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588 judgments found.
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September 2021
Failure to administer oaths and to sign witness testimonies vitiated CMA proceedings, warranting quashment and rehearing.
Labour law
— CMA procedure — mandatory administration of oath to witnesses
— omissions vitiate proceedings — quashment and remittal for retrial
20 September 2021
June 2021
Retracted cautioned confessions admissible if judicially warned and corroborated; JP-recorded confession vitiated for non‑compliance.
Criminal law — Murder
— corroboration by independent evidence and autopsy may validate retracted confessions
— Reliance on retracted cautioned statements
21 June 2021
May 2021
Clarificatory questions by assessors do not vitiate proceedings; fatal stabbing during a fight amounted to manslaughter, not murder.
Civil procedure — Procedure — prejudice required to invalidate proceedings where assessors question witnesses
Criminal law
— Murder — death occurring in the course of a fight is manslaughter absent malice aforethought
— Role of assessors
7 May 2021
An action brought in the name of an unincorporated trust by an unauthorized person renders proceedings a nullity.
Trust law
— Authority of representatives — persons authorised to sue for a body corporate
— locus standi — who may institute proceedings for a registered trustees' body
— Procedural defect — misnomer/unauthorised institution of suit may render proceedings a nullity
— Trustees' incorporation act — corporate status
7 May 2021
Court of Appeal lacks jurisdiction to entertain second‑bite leave application where High Court refused leave under pre‑2018 law.
Land law — leave to appeal — Exclusivity of High Court jurisdiction under pre‑2018 — Second‑bite applications — Remedy: extension of time under section 11 Appellate Jurisdiction Act
7 May 2021
Employer failed to prove valid reason and fair procedure for termination; appeal dismissed and award upheld.
Labour law — unfair termination — employer’s burden — procedural fairness
6 May 2021
Search and seizure irregularities and unreliable witness evidence vitiated conviction for possession of government trophies.
Criminal law — Search and seizure — Police Form No.91 (PF91) — material contradictions, missing/irregular signatures and unexplained anomalies vitiate exhibit
Criminal procedure — committal proceedings — partial non‑compliance with Rule 8(3) GN
Evidence — Standard of proof — where admissibility and authenticity of seizure form is excluded, prosecution fails to prove possession beyond reasonable doubt
Wildlife offences — Wildlife act provision on independent witnesses for dwelling searches is not a substitute when CPA procedure is used
5 May 2021
Victim's detailed testimony and medical evidence sustained convictions; Court increased sentences to statutory minima.
Criminal law
— sentencing — Mandatory minimum sentence — Illegality of reduced sentences and appellate correction under AJA s 4(2)
— sexual offences against a child — Rape and unnatural offence — Victim testimony and medical corroboration
Evidence — credibility of interested witnesses — interest may render testimony unreliable
4 May 2021
Appellant failed to prove gift inter vivos or ownership; adverse possession unpleaded; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — Pleadings
— adverse possession cannot be raised without pleading
— party bound by pleadings
Family law — Family land — disposition by beneficiary and locus standi to sell
Land law — ownership — gift inter vivos
— burden of proof and preponderance of probabilities
— credibility of witnesses
4 May 2021
Extension of time granted because non-joinder and denial of hearing constituted apparent illegality affecting applicant's title.
Civil procedure — extension of time — discretion exercised where good cause shown
Civil procedure — Jurisdiction/illegality
— non-joinder and denial of hearing in proceedings affecting proprietary rights constitutes apparent illegality and may render judgment a nullity
— Revision as appropriate remedy where aggrieved person was not a party to earlier proceedings affecting their rights
3 May 2021
Failure to properly direct assessors on circumstantial evidence voids the trial and mandates a retrial.
