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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2021 |
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Breach of mortgagee's duty to obtain best price does not automatically discharge mortgagor from outstanding loan; deficiency remains recoverable.
* Land law – Mortgagee’s duty of care – s.133 Land Act – duty to obtain best price reasonably obtainable and rebuttable presumption where sale ≥25% below comparable prices. * Remedies for breach – nullification of sale or damages; breach does not automatically discharge mortgagor from outstanding debt. * Right of mortgagee to pursue deficiency after sale.
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21 December 2021 |
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Provocation and alleged witchcraft were not proved; evidence showed premeditated murder, so conviction and death sentence affirmed.
Criminal law – Murder v. Manslaughter – Provocation (ss. 201–202 Penal Code) – Heat of passion and objective test; witchcraft allegations – requirement of sudden shock and physical evidence; premeditation and malice aforethought established by conduct (luring, arson, delay, fatal machete attacks) – conviction and death sentence upheld.
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7 December 2021 |
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Holder of a mining licence failed to prove land description or trespass; appeal dismissed with costs.
* Land law – Special mining licence – claim of trespass by licence holder – requirement to prove demarcation and boundaries of suit land; * Evidence – burden of proof in civil claims – 'he who alleges must prove' and weight of concurrent findings; * Possession and trespass – occupier's possession is central; claimant must establish encroachment; * Civil procedure – compensation awarded without being pleaded may be quashed.
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3 December 2021 |
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Failure to administer oath and to sign witnesses' evidence vitiated CMA and High Court proceedings; matter remitted for de novo hearing.
* Labour law – arbitration – mandatory administration of oath or affirmation to witnesses under Mediation and Arbitration Rules and Oaths Act – omission vitiates proceedings.
* Evidence – presiding officer’s signature on recorded witness evidence – authenticity and veracity – omission a fatal irregularity.
* Civil procedure analogies – Order XVIII Rule 5 CPC and precedents applied to arbitration proceedings.
* Remedy – nullification of proceedings, quashing of award and judgment, remittal for de novo hearing; costs each party.
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3 December 2021 |
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Conviction quashed where victim's testimony conflicted with medical evidence and voire dire was defective.
Criminal law — Evidence — Sexual offences: victim's evidence and medical testimony irreconcilable; defective voire dire under s.127(2) renders child evidence unsworn; corroboration and credibility; misapprehension of evidence justifies disturbing concurrent findings.
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3 December 2021 |
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Trial judge’s summing-up comments that influenced assessors vitiated the trial, quashing conviction and ordering retrial.
Criminal procedure — Assessors — Trial Judge must not disclose views or influence assessors when summing-up — Where a Judge departs from assessors' unanimous opinion, reasons should be given — Improper summing-up vitiates proceedings and warrants retrial.
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3 December 2021 |
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Court upheld conviction for unnatural offence despite expungement of child's testimony and medical report, relying on credible circumstantial evidence.
Criminal law – Unnatural offence (sodomy) – Penetration proof – child witness evidence – section 127(2) Evidence Act (promise to tell truth) required and failure to record it renders testimony inadmissible – medical report must be read and explained before admission – delay in arraignment under section 32(1) CPA may be irregular but not necessarily fatal – right to legal representation not automatic; apply for legal aid – credible eyewitness and medical oral evidence can sustain conviction circumstantially.
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3 December 2021 |
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Acceptance of compensation and failure to use statutory remedy estop a former owner from reclaiming title; appeal dismissed with costs.
Acquisition of property – effect of acquisition under Acquisition of Buildings Act 1971 – vesting in Registrar; Compensation – acceptance, mode and effect; Estoppel/election – accepting compensation and paying rent bars later claim to title; Statutory remedy – Appeals Tribunal for disputes on compensation and failure to invoke it; Pleadings – constitutional challenge must be pleaded; Evidence – proper evaluation by trial court.
