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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2022 |
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Appellant's rape conviction quashed where prosecution failed to prove penetration and positive identification.
Criminal law – rape – requirement to prove penetration and lack of consent beyond reasonable doubt; identification by recognition – reliability and contradictions; evidence of witness of tender years – compliance with s.127(2) Evidence Act; duty to call material witnesses and adverse inference; appellate review where lower courts misapprehend evidence.
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8 December 2022 |
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Inadequate summing up and improperly relied cautioned statements rendered the trial a nullity; convictions quashed and sentences set aside.
Criminal appeal – inadequate summing up to assessors – summing up omissions (malice, actus reus, confessions) – cautioned statements not admitted at main trial cannot be relied upon – certificate of seizure/mobile phone evidence expunged – trial without proper assessors’ participation is nullity – retrial not ordered where remaining evidence is weak.
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8 December 2022 |
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Conviction for rape of an eight‑year‑old upheld where age, penetration and victim's account were credibly proved.
Criminal law – Rape of a child – Proof of age and penetration – PF3 and birth certificate corroboration; delay in reporting – threats and inducements as plausible explanation; defence of impotence – credibility and lack of corroboration; concurrent findings – appellate interference.
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7 December 2022 |
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First appellate court’s failure to analyse defence evidence did not prevent Court of Appeal affirming the appellant's convictions.
* Criminal law – appellate review – duty of first appellate court to re-evaluate and analyse both prosecution and defence evidence; * Appellate Jurisdiction Act s.4(2) – Court of Appeal stepping into the shoes of first appellate court; * Offences – fraudulent appropriation of power, malicious damage to property, personation of public officer, obtaining money by false pretence; * Evidence – sufficiency and corroboration; unexplained proceeds as evidence of fraud.
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7 December 2022 |
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A voluntary confession plus parental and medical evidence can establish rape despite improperly recorded child testimony.
* Evidence – Cautioned/confession statements – admissibility – objection must be raised at trial; failure to object precludes complaint on appeal.
* Evidence – No requirement to repeat police‑recorded cautioned statement in court where voluntariness not challenged.
* Evidence – Proof of child’s age – parental testimony and medical evidence admissible.
* Evidence – Child witness – section 127(2) Evidence Act non‑compliance invalidates testimony.
* Criminal law – Confession corroborated by medical evidence of penetration can prove rape beyond reasonable doubt.
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7 December 2022 |
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Inadequate summing up to assessors that omits vital legal directions warrants nullification and retrial.
Criminal procedure – assessors: duty to be informed of role; summing up: must explain vital points of law (ingredients of offence, burden of proof, malice aforethought, identification, cautioned statements, defences, absence of postmortem); inadequate summing up amounts to miscarriage of justice – remedy: nullify proceedings, quash conviction and order retrial.
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7 December 2022 |
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Concurrent findings of credibility, medical evidence and unobjected cautioned statement upheld conviction for rape of a nine-year-old.
Criminal law – Rape of a child – Proof of age and penetration; cautioned statements – admissibility requires timely objection at trial; second appeal – deference to concurrent findings of credibility; relevance of victim's school class in rape of a child.
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7 December 2022 |
| November 2022 |
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Conviction quashed where victim’s inconsistent account and failure to consider defence evidence raised reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – Rape – elements: age and penetration – victim's testimony as best evidence but must be scrutinised; Medical evidence (PF3) corroboration; Credibility assessment – inconsistent accounts, delayed complaint and failure to name suspect at earliest opportunity; Appellate review – interference with concurrent findings where there is misapprehension of evidence or failure to consider defence; Duty of trial and first appellate courts to evaluate and weigh defence evidence.
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7 November 2022 |
| October 2022 |
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Committal notice failure and inadequate guidance to assessors rendered trial evidence inadmissible and convictions unsustainable.
Criminal procedure – committal proceedings and notice – section 289(1) CPA; inadmissibility and expunction of witnesses/exhibits not listed at committal.\nCriminal procedure – role of assessors – judge’s duty to adequately sum up on vital legal points (visual identification, circumstantial evidence, recent possession, confessional statements) – misdirection vitiates proceedings.\nEvidence – visual identification and identification parade reliability.\nRemedy – quashing convictions and sentences; discretionary refusal to order retrial.
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19 October 2022 |
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Second-bite leave in land appeals is competent after s.47 amendment; arguable illegality granted leave to appeal.
* Appeal – Land law – Second-bite leave under Rule 45(b) – Competence after 2018 amendment of s.47 Cap.216 – High Court and Court of Appeal concurrent jurisdiction; * Judicial procedure – Leave to appeal – Prima facie illegality – Failure to record assessors’ opinions; unexplained change of assessors; jurisdictional challenge; alleged double allocation; * Relief – Leave to appeal granted; no order as to costs.
