Court of Appeal of Tanzania

This is the highest level in the justice delivery system in Tanzania. The Court of Appeal draws its mandate from Article 117(1) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. The Court hears appeals  on both point of law and facts for cases originating from the High Court of Tanzania and Magistrates with extended jurisdiction in exercise of their original jurisdiction or appellate and revisional jurisdiction over matters originating in the District Land and Housing Tribunals, District Courts and Courts of Resident Magistrate. The Court also hears similar appeals  from quasi judicial bodies of status equivalent to that of the High Court. It  further hears appeals  on point of law against the decision of the High Court in  matters originating from Primary Courts. The Court of Appeal also exercises jurisdiction on appeals originating from the High Court of Zanzibar except for constitutional issues arising from the interpretation of the Constitution of Zanzibar and matters arising from the Kadhi Court.

Physical address
26 Kivukoni Road Building P.O. Box 9004, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
5 judgments

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5 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
September 2013
Delayed, unlawfully recorded cautioned statement and weak night identification rendered the conviction unsafe; appeal allowed.
* Criminal procedure – Cautioned statement – s.50(1) basic four‑hour period; s.51 extension – recording statement after lapse without extension is illegal and exclusionary under s.169. * Identification evidence – nocturnal conditions and lack of contemporaneous descriptive identification weaken reliability – conviction must be founded on watertight identification (Waziri Amani). * Illegally obtained statement and weak identification render conviction unsafe.
19 September 2013
July 2013
Court affirmed rape conviction after expunging improperly admitted PF3 and unlawfully obtained cautioned statement.
* Criminal procedure – Admissibility of medical report (PF3) – duty to inform accused of right to require summon of report-maker under s.240(3) CPA. * Criminal procedure – Cautioned statement – compliance with interview periods and extensions under ss.50–51 CPA; failure renders statement inadmissible. * Evidence – Corroboration – single witness (victim) may suffice if testimony is credible; trial court best placed to assess demeanour. * Penal Code – Rape – penetration, however slight, is sufficient under s.130(4)(a).
7 July 2013
June 2013
A notice of appeal failing to state the offence and citing the wrong law is fatally defective and the appeal must be struck out.
* Criminal procedure – Notice of appeal – Rule 68(2) Tanzania Court of Appeal Rules, 2009 – mandatory requirement to state nature of conviction/offence – failure is fatal. * Criminal procedure – Notice of appeal – incorrect citation of law in notice – treated as fatal defect rendering appeal incompetent. * Plea of lay litigant or substantial compliance cannot cure mandatory Rule 68(2) defects; appeal struck out.
13 June 2013
Challenges to missing ownership documents and witness statements failed; conviction affirmed and corrected to the proper Penal Code provision.
* Criminal law – Theft – Proof of stealing need not depend on ownership documents where eyewitnesses establish taking and identity. * Evidence – Number of witnesses – No prescribed number required (s.143 Evidence Act). * Evidence – Former statements for corroboration (s.166 Evidence Act) unnecessary where oral testimony is sufficient. * Procedure – Conviction under wrong statutory provision curable where no prejudice; appellate correction permissible (s.388 CPA; s.4(2) AJA).
10 June 2013
Concurrent eyewitness and medical evidence upheld; appellant's second appeal dismissed for lack of merit.
* Criminal law – Unnatural offence – Identification by victim and fellow prisoner; corroboration by medical evidence (PF3).; * Evidence – No prescribed number of witnesses required; sufficiency depends on credibility and corroboration.; * Evidence – Medical report admissibility and weight; seal of dispensary doctor sufficient.; * Appeals – Second appeal will not disturb concurrent findings absent misapprehension, miscarriage of justice, or legal error.
10 June 2013