Criminal procedure — trials with assessors
— Duty to sum up
— omission is fatal. Sections 265, 298 Criminal Procedure Act
— retrial ordered
3 May 2021
Child’s unsworn testimony, properly received and corroborated, upheld conviction for grave sexual abuse; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — sexual offence (grave sexual abuse) — child witnesses
3 May 2021
The applicant’s uncorroborated claim of a lost review filing and lack of arguable review grounds warranted dismissal.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time
Criminal procedure — review distinct from appeal
— factual complaints are not review grounds
— uncorroborated claims of a lost filing are insufficient evidence
3 May 2021
Failure to direct assessors on malice aforethought, alibi and provocation rendered the murder trial a nullity, prompting a retrial.
Criminal law
— Remedy for inadequate summing up — Nullification, quashing conviction and retrial where assessors' opinions prejudiced — Criminal Procedure Act ss 265, 298(1)
— Trial procedure — Summing up to assessors — s298 CPA
3 May 2021
April 2021
Failure to serve the written request for High Court copies under Rule 90(3) prevents reliance on delay exception, rendering the appeal time‑barred.
Civil procedure — Appeal time limits
30 April 2021
Child‑victim testimony under s127(7) sufficed to uphold convictions; alibi lacked required notice; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — sexual offences against a child — Credibility of child witness under section 127 Evidence Act — Weight under section 127(7) Evidence Act
Criminal procedure — Defence of alibi (s.194(4) CPA) — Notice requirement — Criminal Procedure Act s194(4)
Appellate practice — Second appeal — New grounds not raised in the High Court are not entertainable by the Court of Appeal
30 April 2021
High Court's sua motu decision without hearing violated right to be heard; ruling and subsequent review nullified.
Natural justice — Right to be heard — court raising and deciding point of law suo motu without hearing parties
— amendment of section 47 LDCA removing leave requirement in land matters
— competence of applications based on enabling provisions
— decision nullity
— review of High Court rulings
30 April 2021
Victim's credible testimony and medical report proving age upheld statutory rape conviction.
Appellate practice — Second appeal — Second appellate review of concurrent findings — Deference to concurrent findings of fact unless clearly wrong
Criminal law — proof of age in statutory rape — Requirement to prove victim's age under 18 as an essential ingredient — Penal Code s130(2)(e) and s131(1)
Evidence — Victim’s evidence in sexual offences — Evidence of child/victim may suffice to convict — Evidence Act s127(7)
30 April 2021
A Swahili admission "Ni kweli" plus unreserved factual admissions constituted an unequivocal plea; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — Plea of guilty — Whether plea equivocal or unequivocal — Equivocal plea ('It is true')
Criminal procedure — conviction on plea of guilty — Exceptions to s.360(1) CPA where plea is equivocal, mistaken, charge discloses no offence or admitted facts insufficient
Evidence — Admissions — admission of exhibit during reading of facts
29 April 2021
Appeal dismissed; convictions and sentences for unlawful possession and attempted dealing in government trophies upheld.
Wildlife offences — Unlawful possession of government trophies — Admissibility and prima facie effect of trophy valuation certificate (WCA s114(3)) — Wildlife Conservation Act ss.84,86,106,114
Criminal procedure — Search and seizure — Independent witness requirement — Application limited to dwelling‑house searches under WCA s.106
Evidence — Expert opinion — Competence to issue trophy valuation certificates under WCA and Regulations
29 April 2021
Where a trial record is missing, the originating Deputy Registrar must trace or reconstruct it to preserve the appellant's right to appeal.
Civil procedure — Procedural direction
— Deputy Registrar (originating registry) to prepare record within 60 days
— if irretrievable, to reconstruct with stakeholders
Criminal procedure — Missing or destroyed trial record — Registrar’s duty — requirement that appellate record be adequate for proper consideration
28 April 2021
August 2020
Court upheld equal division of matrimonial assets; appellant failed to prove alleged non-matrimonial ownership.
Family law — Matrimonial property
— burden of proof for non-matrimonial (clan or third-party) property
— contribution of spouses (monetary and non-monetary) to acquisition
— division of assets on divorce
— evidential requirement for excluding assets from matrimonial pool
25 August 2020
Guilty plea was unequivocal and barred appeal where facts were admitted and exhibits read under CPA ss 228, 360(1).