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19 October 2022 |
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Assessors' briefing omission cured; despite some errors expunged, evidence sufficed to uphold murder conviction and death sentence.
Criminal appeal — assessors' briefing omission cured where assessors actively participated; admissibility — error in court referring to non‑tendered cautioned statement must be expunged; discrepancies in delayed witness testimony may be minor; last‑seen doctrine and eyewitness/autopsy evidence can sustain murder conviction; rejection of defence does not imply non‑consideration.
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18 October 2022 |
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Trial by a magistrate lacking a High Court transfer order is a jurisdictional nullity and cannot be cured by overriding objective.
* Criminal procedure – Transfer under s.256A(1) CPA – transfer must be directed to a specific resident magistrate with extended jurisdiction.
* Jurisdiction – Proceedings, trial and judgment by magistrate lacking a transfer order are a nullity.
* Overriding objective / s.388 CPA – cannot cure jurisdictional defects.
* Appellate revision – s.4(2) AJA used to nullify proceedings, quash conviction and remit record to High Court.
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18 October 2022 |
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Trial conducted outside the territorial court specified in the transfer order lacked jurisdiction and was nullified.
Criminal procedure – Transfer under section 256A(1) CPA – Territorial jurisdiction – Resident Magistrate with extended jurisdiction must sit at court and region specified by transfer order – Trial held outside designated territorial court is nullity – Proceedings quashed and remitted to High Court.
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13 October 2022 |
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Extension of time under rule 10 is discretionary and not time-barred; application struck out after applicant conceded time-barred leave application.
Appeal procedure – extension of time – rule 10 Court of Appeal Rules – application for extension is governed by good cause and Court's discretion; rule 45 (time for leave to appeal) inapplicable to extension applications; application struck out where applicant conceded underlying time-barred status.
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5 October 2022 |
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A conditional stay of execution was granted pending appeal where the applicant showed risk of substantial loss and undertook to provide bank guarantees.
Court of Appeal — Stay of execution — Rule 11(5) Tanzania Court of Appeal Rules — requirement of substantial loss and security — undertaking to furnish bank guarantee — balance of convenience — conditional stay pending appeal.
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3 October 2022 |
| September 2022 |
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Review application dismissed for failing to show a manifest error on the face of the record.
Civil procedure – Review under Rule 66(1)(a) – Manifest error on the face of the record – Requirement to identify an obvious, patent mistake; review not a rehearing or re-assessment of evidence.
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29 September 2022 |
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Cautioned statement recorded with other officers vitiated; uncorroborated co‑accused evidence insufficient—appellant's conviction quashed.
Criminal law – Admissibility of cautioned statements – voluntariness and right to privacy; cautioned statement recorded in presence of other officers vitiates confession. Evidence of co‑accused requires corroboration; uncorroborated recent‑possession link insufficient. Proof beyond reasonable doubt — conviction quashed when key evidence expunged.
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29 September 2022 |
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Proceedings conducted without a section 256A transfer are a nullity; conviction quashed and matter remitted for proper retrial.
* Criminal procedure – Transfer of cases under section 256A Criminal Procedure Act – transfer must be issued before plea taking and preliminary hearing; absence of transfer vitiates jurisdiction. * Overriding objective – cannot cure mandatory jurisdictional defects. * Revisional powers – quash proceedings, conviction and sentence; remit information to High Court for retrial.
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29 September 2022 |
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The appellant's armed robbery conviction was upheld on credible eyewitness evidence despite missing exhibit and phone-provider testimony.
Criminal law – Armed robbery – sufficiency of prosecution proof by eyewitnesses; admissibility and effect of non-tendered exhibits; calling of mobile service providers not always necessary; credibility and minor discrepancies; no legal requirement to remind accused of charge before judgment.
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28 September 2022 |
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Conviction for child rape upheld on credible child testimony, medical PF3 and accused's voluntary confession.
Criminal law – Rape of a child – Child’s unsworn evidence and corroboration by medical PF3; Cautioned statement – voluntariness and admissibility; Defence alibi as afterthought; Compliance with s.312 CPA; Hearsay v direct evidence; Proof of age for statutory rape.
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1 September 2022 |
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An invitee's occupation cannot extinguish the host's ownership; limitation and abandonment did not bar the owner's claim.
