lack of leave under section 5(1)(c) and because the High Court order was a nullity due to time-barred application.
Appellate procedure – appealability under section 5(1)(c) Appellate Jurisdiction Act – leave required; Civil procedure – application to set aside ex-parte judgment – time limits and need for enlargement of time; Jurisdiction – order founded on a time-barred application is a nullity; Costs – no costs where decisive points raised by the Court sua sponte.
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21 May 1993 |
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An appeal against refusal to set aside an ex‑parte judgment was struck out as incompetent for lack of leave and because the High Court’s order was a nullity.
Appealability — order refusing to set aside ex‑parte judgment — Section 5(1)(c) Appellate Jurisdiction Act — leave required; Procedure — time limits for applications to set aside ex‑parte judgments — need for recorded extension of time; Validity — orders made on time‑barred applications are nullities; Competence — appeals founded on nullities are incompetent.
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21 May 1993 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Assessors - Directions to assessors - Trial judge misdirects assessors on the nature of provocation - Assessorsfail to determine and advise on the provocative nature of the deceased’s words — Effect of such misdirection.
Criminal Law - Provocation - Deceased uttered words tending to show that she had an adulterous association with some men - The test of provocation. |
21 May 1993 |
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Reported
Evidence - Burden ofproo£- Murder - Accused’s right palm stained with blood which appears to be recent and about which accused keeps quiet when asked - Whether court may draw inference that accused’s silence is not consistent with his innocence.
Evidence - Burden of proof- Shifting the burden to the accused - Accused's palm stained with blood appearing to be recent - Whether requiring the accused to explain how he got the blood stain amounts to shifting the burden of proof to the defence. |
21 May 1993 |
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Intoxication and mere verbal provocation do not negate intent where defendant's conduct shows deliberate, purposeful action.
Criminal law – murder – whether intoxication/temporary insanity negates mens rea; sufficiency of evidence of deliberate conduct. Criminal law – provocation – verbal disagreement over price not sufficient to excuse lethal response. Appeal – factual findings and credibility upheld where appellant’s own account shows deliberate action.
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21 May 1993 |
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Stay of execution granted where decree enforcement risked being frustrated by third‑party payment and possible mortgage of title deeds.
Civil procedure – stay of execution pending appeal (Rule 9(2)(b)) – stay justified where enforcement of decree may be impracticable because payment ordered from a non-party; security concerns over surrender of title deeds; conditional stays and filing timelines.
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19 May 1993 |
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Court held the notice of appeal defective and the appeal time‑barred, therefore the appeal could not proceed.
Civil procedure – Appeal – Notice of appeal – Validity of notice of appeal – Appeal instituted out of time – Time‑barred appeals – Consequence: appeal cannot be entertained.
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14 May 1993 |
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High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear review of a District Registrar’s order; resulting proceedings and appeal were nullities.
Civil procedure – jurisdiction – review of District Registrar’s order – Order 42 rule 1 Civil Procedure Code – proceedings and appeal rendered nullity for want of jurisdiction; costs where jurisdiction raised by court.
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12 May 1993 |
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Failure to serve the applicant with the notice of appeal under rule 77(1) led to striking out and refusal of extension.
Court of Appeal Rules — rule 77(1) — mandatory duty to serve copies of notice of appeal on persons directly affected — prolonged non-compliance — failure to serve justifies striking out notice of appeal; extension of time — belated application refused; Government party status does not absolve appellant’s duty to serve.
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12 May 1993 |
| January 1993 |
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Appeal: restoration costs awarded; loss of profits unproven; no compensation for hypothetical future claims; interest and costs adjustments required.
Damages — special damages for restoration: reliance on party’s settlement estimate; Loss of profits — burden of proof and reliability of conflicting accountant reports; Future claims — frustration of contract bars compensation for hypothetical claims; Inflation/devaluation — adjustment requires evidential basis; Costs — requirement to state reasons in writing when costs do not follow event; Interest — proper periods and rates governed by Civil Procedure Code and rules.
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1 January 1993 |
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Appellants’ identifications and recent possession upheld; convictions substituted for armed robbery, invoking 30-year minimum sentence.
Criminal law – Identification evidence – adequacy of opportunity to observe, prompt and in-court identification Criminal law – Recent possession – inference from recent possession of stolen property Robbery – distinction between robbery with violence and armed robbery – use of weapon/threats elevates offence Procedure – identification parade irregularity – absence of relative does not necessarily invalidate identification if overall evidence is strong
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1 January 1993 |