Criminal law — Plea of guilty — Unequivocal plea — Criminal Procedure Act ss 228, 360(1)
20 August 2020
Suo motu raising of a new issue without hearing parties violates audi alteram partem and nullifies the judgment.
Criminal law — charge sheet — incorrect citation of punishment provision
— relevance but cannot be decided without hearing parties
— remedy is rehearing on merits
Criminal procedure — appellate jurisdiction — raising of issues suo motu by a judge in composed judgment — duty to afford parties opportunity to be heard
Natural justice — audi alteram partem — constitutional guarantee
19 August 2020
Conviction quashed where trial and first appellate courts failed to consider the appellant's defence, denying a fair hearing.
Appellate practice — First appellate review
Criminal law — Unnatural offence
— alleged sodomy of a child
— evidence included child testimony, PF3 and medical report
Criminal procedure — fair trial
— duty of trial court to consider and analyse defence evidence when evaluating prosecution case
— failure is fatal
19 August 2020
Concurrent factual findings, credible child testimony and properly admitted exhibits sustain rape convictions; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — Rape — Conviction sustained on concurrent findings of credible child testimony, medical evidence and a cautioned statement
Criminal procedure
— rights of accused — Properly addressed and election recorded
— Substituted charge sheet — Valid substitution and reading to accused under s.234 CPA
Evidence
— Cautioned statement — Lawful recording within permissible period, voluntariness inquiry, admission and reading out
— Child witness of tender years — Admissibility
— PF.3 medical report — Properly tendered, admitted and read out in court
19 August 2020
Failure to read the post-mortem and non‑compliance with committal rules rendered the murder conviction unsafe.
Appellate practice — Appellate review of trial court's evaluation of evidence and credibility — Delay in arrest and witness inconsistencies — Safety of conviction
Criminal law — medical evidence — Expungement of improperly tendered medical report — Criminal Procedure Act s 291(3)
Criminal procedure — committal proceedings — witness who did not feature in committal list cannot testify unless summoned under s.289(1) CPA
19 August 2020
Trial without the DPP's consent and requisite certificate rendered the appellant's conviction null, warranting quashing and release.
Appellate practice — Appellate jurisdiction
Civil procedure — Nullity — Proceedings and appellate judgments founded on trials without requisite consent/certificate are nullities
Criminal procedure — Economic offences
19 August 2020
Reported
Conviction cannot rest on recent possession or oral admissions absent proof of ownership, contemporaneous theft, or admissible statements.
Criminal law
— Confessions — oral admissions
— doctrine of recent possession
18 August 2020
Credible child-victim evidence, corroborated by an eyewitness and medical examination, upheld a rape conviction despite PF3 expungement and time omission.
Criminal law
— Charge particulars — omission of time not fatal where evidence establishes circumstances
— Evidence Act s.127(7) — child/victim evidence can sustain conviction if credible
— Expungement of exhibit (PF3) for procedural defect — court may rely on other credible evidence
— identification — recognition by a village resident and contemporaneous discovery
— sexual offences — Rape — Victim’s evidence and corroboration
18 August 2020
Appeal dismissed: confessions and corroborative circumstantial evidence sustained a murder conviction despite expunged autopsy and sketch map.
Criminal law — Murder — admissibility of post‑mortem reports (s291 CPA) — mandatory right to inform accused to call report's author
Criminal procedure — admissibility of cautioned statement — Recording beyond statutory four‑hour period — Prolonged investigation as exception and voluntariness
Evidence
— corroborating confessions and recovery of body — Identification of decomposed body and weight of family witnesses
— identification and circumstantial evidence — Last person seen with deceased
17 August 2020
Victim’s testimony and medical corroboration upheld rape conviction; child witness must promise to tell the truth under s127(2).
Criminal law — sexual offences against a child — reliance on victim’s testimony and medical (PF3) corroboration
Criminal procedure — Defence of alibi — defence of alibi (s.194(4) CPA)
Evidence — Child witness (tender age) — promise to tell truth under s127
17 August 2020
May 2020
Appeal dismissed: survey and allocation of Plot 347 proved; demolition order valid; compensation issue not open on appeal.