Land law — limitation of actions; law of limitation does not defeat a host’s rights where occupier is an invitee — invitee cannot acquire ownership by long occupation; abandonment under Village Land Act s.45 requires statutory proof and procedure; evidentiary burden to show dispossession/abandonment.
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1 September 2022 |
| March 2022 |
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Typographical and documentary omissions in an appeal are curable; non-served co-judgment debtor who does not appeal does not automatically render appeal incompetent.
* Civil procedure — Appeals — Notice of appeal — Substantial compliance with Form D and Rule 83(3)/(6) — Typographical error in case description curable under Rule 111.
* Civil procedure — Appeals — Service of notice of appeal — Rule 84(1) — Whether failure to serve non-appealing co-judgment debtor renders appeal incompetent.
* Civil procedure — Record of appeal — Rule 96(1)(k), (6) and (7) — Omission of documents (written submissions in extension application) curable by supplementary or additional record.
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29 March 2022 |
| February 2022 |
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An unsigned, unstamped or incorrect High Court transfer order renders a magistrate's determination null and void.
Criminal procedure – Transfer of appeals – Section 45(2) Magistrates' Courts Act – Formal High Court transfer required – Unsigned/unstamped/wrongly‑referenced transfer order vitiates jurisdiction; proceedings nullity and judgment quashed.
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25 February 2022 |
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An unsigned and undated trial judgment violated statute, rendering trial and first appeal null and remitting the matter for proper judgment.
* Criminal procedure – appellate jurisdiction – new grounds of appeal not raised in High Court – general rule that second appeals cannot raise new factual grounds unless pure point of law. * Criminal procedure – change of magistrate – section 214(1) CPA – successor magistrate may take over only where predecessor unable to complete trial and reasons recorded. * Criminal procedure – writing of judgment – section 312(1) CPA – judgment must contain points for determination, reasons, be dated and signed by presiding officer. * Judgment – unsigned and undated judgment is a nullity; consequent nullity of appellate proceedings and remedial remittal.
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25 February 2022 |
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Appellants' murder convictions upheld: eyewitness recognition credible despite delayed reporting and absence of post‑mortem.
* Criminal law – Murder – Identification and credibility of eyewitnesses – Recognition evidence by relatives/villagers in daylight. * Criminal procedure – Delay in naming suspects – Fear, investigative transfer and delay do not automatically discredit witnesses. * Evidence – Post‑mortem not indispensable where eyewitness and circumstantial evidence establish cause of death. * Duty of custodians/officials – Village leaders’ failure to protect person in custody. * Civil/criminal appeals – Abatement of appeal on death of appellant (Court of Appeal Rules).
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25 February 2022 |
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The appellant’s conviction was quashed due to weak, unreliable evidence and irregularly admitted/read exhibits.
* Criminal procedure – appellate jurisdiction – grounds not raised/decided at lower courts ordinarily not entertained on appeal. * Evidence – exhibits – documentary and physical exhibits must be read in court; failure to do so is incurable and leads to expungement. * Medical evidence – clinical officer competent to examine and prepare PF3. * Cautioned statements – no mandatory requirement to call justice of the peace or tender extrajudicial statement to support; prosecution decides which witnesses to call. * Credibility – victim’s uncorroborated testimony must be critically scrutinised; conviction cannot rest on weak or unreliable evidence.
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25 February 2022 |
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Recognition identification and corroboration sustained convictions; identification parade registers and child’s evidence expunged for procedural defects.
* Criminal law – identification by recognition – familiarity and lighting as factors eliminating mistaken identity (Waziri Amani; Jumapili Msyete). * Criminal procedure – identification parade – registers must be read over in court; failure leads to expungement though oral evidence may corroborate. * Evidence Act s.127(2) – child witness must promise to tell the truth; failure renders testimony inadmissible. * Appellate procedure – new factual grounds not raised in lower appellate court are not entertained on second appeal.
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25 February 2022 |
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The applicant's statutory rape conviction was upheld; age, credibility, corroboration and delay explanation were sufficient.
* Criminal law – Statutory rape (s.130(2)(e) Penal Code) – proof of age essential and may be given by the victim. * Evidence – child witnesses (s.127(2) Evidence Act) – promise to tell truth required; omission to record exact question not necessarily fatal. * Evidence – delay in complaint – threats can justify delayed disclosure. * Medical evidence (PF3) – late examination may undermine probative value and trial court may accord it little weight. * Appellate review – credibility assessment is primarily trial court's function; appellate court may evaluate unconsidered defence evidence if necessary.
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25 February 2022 |
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Second‑bite leave struck out where the proposed ground was not raised below and no illegality was apparent on the record.
