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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2022 |
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Failure to plead reasons for delay in the supporting affidavit bars an extension; written submissions are insufficient.
* Civil procedure — Extension of time — Supporting affidavit must plead and prove reasons for delay; statements from the bar insufficient. * Motion practice — Compliance with rules — Court must be satisfied rules followed even if application unopposed. * Delay — Applicant must account for each day; unexplained multi-year delay is inexcusable. * Respondent concession — Cannot confer jurisdiction or cure procedural defects.
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8 December 2022 |
| March 2022 |
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Appeal dismissed: detailed summing up, corroborated dying declaration and autopsy supported murder conviction and death sentence.
* Criminal law – murder – circumstantial evidence and dying declaration – corroboration required and sufficiency of corroboration. * Criminal procedure – summing up to assessors – requirement to cover essential matters and when non-direction is fatal. * Evidence – medical (post-mortem) evidence – nature and location of wound supporting inference of malice aforethought.
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31 March 2022 |
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Appellant failed to prove title; serial transfers were void/tainted by fraud and Land Register must be rectified to first respondent.
Property law – ownership dispute over registered land; validity of series of sale transfers; alleged fraud in land transactions; weight of Registrar of Titles’ records and Land Office communications; refusal to enforce fraudulent transfers; rectification of Land Register; appellate review of trial judge’s evaluation of evidence.
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31 March 2022 |
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Review dismissed: applicant re-argued decided issues, not showing any patent error warranting Rule 66 review.
• Civil procedure – Review under Rule 66(1) – Review allowed only for patent error on face of record, denial of hearing, nullity, lack of jurisdiction, or fraud/perjury.
• Labour law – CMA awards on repatriation, subsistence allowance and salary deductions – jurisdictional objections and time-bar complaints.
• Review vs appeal – disgruntlement with prior judgment is not a ground for review; review cannot be used as an appeal in disguise.
• Finality of litigation – judgments of the final court should not be routinely reheard.
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30 March 2022 |
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Whether the property was matrimonial and buyer bona fide; court held it was not matrimonial and buyer bona fide.
Land law – Matrimonial property – Whether property registered in one spouse’s name is matrimonial; burden of proof on claimant to show joint acquisition/occupation. Law of Marriage Act – consent to disposition – applicability when property is a matrimonial home or jointly acquired. Land transactions – bona fide purchaser for value without notice – importance of title documents and purchaser’s due diligence under Land Act.
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29 March 2022 |
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Appellate court dismisses appeal, affirms ownership based on credibility despite improper reliance on an untendered letter.
Land law — ownership dispute over unsurveyed land — credibility and possession — annexures to pleadings not evidence unless tendered — appellate review of concurrent findings on credibility.
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29 March 2022 |
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Circumstantial evidence and adequate summing up justified the murder conviction; no basis to order insanity inquiry.
* Criminal law – murder – circumstantial evidence – must point irresistibly to accused's guilt; three tests for reliability of circumstantial proof. * Criminal procedure – assessors – duty to adequately sum up; omission/misdirection may nullify trial. * Criminal procedure – inquiry into insanity under section 220 CPA – requires material to show accused might have been insane.
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28 March 2022 |
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Appeal struck out as time-barred because the applicant failed to serve the respondent with the written request for certified copies under Rule 90(3).
Civil procedure – Appeal time limits – Rule 90(1) and (3) Court of Appeal Rules – requirement that written application for certified copies be served on respondent – Registrar’s certificate of delay ineffectual if service requirement not complied with – appeal struck out as time-barred.
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28 March 2022 |
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Appeal against murder conviction dismissed: eyewitness and pathological evidence established malice aforethought; self-defence not proved.
* Criminal law – Murder – Identification and credibility of eyewitnesses – Corroboration by post-mortem report. * Criminal law – Mens rea – Malice aforethought inferred from weapon, force, injury location and conduct of attackers. * Criminal law – Self-defence/defence of property – burden to show good faith and reasonable belief; not established. * Evidence – Failure to call hospital witnesses not fatal where cogent eyewitness and medical evidence exists.
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28 March 2022 |
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Whether a ministerial extension under section 44 must run from expiry of the statutory limitation period, rendering later commencements ineffective.
Limitation law — section 44 Law of Limitation Act — ministerial extension — effect of section 44(2) requiring extension to run immediately upon expiry of statutory period; aggregate limitation period; dismissal under section 3(1) as decree; appealability under section 5(1)(a) Appellate Jurisdiction Act.
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28 March 2022 |
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CMA lacked jurisdiction over a dispute involving a public servant; proceedings quashed for failure to exhaust Public Service Act remedies.
Labour law – jurisdiction of CMA over public servants – Public Service Act s.32A requires exhaustion of internal remedies; definition of "public servant"; disciplinary matters reserved to Public Service Commission; appeal to President; CMA proceedings void for lack of jurisdiction.
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28 March 2022 |
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Retracted confession corroborated to prove unlawful cultivation, but evidence insufficient for unlawful possession.