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3 December 2021 |
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Omission to sign witness testimony rendered evidence unauthentic; conviction quashed and appellant released.
* Criminal procedure – Evidence authenticity – Requirement under section 210(1)(a) CPA that trial Judge sign record after each witness’s testimony – omission vitiates evidence.
* Applicability – Section 210(1)(a) CPA applies to High Court trials.
* Remedies – Use of revisional powers under section 4(2) AJA to nullify proceedings, quash conviction and set aside sentence; retrial only where interests of justice require (Fatehali Manji).
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2 December 2021 |
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Credible complainant testimony can prove rape despite an unread medical report; PF3 expunged and appeal dismissed.
* Criminal law – Sexual offences: rape – conviction may rest on credible victim’s testimony even without medical corroboration. * Evidence – medical report (PF3) admitted but not read out: exhibit expunged; medical evidence corroborative not mandatory. * Evidence – competence and credibility of elderly complainant: no special warning or corroboration required if testimony is consistent. * Legal aid – entitlement not automatic; accused must claim indigence/apply to certifying authority. * Appellate jurisdiction – Court will not entertain new factual grounds not raised and decided below. * Criminal procedure – alibi raised without prior notice may be disregarded.
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2 December 2021 |
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Omission of judge's signatures on witness evidence rendered the conviction unsafe; conviction quashed and no retrial ordered.
Appellate procedure — Trial judge's signatures on witness statements — Absence renders recorded evidence suspect; Evidence — identification and chain of custody of exhibit (mobile phone) — serial number, markings and retrieval contradictions; Remedy — revisional quashing of conviction and refusal to order retrial where prosecution case is materially deficient.
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2 December 2021 |
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Omission of the trial magistrate's required signatures rendered the proceedings a nullity; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
* Criminal procedure – recording of evidence – requirement that magistrate append signature after recording each witness’s evidence – section 210(1)(a) CPA; * Procedural irregularity – omission to sign renders proceedings unauthentic and a nullity; * Appellate jurisdiction – power under section 4(2) AJA to nullify proceedings, quash conviction and set aside sentence; * Retrial – principles governing ordering of retrial (Fatehali Manji) and assessment of whether prosecution evidence is sufficiently strong or susceptible to cure on retrial.
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2 December 2021 |
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Omission of the trial judge’s signature on each witness’s testimony vitiates proceedings and warrants nullification and retrial.
Civil procedure — Evidence — Mandatory requirement for judge’s signature at end of each witness’s testimony (Order XVIII r.5 CPC; s.210 CPA) — Omission vitiates proceedings — Authenticity and veracity of court record — Revisional powers (s.4(2) AJA) — Nullification, quashment and remittal for retrial.
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1 December 2021 |
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A judge's decision on a suo motu legal issue without hearing parties violates the right to be heard and vitiates the judgment.
Criminal procedure — audi alteram partem — judge raising legal issue suo motu during judgment composition without hearing parties — violation of right to be heard renders judgment nullity — remedy: quash, set aside orders and remit for rehearing by another judge; bail pending appeal not available where notice of appeal has ceased.
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1 December 2021 |
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High Court’s suo motu legal finding without hearing parties vitiated its judgment; appeal remitted and appellant remitted to custody.
Criminal law – forgery; Procedural fairness – right to be heard (audi alteram partem); Appellate procedure – raising legal issues suo motu; Remedy – nullification and remittal; Bail pending appeal – jurisdiction where notice of appeal has ceased.
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1 December 2021 |
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Deferring reasons for trials-within-trial and delivering them before assessors prejudiced appellants; retrial ordered.
* Criminal procedure – trial within a trial – admissibility of cautioned statements – requirement that assessors retire and ruling be given before main trial proceeds; * Procedural irregularity – deferral of reasons and delivering them in assessors’ presence – potential prejudice to defence and prosecution; * Revisional powers – nullification of proceedings, quashing convictions and ordering retrial.