* Civil procedure – leave to appeal – discretionary remedy – granted only for arguable or important points of law or where illegality is apparent on the face of the record.
* Appellate jurisdiction – Court of Appeal will not ordinarily entertain grounds not raised or decided in lower courts; jurisdictional limitation under Appellate Jurisdiction Act.
* Fair trial – allegation of denial by refusal to allow re‑examination must be raised below and be apparent on the record to be considered on appeal.
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25 February 2022 |
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Conviction for statutory rape upheld despite expunged child evidence where age and penetration proved by other witnesses.
Criminal law – statutory rape – proof of age and penetration – child witness voir dire (s.127 Evidence Act) – irregular voir dire leading to expunging child’s evidence – conviction sustainable on collateral evidence – appellate jurisdiction to entertain new grounds.
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25 February 2022 |
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Failure to name the person targeted by violence in an armed robbery charge renders the trial unfair and conviction null.
* Criminal law – Armed robbery (s.287A Penal Code) – essential ingredient requires use or threat of violence directed at a person – particulars must state person targeted.
* Criminal procedure – Form and content of charge (ss.132, 135 CPA) – particulars must disclose essential elements to enable fair defence.
* Defective charge – omission of person targeted is fatal, prejudicial and not curable under s.388 CPA.
* Remedy – proceedings and judgments nullified; conviction quashed and sentence set aside; release ordered under revisional powers (s.4(2) AJA).
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24 February 2022 |
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Failure to attach the High Court's drawn order under Rule 49(3) rendered the application for leave incompetent and it was struck out.
* Civil procedure – Court of Appeal Rules 2009 r.49(3) – mandatory requirement to accompany an application for leave with the decision to be appealed and, where relevant, the High Court's order refusing leave – failure to attach extracted order renders application incompetent.
* Procedural compliance – a High Court ruling or proceedings do not substitute for an extracted order required by the Rules.
* Application for leave – consequence of non-compliance – strike out with costs.
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24 February 2022 |
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Rule 62 permits informal or written references without attaching the full record; preliminary objection dismissed and matter fixed for hearing.
Civil procedure – Reference from single Justice – Rule 62(1) – informal or written application to Registrar within seven days – no requirement to attach full record unlike revision – preliminary objection for want of record dismissed.
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24 February 2022 |
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Failure to involve and instruct assessors and inclusion of extraneous facts vitiated the trial; conviction and death sentence quashed.
* Criminal procedure – Assessors – Failure to allow accused to express views on selected assessors and failure to explain assessors' role vitiates trial; * Evidence – Visual and voice identification – need for caution and supportive circumstances; * Evidence – Admissibility of cautioned statement and testimony of witness not read or listed at committal; * Judgments – Inclusion of extraneous facts not in evidence is fatal irregularity; * Appellate jurisdiction – Power to quash conviction and decline retrial when prosecution case is weak.
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24 February 2022 |
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23 February 2022 |
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Failure to lodge required supplementary record and prove timely service rendered the appeal incompetent and struck out.
* Appellate procedure — Supplementary record of appeal — Rule 96(7) — omitted documents must be new to record; * Proof of service — letter requesting certified proceedings — document must identify the specific letter; * Time limits — service of copy of letter to respondent co-extensive with 30-day period for applying for certified proceedings (Valambhia); * Consequence — failure to comply renders record incomplete and appeal incompetent; appeal struck out.
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21 February 2022 |
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Procedural and summing-up defects involving assessors rendered the trial unfair; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
Criminal procedure — Assessors — mandatory selection and recordation after plea of not guilty (ss. 283, 285 CPA); right to be afforded opportunity to object to assessors; Practice — informing/explaining assessors’ roles; Summing up — duty to direct assessors on vital legal points (malice aforethought, overt act, circumstantial evidence, visual identification, corroboration); Irregular summing up and inclusion of matters not supported by evidence vitiates trial; Remedy — nullify proceedings, quash conviction and order retrial (s. 4(2) AJA).
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18 February 2022 |
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Appellant’s unsworn child-victim testimony corroborated by medical evidence upheld; PF3 expunged; appeal dismissed.
* Criminal law – Sexual offences – Reliance on child victim’s unsworn testimony – requirement for corroboration by medical or other evidence. * Evidence – PF3/medical report improperly admitted if contents not read out; oral medical testimony may still prove penetration. * Appellate procedure – second appeal limited to points of law under s.6(7)(a) AJA; concurrent findings of fact will not be disturbed absent misdirection or miscarriage. * Competence of witnesses – relative witnesses competent unless collusion shown. * Delay in arrest – explained absence and investigative flaws may negate prejudice to defence.
