|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| October 2017 |
|
|
Court upheld conviction: visual identification reliable; no parade required; alibi and grudge defences rejected.
* Criminal law – robbery with violence – visual identification – reliability where light conditions and prior acquaintance exist. * Criminal procedure – identification parade unnecessary where witnesses knew the suspect. * Evidence – testimony of relatives/neighbours may be credible and need not be corroborated if assessed on merits. * Defence – alibi and allegations of motive as afterthoughts; failure to cross-examine weakens such defences. * Appellate review – second appellate court slow to disturb concurrent factual findings unless clearly misapprehended.
|
13 October 2017 |
|
Proceedings without DPP consent and a proper transfer certificate under the Economic Crimes Act are nullities, requiring quash and retrial.
Economic Crimes Act – jurisdiction – mandatory consent of DPP under s.26(1) – mandatory certificate of transfer under s.12(3) – absence renders subordinate court proceedings nullities – convictions and sentences quashed – retrial ordered.
|
13 October 2017 |
|
A leave to appeal incorporated in a struck-out appeal does not survive; fresh leave is required for a competent appeal.
Appellate procedure — Leave to appeal — Effect of striking out an appeal on incorporated leave — Rule 46(1) Court of Appeal Rules — Requirement to apply afresh for leave after lodging notice — Competence of appeal.
|
13 October 2017 |
|
A leave to appeal incorporated in a struck-out appeal does not survive; a fresh leave is required.
* Civil procedure – appeals – effect of striking out an appeal – incorporated leave to appeal does not survive the striking out; fresh leave required. * Court of Appeal Rules, r.46(1) – application for leave must be made after lodging the notice of appeal. * Incompetence of appeal for want of proper leave – striking out with costs.
|
13 October 2017 |
|
An incompetent appeal for lack of statutory notice must be struck out; the High Court's dismissal was quashed and proceedings revised.
* Criminal procedure – appeal – notice of intention to appeal – compliance with section 361(1)(a) CPA; * Competent vs incompetent appeals – incompetent appeal to be struck out, not dismissed; * Appellate jurisdiction – revisional powers under section 4(2) AJA to quash erroneous High Court proceedings and orders; * Consequences – collateral applications premised on flawed dismissal also susceptible to revision and nullification.
|
13 October 2017 |
|
Appellant's robbery conviction upheld based on reliable visual identification, immediate naming and conduct indicating guilty consciousness.
* Criminal law – Visual identification – reliability where identification aided by lamp and moonlight and witnesses were previously known to accused; identification parade unnecessary where witnesses knew accused. * Criminal procedure – defence of alibi and afterthought allegations – weight and requirement to raise/cross-examine. * Evidence – immediate naming and conduct (refusal to open door) may support inference of guilty consciousness. * Appellate review – scope of second appeal and disturbance of concurrent findings.
|
12 October 2017 |
|
Absence of DPP consent and an incomplete transfer certificate deprived subordinate courts of jurisdiction, nullifying convictions and ordering retrial.
* Economic Crimes Act – section 26(1) – DPP’s consent mandatory for trial of economic offences by subordinate courts.
* Economic Crimes Act – section 12(3) – certificate of transfer must properly and completely specify offences to confer jurisdiction.
* Jurisdiction – absence of mandatory consent/certificate renders proceedings a nullity – convictions and sentences quashed; trial de novo ordered.
* Procedural irregularity – remedied by nullification where jurisdictional prerequisites are unmet.
|
12 October 2017 |
|
Leave to appeal in a struck-out appeal does not survive; a fresh leave is required before re-filing an appeal.
Civil procedure — Leave to appeal — appeal struck out — incorporated leave does not survive — Rule 46(1) Court of Appeal Rules — fresh leave required after lodging notice of appeal.
|
12 October 2017 |
|
Failure to file the statutory notice renders a criminal appeal incompetent and it must be struck out, not dismissed.
* Criminal procedure – requirement to file notice of intention to appeal – section 361(1)(a) CPA – non-compliance renders appeal incompetent. * Incompetent appeal is struck out, not dismissed – dismissal implies merits determination. * Appellate revisional powers – section 4(2) AJA – power to quash and set aside erroneous proceedings and orders. * Orders granting or denying extension of time based on a defective dismissal are nullified. * Remedy: quash High Court judgment, set aside related orders; appellant may seek fresh extension and appeal.
|
12 October 2017 |
|
A charge citing a non-existent statutory provision vitiated the trial; proceedings quashed and appellant released pending DPP decision.
Criminal law – particulars of charge – section 135 Criminal Procedure Act – citation of non-existent statutory provision – defective charge amounts to unfair trial – proceedings and judgments quashed under section 4(2) AJA – long custody as ground for release – DPP discretion to re-arrest/re-charge.
|
11 October 2017 |
|
Change of magistrate without stated reasons breached fair trial rights; proceedings quashed and appellant discharged.
* Criminal procedure – change of presiding magistrate – s.214(1) CPA requires successor to state reasons and may resummon witnesses – failure renders proceedings nullity; right to fair trial (Art.13(6)(a)). * Appellate jurisdiction – exercise of revisional powers (s.4(2) AJA) – quashing of proceedings and setting aside sentence; retrial vs. discharge considered in light of time served and DPP discretion.
|
11 October 2017 |
|
|
10 October 2017 |
|
A defective armed-robbery charge failing to name the person threatened vitiates the trial; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
* Criminal law – Armed robbery (s.287A Penal Code) – Essential ingredients – charge must disclose the person on whom violence or threat was directed.
* Criminal procedure – Sufficiency of charge (s.132 CPA) – omission of essential particulars renders charge incurably defective and vitiates trial.
* Trial fairness – Defective charge prejudices accused’s defence – nullity of proceedings.
* Retrial – Principles for ordering retrial (Fatehali Manji) – interests of justice may require retrial despite nullified proceedings.
|
10 October 2017 |
|
An application for extension of time in cases tried by a subordinate court with extended jurisdiction must be made to that subordinate court, not the High Court.
Criminal procedure — transfer under s.256A CPA — subordinate court exercising extended jurisdiction — status of transferred case — Appellate Jurisdiction Act, s.11(1) — forum for application to extend time to give notice of appeal — jurisdictional limits — competence of appeal where extension invalid.
|
9 October 2017 |
|
High Court lacked jurisdiction to extend time after transfer under s256A(1); appeal struck out and High Court ruling quashed.
Criminal procedure – transfer under section 256A(1) CPA – effect on record and jurisdiction; Appellate Jurisdiction Act section 11 – division of powers between High Court and Resident Magistrate's Court (extended jurisdiction); extension of time – invalidity where granted by court lacking jurisdiction; Court of Appeal – revisionary powers under section 4(2) to quash unlawful proceedings.
|
9 October 2017 |
|
|
9 October 2017 |
|
|
7 October 2017 |
|
Victim's credible testimony and admissible medical reports upheld conviction and mandatory 30-year sentence for incest.
Criminal law – Incest: elements and mens rea; Consent immaterial in incest offences; Evidence – victim's testimony as best evidence in sexual offences; Medical reports (PF3) admissibility under s.291(4) Criminal Procedure Act as corroboration; Continuous sexual offences – adequacy of charging period; Sentencing – mandatory minimum thirty years where victim under eighteen (s.158(1)(a) Penal Code).
|
7 October 2017 |