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1 December 2021 |
| November 2021 |
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Extension of time refused where alleged illegality was not apparent and the application was an abuse of process.
Civil procedure – extension of time – illegality may constitute sufficient cause but must be apparent on the face of the record and of sufficient importance; repetitive applications – abuse of court process – dismissal with costs; authorities: Principal Secretary v Devram Valambia; Lyamuya Construction Co. Ltd.
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29 November 2021 |
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Applicant failed to show good cause for extension of time; unexplained delays and lack of diligence led to dismissal with costs.
Extension of time – Rules 10 and 90(1) – requirement to account for each day of delay – diligence v. sloppiness – ignorance of law or lack of guidance not good cause – relevant authorities: Lyamuya, Bushiri, Airtel, Farida F. Mbarak, Laureno Mseya.
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26 November 2021 |
| August 2021 |
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Voire dire, proof of penetration corroborated by medical and maternal evidence; defective charge curable and appeal dismissed.
* Evidence — Child witness — Voire dire under s.127 Evidence Act — recording opinion that child understands duty to tell truth. * Criminal law — Rape — Proof of penetration — Victim's unsworn testimony corroborated by maternal observation and medical findings; penetration however slight sufficient. * Procedure — Defective citation in charge curable under s.388 Criminal Procedure Act when particulars prevent prejudice. * Appeals — Second appeal cannot raise matters not argued in first appeal.
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4 August 2021 |
| July 2021 |
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Whether summary dismissal was mandatory and whether the Minister's lesser penalty was unreasonable under the SEA.
Administrative law – judicial review – unreasonableness/Wednesbury standard; Labour law – disciplinary penalties under the Security of Employment Act (s.21: penalties and s.21(2) lesser penalty for first breach); Ministerial discretion on references (s.27(2)); prerogative remedies – certiorari and mandamus; effect of certiorari on underlying Board decisions.
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28 July 2021 |
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Legal title registered in appellant held in trust for unincorporated association; respondent entitled to beneficial ownership.
Unincorporated association — capacity to hold property — registered title held by third party as trustee — oral agreement and conduct giving rise to trust — beneficial ownership v. legal title — re-appraisal of evidence by Court of Appeal.
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27 July 2021 |
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Statutory notice and auction complied with mortgage law; sale upheld and appeal dismissed with costs.
Mortgage law — Notice of default — Service and compliance with Mortgage Deed and s.127 Land Act (as amended) — Mortgagee’s power of sale under ss.126,132 Land Act — Auction procedure and Auctioneers Act compliance — Effect of Mortgage Financing Act (2008) reducing notice to 60 days — Duty to obtain best price and s.133 Land Act — Application of proceeds and refund under s.137 Land Act — Bona fide purchaser protection.
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23 July 2021 |
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Applicant failed to show due diligence or necessity to admit additional survey map or a locus visit on appeal.
Civil procedure — Admission of fresh evidence on appeal — Ladd v Marshall test — reasonable diligence, probable influence, credibility; locus in quo visits; redundancy of evidence; abuse of process.
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16 July 2021 |
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Court ordered tracing and reconstruction of missing appeal record rather than immediate quash and release where notice was defective.
Criminal appeal — Missing record of proceedings — Registrar's duty under Rules 68 and 71 — Prisoner lodging of notice (Rule 75) — Validity of undated/unendorsed notice of appeal — Reconstruction of missing record and required cooperation of registries, trial/appellate courts, prosecution, police and prisons.
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16 July 2021 |
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Revision dismissed: failure to lodge/annex notice of appeal and impugned decision rendered the certificate application incompetent.
* Land appeals (Ward Tribunal origin) – requirement of High Court certificate on point of law (s.47(3), (4) Land Disputes Courts Act).
* Court of Appeal Rules – Rule 46(1), Rule 47(1), Rule 49(3), Rule 84(1): notice of appeal must be lodged prior to application for certificate; copies of notice and impugned decision must be annexed; service requirements.