* Criminal law – Drugs Control and Enforcement Act – unlawful cultivation (s.11(1)(a)) and unlawful possession (s.11(1)(d)) of cannabis sativa. * Evidence – cautioned statement retracted/confession repudiated – requirement for corroboration and circumstances where it may be acted upon. * Burden of proof – sufficiency of evidence to establish cultivation versus possession. * Procedure – contested legality of search and seizure and admissibility of exhibits (court unnecessary to decide).
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25 March 2022 |
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Extension of time granted where delay resulted from Registrar’s omission of exhibits and defective certificate of delay.
Extension of time – Rule 10 Court of Appeal Rules – Good cause – Delay caused by Registrar’s omission/misplacement of endorsed exhibits and defective certificate of delay – Applicant’s diligence – Right to appeal.
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24 March 2022 |
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An appellate court must not decide pecuniary jurisdiction on its own factual valuation without evidence; case remitted for retrial.
* Civil procedure – Jurisdiction – Pecuniary jurisdiction of DLHT – Fundamental issue that may be raised at any stage but requires evidence before factual determination.
* Appellate review – Limitation on appellate courts making factual findings on matters not decided at trial and unsupported by record evidence.
* Remedy – Where jurisdictional value was not determined below, matter should be remitted for de novo hearing to receive evidence on value.
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22 March 2022 |
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Failure to administer oath and to sign witness testimony at the CMA vitiates proceedings; matter remitted for rehearing.
Labour law – CMA procedure – requirement to administer oath or affirmation to witnesses (Rule 25(1), GN No. 67/2007 and Oaths Act) – arbitrator’s signature to witness evidence – procedural defects vitiating proceedings – remittal for de novo hearing.
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22 March 2022 |
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Not objecting to a tribunal’s pecuniary jurisdiction at trial constitutes submission; third appeals are limited to certified points of law.
* Civil procedure – Appeals from Ward Tribunal – third appeal—requirement of High Court certification under s.47(3) Land Disputes Courts' Act – Court of Appeal limited to certified points of law. * Jurisdiction – pecuniary jurisdiction of Ward Tribunal – failure to object at trial amounts to submission to jurisdiction. * Appellate review – concurrent findings of fact by lower tribunals not lightly disturbed in third appeal.
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22 March 2022 |
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Short, excusable reporting delay by a child does not defeat statutory rape conviction when medical and identification evidence corroborate.
Criminal law – Statutory rape – Elements: vaginal penetration, victim under ten, identity of offender; delay in reporting by a child victim – impact on credibility; reconciliation of minor contradictions between witnesses; medical report PF3 as corroboration of sexual assault.
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22 March 2022 |
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Wrong citation of punishment provision was curable; conviction for statutory rape upheld on the complainant’s credible evidence.
* Criminal law – Statutory rape – proof by complainant’s testimony – section 127(6) Evidence Act; * Criminal procedure – contents of charge – statement of offence must reference creating provision but citation of penalty is not mandatory; * Irregularity curable under section 388 Criminal Procedure Act where no prejudice shown; * Admission by plea for forgiveness – evidential value; * Medical evidence – inconsistencies do not necessarily vitiate prosecution case when complainant credible.
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21 March 2022 |
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Court upheld conviction for child rape and sodomy, expunged irregular exhibits and substituted illegal sentence with life imprisonment.
* Criminal procedure — substituted service by publication — compliance with section 381(2) CPA. * Evidence — admissibility of cautioned statements and PF3; expungement for procedural irregularity. * Sexual offences — victim’s testimony as best evidence; corroboration by witnesses and medical evidence. * Proof of age — deduction from charge sheet, voir dire and schooling particulars. * Sentencing — mandatory life imprisonment for unnatural offence against a child (section 154(2)). * Appellate powers — substituting illegal sentence under appellate/revisional jurisdiction.
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21 March 2022 |
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Complainant's credible testimony and medicolegal corroboration upheld rape conviction; appellant's alibi rejected as afterthought.
Criminal law — Rape — Proof of penetration, lack of consent and identity; corroboration by medical evidence (PF3/Exhibit PI) and eyewitness testimony; credibility of complainant under s.127(6) Evidence Act; alibi procedure and notice under s.194(4) Criminal Procedure Act; appellate interference with concurrent findings of fact.
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21 March 2022 |
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Appellants' unobjected confessions sustained conviction; mandatory EOCCA custodial sentence replaces fine option.
* Criminal law – confession – cautioned statements admitted without objection are presumed voluntary and may constitute overwhelming evidence to sustain conviction.
* Criminal procedure – second appeal – appellate court will not disturb concurrent findings of fact absent misdirection or non-direction.
* Evidence – issues of identification, chain of custody and witness contradictions immaterial where conviction rests on accused’s confession.
* Sentencing – economic offences attract mandatory custodial minimum under section 60(2) EOCCA; option of fine or default imprisonment not permissible in such cases.
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18 March 2022 |