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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2024 |
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A conviction for rape was overturned due to unreliable witness testimony, inconclusive medical evidence, and failure to consider the appellant’s defence.
Criminal law – rape – assessment of credibility and consistency of prosecution witness evidence – standard of proof – medical evidence – duty to consider the defence – sufficiency of evidence required for conviction.
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11 December 2024 |
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A retrenchment is procedurally unfair if the affected employee is not personally consulted, warranting statutory minimum compensation.
Labour law – Retrenchment – Consultative procedures under ELRA – Procedural fairness – Compensation for unfair termination – Statutory minimum award – Discretion in reduction of compensation.
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10 December 2024 |
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Convictions quashed due to improper chain of custody and procedural errors in disposing of perishable evidence in wildlife offence case.
Criminal Law – Wildlife offences – proof beyond reasonable doubt – chain of custody – failure to call material witnesses – procedure for disposal of perishable exhibits – accused's right to be present – adverse inference.
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10 December 2024 |
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Failure of the first appellate court to address all appeal grounds nullifies its judgment, warranting remittal for rehearing.
Criminal procedure – Appeals – Duty of first appellate court to consider all grounds of appeal – Failure to determine all grounds fatal – Jurisdiction of Court of Appeal limited to matters determined by the first appellate court – Remedy is to remit matter for rehearing.
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10 December 2024 |
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Procedural omissions in a rape trial, absent prejudice, do not vitiate proceedings where the prosecution's case is proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – rape of a child – procedural irregularities – whether omissions in signing witness testimony or errors in preliminary hearing vitiate proceedings – child witness – adequacy of promise to speak truth under section 127(2) Evidence Act – evidentiary sufficiency – proof beyond reasonable doubt.
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10 December 2024 |
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Non-compliance with an order to visit locus in quo invalidates land tribunal proceedings and requires a rehearing.
Land law – Tribunal procedure – Compliance with tribunal and court orders – Visiting locus in quo – Nullification of proceedings where tribunal fails to execute its own order – Importance of adherence to procedural fairness in land boundary disputes.
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10 December 2024 |
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A conviction based solely on cautioned statements recorded outside statutory time and without corroboration cannot be sustained.
Criminal procedure – Cautioned statements – Admissibility – Section 50(1)(a) CPA – Confession evidence – Requirement for corroboration – Failure to call material witnesses – Adverse inference – Quashing of conviction for want of admissible evidence.
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10 December 2024 |
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An appellant's conviction for rape was quashed due to doubts about the victim's credibility and insufficient corroborative evidence.
Criminal law – rape – reliance on victim's uncorroborated evidence – requirement for credibility assessment – failure to call medical or investigative witnesses – reversal of conviction where doubts exist in proof of offence.
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6 December 2024 |
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Failure to properly sum up to assessors on vital legal issues rendered the murder trial a nullity requiring a fresh summing up.
Criminal procedure – High Court trials with assessors – Requirement for trial judge to explain roles of assessors and to sum up on vital points of law before opinions – Effect of failure to sum up on key legal doctrines – Nullification of proceedings and remittal for fresh summing up.
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6 December 2024 |
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A conviction based on an ambiguous or imperfect plea of guilty must be set aside and the plea taken afresh.
Criminal law – Appeals – Plea of guilty – Requirement for plea to be unequivocal – When appellate intervention is justified – Imperfect or ambiguous pleas – Consequences of failure to properly record admission of facts.
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5 December 2024 |
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Conviction for drug trafficking quashed due to improper admission of evidence and failure to prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal procedure – Succession of magistrates – Admission of exhibits – Requirement to read documentary evidence in court – Proof beyond reasonable doubt – Drugs Control and Enforcement Act – Unlawful trafficking of narcotics – Admissibility of cautioned statement – Right to legal representation during statement recording – Chain of custody and evidentiary requirements for drug offences.
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4 December 2024 |
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A conviction based on an ambiguous guilty plea and incomplete facts was quashed, resulting in the appellant's immediate release.