* Procedural competence – failure to annex required documents and to show service is fatal; striking out appropriate remedy.
* Prematurity – unsuccessful or struck-out High Court applications must be corrected/refiled before invoking Court of Appeal revisional jurisdiction.
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15 July 2021 |
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Conviction based solely on improperly recorded, uncorroborated extra-judicial statements is unsafe and was quashed.
Criminal law – Extra-judicial statements recorded by a Justice of the Peace – Compliance with Chief Justice’s Guide – Voluntariness and admissibility; Corroboration requirement – Conviction unsafe where based solely on uncorroborated, improperly recorded confessions; Insufficient circumstantial evidence cannot sustain conviction once confessions are discounted.
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15 July 2021 |
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Applicant failed to prove the appeal was withdrawn by fraud or mistake; restoration denied and application dismissed.
Criminal procedure – restoration of withdrawn appeal under rule 77(3) – requirements: withdrawal induced by fraud or mistake and interests of justice; Evidence – burden on applicant to prove withdrawal by fraud or mistake with supporting evidence; Procedural relief – consequential orders dependent on successful restoration of appeal.
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15 July 2021 |
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Night-time visual identification by moonlight was unsafe; convictions quashed and appellants released.
Criminal law – Robbery with violence – Visual identification at night by moonlight; reliability and Waziri Amani factors; single-witness evidence; need for corroboration; adverse inference for omission to call available witnesses; failure to connect arrests to charged offence.
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14 July 2021 |
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Failure to serve the written request for certified High Court proceedings invalidated the certificate of delay; appeal was time-barred and struck out.
Civil procedure – Appeals – Time limit for instituting appeal – Rule 90(1) & (3) Tanzania Court of Appeal Rules – Certificate of delay; requirement that application for certified proceedings be in writing and served on respondents – Failure to serve invalidates certificate – Jurisdictional nature of sixty-day rule – Overriding objective cannot cure mandatory procedural defects.
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14 July 2021 |
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A court’s suo motu decision on limitation without hearing parties violates the right to be heard and renders the judgment null.
* Civil procedure – right to be heard (audi alteram partem) – court raising and deciding limitation suo motu while composing judgment without affording parties opportunity to address – such judgment a nullity.
* Constitutional law – natural justice – right to be fully heard as fundamental right.
* Appellate jurisdiction – revisional powers – nullification and remittal for rehearing.
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14 July 2021 |
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Victim’s credible evidence and medical corroboration upheld rape conviction; charge‑sheet defect cured and appeal dismissed.
* Criminal law – Rape of a child – Evidence of victim under age eight – penetration and identification as primary proof.
* Criminal procedure – Defective charge sheet – omission of statutory subsection curable under s.388 CPA where particulars give sufficient notice.
* Appeals – Second appeal jurisdiction – new grounds not raised in first appeal are inadmissible.
* Evidence – Corroboration and medical examination as supporting proof; alibi failing to discharge burden.
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14 July 2021 |
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Court dismissed appeal, holding child’s sworn testimony and mother’s independent inspection sufficed for conviction.
* Criminal law – Evidence of child witness – Voire dire: once a child understands oath and duty to speak truth, no separate intelligibility test required.
* Evidence – Child witness credibility – Unsuspended credible child testimony may suffice for conviction under section 127.
* Evidence – Parent's non‑expert inspection – A parent may give eyewitness evidence of physical signs without being an expert and can corroborate a child witness.
* Criminal procedure – Alibi – Where prosecution establishes accused's presence, unsupported alibi is insufficient.
* Appellate procedure – New factual grounds not raised below are not entertainable by the Court of Appeal.
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13 July 2021 |
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Trial nullified for inadequate summing up on malice aforethought and alibi; retrial ordered.