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17 February 2022 |
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Court dismissed appeal, holding new grounds not raised below are inadmissible and conviction upheld on sufficient evidence.
* Criminal appeal – jurisdiction to entertain new grounds – section 4(1) AJA – new grounds not raised below are ordinarily not entertainable unless pure points of law. * Evidence – age in charge sheet or pre‑evidence particulars not proof of age; PF3 not read out is expunged. * Criminal law – sexual offences – victim’s testimony corroborated by parent and medical evidence can prove rape. * Appellate review – omission by first appellate court to consider defence may be cured where trial court properly evaluated defence.
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17 February 2022 |
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Court may infer victim's age from surrounding circumstances in statutory rape; conviction and 30-year sentence upheld.
* Criminal law – Statutory rape (s.130(2)(e) Penal Code) – Proof of victim’s age – whether direct evidence required or age may be inferred under s.122 Evidence Act.
* Criminal procedure – Appeals – new factual grounds not raised in first appellate court cannot be entertained on further appeal.
* Evidence – identification, prompt complaint and medical evidence as corroboration in sexual offences.
* Sentencing – where age inferred but not positively proved to be under ten, life sentence inappropriate; 30-year sentence upheld.
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17 February 2022 |
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An unequivocal guilty plea supported conviction; late language complaints and allegations of unfair trial were unavailing.
* Criminal law – guilty plea – requirements for valid plea and conviction without trial – applicability of Michael Adrian Chaki criteria.
* Criminal procedure – language and interpretation – failure to raise language difficulty at arraignment and afterthought complaints.
* Evidence – denials of non‑ingredient facts do not vitiate an otherwise unequivocal guilty plea.
* Criminal appeals – issues of unfair trial and proof beyond reasonable doubt not available where accused pleaded guilty.
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16 February 2022 |
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An unequivocal guilty plea establishing all elements of statutory rape upheld despite irregular admission of exhibits.
Criminal procedure – plea of guilty – requirements for an unequivocal plea under s.228 CPA – statutory rape – proof of age where age admitted – improper tendering of exhibits not vitiating plea-based conviction.
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16 February 2022 |
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Extension granted where delay was due to the High Court’s late provision of certified records and alleged facial illegalities.
Civil procedure — Court of Appeal Rules, Rule 10 — extension of time — good cause — delay caused by late delivery of certified records — alleged illegalities on the face of the record (assessors’ opinions, irregular changes, tribunal jurisdiction).
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16 February 2022 |
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Defective summing up (failure to explain visual identification and inclusion of extraneous matter) vitiated conviction; retrial ordered.
* Criminal procedure – Summing up to assessors – Duty to explain law and vital points of law (including visual identification) when assessors are involved.
* Evidence – Visual identification at night – Factors to be explained to assessors and necessity of eliminating possibility of mistaken identity.
* Criminal procedure – Summing up – Prohibition on introducing extraneous matters not supported by evidence; such inclusion may vitiate proceedings.
* Remedy – Where summing up is defective and assessors uninstructed on vital law, conviction may be quashed and retrial ordered.
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15 February 2022 |
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Failure to file a statutory notice of intention to appeal deprived the High Court of jurisdiction; its judgment was nullified.
* Criminal procedure – Appeals – Notice of intention to appeal – Requirement under section 361(1)(a) CPA to give written notice within ten days – Mandatory jurisdictional condition. * Criminal procedure – Extension of time – Failure to apply for extension renders appeal to High Court a nullity. * Appellate jurisdiction – Statutory in origin – proceedings heard without compliance with statutory preconditions are void. * Appellate Jurisdiction Act s.4(2) – Court’s power to nullify proceedings and judgment.
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15 February 2022 |
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Charging the applicant under a repealed statute vitiates prosecution, warranting nullification and immediate release.
Criminal law – indictment must cite the valid statute – prosecution under a repealed law vitiates trial; incurable defect under section 388(1) CPA; revisional powers under section 4(2) AJA to nullify proceedings, quash conviction and order release.
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15 February 2022 |
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The respondent proved child rape beyond reasonable doubt; clinical officer competent; PF3 expunged; appeal dismissed.
* Criminal law – Rape of a child – proof beyond reasonable doubt – victim and mother testimony corroborated by clinical officer. * Evidence – Competence of clinical officer to conduct examination and testify. * Evidence – Irregular admission of PF3 (not cleared or read over) and its expungement. * Evidence – Credibility of family witnesses; single credible witness may suffice. * Criminal procedure – Failure to call certain prosecution witnesses or tender a cautioned statement is not necessarily fatal.
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15 February 2022 |