Criminal procedure – Plea of guilty – Equivocal or ambiguous plea – Requirement for all ingredients of offence to be admitted – Statutory rape – Importance of admitting victim's age – Retrial not appropriate where prosecution case insufficient.
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4 December 2024 |
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Failure to explain key legal points to assessors in a murder trial nullifies the conviction and requires a fresh summing up.
Criminal law – High Court trials – assessors – mandatory summing up – duty to explain vital points of law – circumstantial evidence – prejudice to accused – proper remedy for omission – retrial from summing up stage.
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3 December 2024 |
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A conviction based on an equivocal plea arising from discrepancies between charge and facts cannot stand and must be quashed.
Criminal law – Armed robbery – plea of guilty – variance between charge sheet and prosecution facts – equivocal plea – legality of conviction and sentence – appropriate remedy where plea is ambiguous.
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3 December 2024 |
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Conviction for rape was quashed due to doubts arising from witness credibility, delay in arraignment, and failure to call a material witness.
Criminal law – Procedure – compliance with sections 231, 192 and 214 of the CPA – sexual offences – assessment of complainant’s credibility – effect of unexplained delay in arraignment – failure to call material witness – benefit of doubt in criminal cases.
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3 December 2024 |
| November 2024 |
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Failure to prove the victim's age in a statutory rape trial led to quashing of the conviction and appellant's release.
Criminal law – statutory rape – proof of victim’s age – variance between charge sheet and evidence – requirement for tangible proof of age – quashing of conviction where age not established.
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28 November 2024 |
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Convictions for murder were quashed due to unreliable identification and contradictory evidence in a mob justice case.
Criminal law – murder – proof beyond reasonable doubt – identification of accused in mob violence – admissibility and probative value of dying declaration – witness contradictions – benefit of doubt to accused.
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25 November 2024 |
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The court upheld a rape conviction but reduced the sentence due to insufficient proof of the complainant’s age as required for statutory rape.
Criminal law – Rape – Statutory rape – Proof of age – Sufficiency of evidence – Number of witnesses – Medical evidence – Sentencing – Whether failure to strictly prove age affects sentence for statutory rape.
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25 November 2024 |
| June 2024 |
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A university's statutory duty of care does not extend to accidents occurring during unsupervised student travel to off-campus academic activities.
Tort – Duty of care – Universities – Scope and extent of statutory duty under section 50 of Universities Act, 2005 – Liability for student injuries during off-campus activities – Causation and remoteness – Vicarious liability – Interpretation of statutory obligations of academic institutions.
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24 June 2024 |
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Procedural irregularities regarding assessors did not vitiate the trial; conviction upheld for one appellant but overturned for the other.
Criminal law—murder—doctrine of recent possession—role and participation of assessors—summing up to assessors—cautioned statement—failure to call material witnesses—impact of procedural irregularities on validity of trial and convictions.
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21 June 2024 |
| March 2024 |
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Delay in medical examination and minor discrepancies do not vitiate the appellant's conviction for child rape.
* Criminal law – Sexual offences – Rape of a child – proof of penetration, identity and age; child’s testimony as best evidence.
* Medical evidence – Delay in examination (72 hours) does not automatically render PF3 or medical testimony void.
* Evidence – Minor contradictions between witnesses are not fatal unless they go to the root of the case.
* Procedure – Exhibit admitted but not read out must be expunged (no evidential value).
* Appeals – Second appeal will not entertain new factual grounds not argued in the first appeal.
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22 March 2024 |
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Conviction for rape quashed where medical evidence failed to prove penetration and the child complainant's testimony was inconsistent.
Criminal law – Rape – Requirement of proof of penetration (s.130(4)(a) Penal Code) – Medical evidence as corroboration – admissibility and probative value of PF3 and medical testimony – Credibility of child complainant – delay and failure to name suspect – appellate assessment of coherence and consistency of testimony.
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22 March 2024 |
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Court finds court-caused (technical) delay justified extension of time to file labour revision within 60 days.