* Criminal procedure – Duty to authenticate witness testimony – presiding judge must append signature at end of a witness's testimony (after all stages of examination and any judicial/assessor questions). * Criminal procedure – Trials with assessors – mandatory duty to sum up and explain vital points of law to assessors, including malice aforethought and alibi; failure renders trial unfair and a nullity. * Remedy – retrial before a new judge and different assessors.
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13 July 2021 |
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Eyewitness identification in daylight and hot pursuit can sustain armed robbery convictions despite non-production of stolen items.
Criminal law – armed robbery – identification in daylight and hot pursuit; Evidence Act s.143 – prosecution discretion on witnesses; non-production of stolen property goes to weight not admissibility; cautioned statements recorded outside statutory period expunged.
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8 July 2021 |
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Visual and voice identification, supported by medical and circumstantial evidence, upheld murder convictions and death sentences.
Criminal law – visual identification – application of Waziri Amani safeguards; voice identification – approached with caution but admissible if witness familiar; autopsy report not indispensable where medical and eyewitness evidence prove death and cause; alibi – burden to prove; malice aforethought – established by brutal, premeditated attack (matricide).
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8 July 2021 |
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The Tax Appeals Board has exclusive jurisdiction over civil disputes arising from administration of revenue laws, including damages claims.
Tax Revenue Appeals Act s.7 – Board’s sole original jurisdiction over civil proceedings arising from revenue laws; s.7A and s.12 – procedural requirements for tax assessments, not limits on jurisdiction; inclusion of Cap.124 in TRA Act First Schedule; jurisdictional ouster of ordinary courts for revenue-law disputes; relief sought does not determine forum.
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5 July 2021 |
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Whether service irregularity and a wrongly dated decree warrant striking out an appeal or allow rectification by supplementary record.
* Civil procedure — Preliminary objection — requirement that a preliminary objection raise a pure point of law — factual disputes on service require evidence and cannot be disposed of on objection.
* Court of Appeal Rules, r.97(1) — duty to serve memorandum and record of appeal within seven days where respondent has given address for service.
* Decree — must bear date of pronouncement of judgment; discrepancy renders decree defective (Order XXXIX r.35(1) CPC).
* Overriding Objective (ss.3A–3B AJA) and r.96(7) — Court may allow supplementary record to cure defects rather than striking out appeal.
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5 July 2021 |
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The Court affirmed an eight-year sentence for attempted murder, finding mitigating factors were considered and the term was not excessive.
* Criminal law – Attempted murder – sentence – whether eight years imprisonment excessive; consideration of mitigating factors (first offender, youth, guilty plea, time in custody); appellate interference with sentence limited to specific grounds.
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5 July 2021 |
| May 2021 |
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Appeal struck out as time‑barred because the Certificate of Delay was defective and not amenable to cure absent an application.
Civil procedure – Appeals – Certificate of Delay under Rule 90(1) – requirement to refer to the decision appealed against and to accurately certify excluded period – defective certificate renders appeal time‑barred; overriding objective cannot cure defects where no application for rectification is made; court cannot grant unprayed relief.
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7 May 2021 |
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Review application dismissed; alleged manifest error and date/cost discrepancies are either non-reviewable or clerical and correctable.
* Appellate procedure – Review – scope limited and sparingly exercised; cannot be used to re-argue appeal; Rule 66(1).; * Evidence – factual re‑evaluation not permitted on review; review only for manifest error on face of record.; * Civil procedure – Judgment v. extracted Order discrepancies; practice on dating judgments and Registrar's delivery entries.; * Court rules – clerical/arithmetical mistakes correctable under Rule 42(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules.; * Public policy – finality of litigation.
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7 May 2021 |
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A defective certificate of delay may render an appeal time-barred, but court can allow rectification under the overriding objective.
* Civil procedure – Certificate of delay – Rule 90(1) and Form L – requirement to state aggregate days excluded and proper start/end dates. * Time limitation – defective certificate of delay normally renders appeal time-barred. * Overriding objective (s.3A AJA and Rule 2) – court may permit rectification of defective certificate to advance substantive justice.