Land law
— appellate procedure — new issues and compensation cannot be raised on appeal if not pleaded/determined at trial
— ownership and allocation of surveyed plots — admissibility and sufficiency of survey evidence — evaluation of conflicting oral evidence
— trespass and remedies — demolition and vacant possession
19 May 2020
An invitee occupying land with permission cannot acquire title by limitation; forgery allegations require a higher evidential standard.
Civil procedure — Contents of judgment — Compliance with Order XX Rule 4 of the Civil Procedure Code — Adequacy of reasons for rejecting grounds of appeal
Evidence — allegations of fraud/forgery — Heightened standard of proof in civil proceedings for fraud/forgery — Section 110 Evidence Act (he who alleges must prove)
Land law — Limitation and adverse possession — permissive or consensual occupation is not adverse possession — Law of Limitation Act (Item 22, Part I)
18 May 2020
An out‑of‑time cautioned statement may be admissible where section 50(2) exceptions or investigative complications justify delay; appeal allowed.
Civil procedure — remedy — appellate admission and remittal for trial continuation
Criminal law — Admissibility — procedural non‑compliance does not automatically exclude evidence where omission is procedural and not prejudicial
Criminal procedure
— cautioned statements — requirements of section 50(1)(a) CPA — four‑hour rule
— exceptions under section 50(2) — awaiting relative/lawyer and periods while investigator refrains from interviewing — complications in investigation may justify out‑of‑time recording
15 May 2020
Second appeal dismissed: PF3 expunged, child’s testimony and corroborative evidence sustained statutory rape conviction.
Criminal law
— Appellate procedure — second appeal cannot raise grounds not raised on first appeal
— Evidence — inadmissible tendering of PF3 by prosecutor
— Proof of age — parental testimony acceptable
— Statutory rape — proof of penetration by child witness using non-technical terms
— Visual identification (Waziri Amani standard)
15 May 2020
Combining charges at judgment without using s234 CPA procedures renders the trial judgment a nullity.
Appellate practice — Effect of nullity on subsequent appellate proceedings — appellate decision void if founded on null trial proceedings — Revisional power under section 4(2) Appellate Jurisdiction Act
Criminal procedure — Amendment of charge at judgment stage — Trial court has no authority to amend charges during judgment — Breach of section 234 Criminal Procedure Act
13 May 2020
Victim's credible testimony and medical evidence established penetration; appeal dismissed and mandatory life sentence upheld.
Criminal law — sexual offences against a child — reliance on victim’s testimony and medical (PF3) corroboration — Proof of penetration — Victim testimony and medical examination (PF3)
Evidence — Evidence act s.127 (tender‑age witnesses) — promise to tell the truth required where evidence given without oath or affirmation — Compliance with section 127(2) Evidence Act (requirement to promise to tell the truth)
Criminal procedure — Enhancement of sentences on appeal — Opportunity to be‑given to accused to show cause against enhancement — Substitution without hearing not fatal where law prescribes sentence
13 May 2020
Technical delay and omission to annex the High Court ruling justified extension of time to seek leave to appeal.
Civil procedure — Application for leave to appeal — Omission to annex drawn order — Effect on computation of time
Civil procedure — extension of time — Application under Rule 10
— Good cause
— technical delay
Civil procedure — Non-appearance at hearing — Hearing in absence of respondent
13 May 2020
Child complainant’s credible testimony, corroborated by mother and witnesses, upheld conviction for sodomy; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law
— Criminal appeal — contradictions in key witness testimony may justify acquittal — Whether alleged contradictions and failure to call other witnesses create reasonable doubt
— Sexual offence (unnatural offence) — Credibility of child complainant — Conviction based on uncorroborated child evidence under s127(7) Evidence Act
— corroboration — Victim’s testimony may be self-reliant and corroborated by medical and witness evidence — Medical and eye-witness evidence corroborating child testimony
13 May 2020
Mortgage valid where mortgagor's affidavit declared he was single and the appellant had not registered any interest.