* Labour law – extension of time – sufficiency of cause; technical delay caused by court in serving its ruling as good cause; accountability for days of delay. * Labour Court Rules – Rules 17, 55, 56 – relaxation of procedure to achieve justice in labour matters. * Requirement for court to make reasonable inquiries (registry records) before dismissing claims of court-caused delay.
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22 March 2024 |
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Conviction quashed where prosecution failed to prove date and relied on rumours and delayed medical evidence.
Criminal law – Incest – Burden of proof on prosecution; importance of particulars and specific date in the charge; medical evidence and delay undermining corroboration; conviction cannot rest on rumours or suspicion; accused entitled to benefit of doubt.
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22 March 2024 |
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Substantial compliance with sections 231 and 214 of the CPA prevents retrial absent material prejudice to the accused.
Criminal procedure — s.231 CPA: Rights of accused at close of prosecution; substantial compliance and purpose‑driven approach; absence of literal question not fatal where accused indicates intention to testify/call witnesses. Criminal procedure — s.214 CPA: Succession of magistrates; requirement to inform accused and discretion about recalling witnesses; need to avoid material prejudice. Retrial — ordered only where procedural irregularity causes material prejudice; High Court erred in ordering retrial without such prejudice.
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22 March 2024 |
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A subordinate court lacks jurisdiction to try an economic offence without a correctly issued certificate and matching charge.
* Criminal procedure – Jurisdiction of subordinate courts to try economic offences – Certificate under s.12(3) EOCCA and consent under s.26(1) EOCCA must correctly identify the subordinate court and precisely state the offence/subsections charged. * Jurisdictional defect – variance between charge and certificate/consent renders proceedings nullity. * Evidence – chain of custody break of seized exhibit may preclude ordering a retrial.
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22 March 2024 |
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Absence of the mandatory notice of appeal rendered the first appellate proceedings a nullity; Court quashed them and ordered reconsideration.
Criminal procedure – Notice of appeal – Requirement under section 361(1)(a) CPA – Absence of notice renders first appellate proceedings incompetent and nullity; Court of Appeal’s power under section 4(2) AJA to revise and quash nullified proceedings; remedial order to High Court to reconsider extension for filing notice and petition.
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20 March 2024 |
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Absence of written summing-up violates section 298(1) CPA, warranting partial nullification and remittal for fresh summing-up.
Criminal procedure – summing-up to assessors – requirement under section 298(1) Criminal Procedure Act – absence of written summing-up in record; Assessors – selection, participation and recorded opinions – effect on validity of earlier proceedings; Remedy – partial nullity limited to summing-up onward; remittal for fresh summing-up rather than full retrial; Dates and record anomalies – importance of complete record for appellate review.
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20 March 2024 |
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Conviction quashed where identity uncertain, a material witness was not called, and doubts persisted despite medical evidence.
Criminal law – Sexual offences – Identification in darkness – failure to call material witness – weight of delayed medical evidence – admissibility and weight of confession before village officer – proof beyond reasonable doubt; s.127(7) Evidence Act.
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19 March 2024 |
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Conviction overturned: uncorroborated cautioned statements and irregular identification/committal procedures undermined prosecution case.
* Criminal law – Murder – requirement that prosecution prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. * Circumstantial evidence – must irresistibly and exclusively point to accused; chain of evidence must be unbroken. * Confessions/cautioned statements – confession of co-accused requires independent corroboration; retracted/confessional statements recorded by investigating officer raise risk of manufacturing where officer deeply involved. * Committal proceedings (s.289 CPA) – witness whose statement was not read out requires written notice before testifying. * Identification parade – must comply with Police General Orders; procedural breaches reduce evidentiary value.
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13 March 2024 |
| February 2024 |
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Appeal dismissed; convictions for incest and unnatural offences affirmed as proved beyond reasonable doubt.
* Criminal law – child sexual offences – incest and unnatural offence – proof beyond reasonable doubt – victim’s testimony corroborated by medical report (PF3) and investigative evidence. * Evidence – minor contradictions between witnesses – when immaterial. * Appeal – concurrent findings of fact – reluctance to interfere absent perverse or unreasonable conclusions.
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6 February 2024 |