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7 May 2021 |
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High Court lacked power to revise pre-committal proceedings or order bail/dismissal for unbailable terrorism offences.
Criminal procedure — High Court revision — limits under ss.372 & 373 CPA; pre-committal matters not revisable; Bail — offences under Prevention of Terrorism Act are unbailable per s.148(5)(a)(iv) CPA; subordinate/committal courts lack jurisdiction to grant bail or dismiss charges triable only by the High Court.
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7 May 2021 |
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A High Court ruling granting relief not sought by the applicant was set aside and remitted for fresh determination.
Revision; High Court granted relief not prayed for; slip rule (clerical correction) inapplicable to substantive misdirection; revisional powers under s.4(3) AJA; respondent without affidavit limited to points of law.
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7 May 2021 |
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Prosecution under a repealed statute vitiates proceedings; convictions are quashed and release, not retrial, may be ordered.
Criminal law — Repeal of statute — Charging under repealed law — Effect of repeal: obliteration absent savings — Proceedings founded on repealed statute are nullities — Appellate jurisdiction s.4(2): quashing null proceedings — Retrial vs release where appellant served substantial time under illegal conviction.
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6 May 2021 |
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Documents admitted at preliminary hearing did not vitiate trial; provocation and intoxication failed to reduce murder to manslaughter.
Criminal procedure – preliminary hearing under s.192 CPA – documents admitted deemed proved; assessors’ rights – summing up sufficient to explain admitted statements; substantive law – provocation and intoxication defences; malice aforethought established by weapon, wounds and conduct; murder upheld.
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5 May 2021 |
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Conviction for armed robbery quashed after confessions were improperly admitted and evidence of theft was insufficient.
Criminal law – Armed robbery – Admissibility of cautioned and extra-judicial statements – Voluntariness inquiry required before admission where objection is raised – Retracted confessions have little evidentiary weight – Corroboration of co-accused confession (s.33(2) Evidence Act) – Proof of theft and ownership essential to convict for armed robbery.
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5 May 2021 |
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Consent decree on mortgage sale bars subsequent suit; auction/execution irregularities must be raised in execution proceedings.
* Civil procedure – Res judicata – applicability of section 9 CPC – consent/compromise decree registered as court decree operates conclusively; parties and privies. * Execution law – sale under decree – alleged irregularities/fraud to be challenged by execution application (Order XXI Rule 88(1)/section 38(1) CPC), not by separate suit. * Agency and privity – auctioneer as agent and purchaser acquiring interest become privies for res judicata purposes.
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3 May 2021 |
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A defective Certificate of Delay may be cured by leave to obtain a proper certificate under the overriding objective.
Certificate of delay – defect or wrong reference – whether defect vitiates exclusion of time under rule 90(1); overriding objective (sections 3A & 3B AJA and Rule 2) – leave to obtain/rectify certificate – conflicting precedents; appellate procedure.
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3 May 2021 |
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Victim’s credible identification and medical evidence proved statutory rape; cautioned statement expunged but conviction upheld.
Criminal law – Rape (statutory) – proof of penetration and age; Visual identification – Waziri Amani factors; New grounds on second appeal – jurisdictional limits; Admissibility – cautioned statement must be read over in court; Medical evidence – clinical officer with diploma competent to examine and prepare PF3.
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3 May 2021 |
| April 2021 |
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Failure to properly involve assessors, unsigned proceedings and deficient summing-up vitiated the trial and warranted retrial.
Criminal procedure – Assessors: statutory selection/introduction duties (ss. 265, 283, 285 CPA) – Judge’s failure to inform accused of right to object – Judge’s signature on recorded evidence – insufficiency of summing up to assessors – incurable procedural irregularities – retrial ordered.
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30 April 2021 |