Land law — Mortgage Financing (Special Provisions) Act
— admissibility and effect of affidavit of marital status
— estoppel
— mortgagor's duty to disclose and mortgagee's duty to verify
— registrable interest/caveat requirement
Land law — Mortgage of matrimonial home
11 May 2020
Child's credible testimony, corroborated by parents and medical evidence, upheld convictions for rape and unnatural offence; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — sexual offences against a child — Credibility of child complainant and corroboration by parent and medical evidence — Identification and corroboration of child testimony and medical (PF3) evidence
Criminal procedure — Amendment/substitution of charge — Requirement to take a plea on new or amended charge
Family law — social welfare officer — Mandatory only in Juvenile Courts for children in conflict with the law
11 May 2020
Interlocutory non-final High Court orders are not reviewable on appeal or revision under section 5(2)(d) AJA, even if they concern jurisdiction.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — interlocutory/preliminary High Court orders — prohibition of appeals or revision unless order finally disposes of suit — no exception for alleged jurisdictional issues
7 May 2020
Victim's corroborated testimony and voluntary confessions upheld; social welfare officer unnecessary outside Juvenile Court.
Criminal law — Cautioned (retracted) statement — requires corroboration
Criminal law — Law of the Child
— Evaluation of minor contradictions in witness evidence
— social welfare officer required only in Juvenile Court proceedings
Criminal law — Oral confession — admissibility and weight
Criminal law — Rape — evidentiary value of victim's testimony — corroboration by other witnesses
6 May 2020
The applicant's conviction for rape was upheld based on victim testimony corroborated by oral confession and corroborated cautioned statement.
Criminal law — Rape
— cautioned statement retracted but corroboration required
— child witness protections
— Evidence of victim
— impeachment of court record
— material versus minor discrepancies in witness testimony
— oral confession admissibility
6 May 2020
Prosecutrix's testimony, medical report and confessions upheld; applicant's appeal against rape conviction dismissed.
Criminal law
— medical report (PF3) and confessions may corroborate prosecutrix.* Admissibility — cautioned statement admitted where no timely objection raised
— Rape — proof of penetration normally from prosecutrix
— voluntariness for trial court to assess.* Evidence — oral confession before witnesses can be powerful corroboration.* Procedure
6 May 2020
September 2019
A management‑invitation letter did not amount to a strike; CMA delay alone did not invalidate the award.
Labour law — arbitration procedure
— Delay in award beyond 30 days
— delay not automatically fatal
Labour law — dispute resolution — Referral from mediation to arbitration — Validity where mediator records failure and parties sign referral
Labour law — Termination for strike — Whether an invitation to management constituted unlawful assembly/strike
30 September 2019
Lawfully recorded confessions corroborated by discovery and other circumstantial evidence sustained murder convictions.
Criminal law — Murder — Circumstantial evidence and confession — Voluntariness and discovery (s.31 Evidence Act)
Criminal procedure — Cautioned statement — Compliance with ss.50 — 51 CPA and timing of recording — Transit/conveyance time excluded from basic period
Evidence — tendering and admission of exhibits — Tendering after trial‑within‑trial and recall of prosecution witnesses — Proper procedure for admissibility
30 September 2019
High Court erred by dismissing extension applications without considering good cause, denying appellants a fair hearing.
Criminal procedure
— Distinction — striking out
— Extension of time to file appeal
— fair trial — breach where court fails to consider applicants' reasons
— Judicial overreach — predetermining merits of appeals not before the court
— remedy — nullification of proceedings and order to permit fresh applications
30 September 2019
Second appeal upheld conviction; defective charge curable, but thirty-year sentence substituted with mandatory life imprisonment.
Criminal law
— Charge sheet defects — omission of statutory subsections curable under s.388 CPA when particulars clear
— Evidence — child complainant credibility and medical corroboration (PF3)
— procedure — timing of charge after arrest not fatal
— second appeal — limits on raising new grounds
— sentencing — Mandatory life imprisonment
30 September 2019