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Citation
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Judgment date
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| November 2021 |
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A ward tribunal improperly constituted (insufficient members, no women) vitiates its proceedings and leads to quashing of later judgments.
Ward Tribunals – Composition and quorum – Mandatory requirement of 4–8 members with at least three women – Failure to meet composition requirements renders proceedings void and divests jurisdiction; consequent quashing of DLHT and High Court decisions; effect of Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendment) (No. 3) Act, 2021 on retrial.
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5 November 2021 |
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An apparent illegality in the charge justified suo motu extension of time to appeal despite the appellant's failure to show diligence.
Criminal procedure - extension of time to appeal - good cause and diligence required; apparent illegality on the face of the record (wrong statutory provisions in charge) justifies suo motu extension to allow High Court review; appellate court must not pre-determine merits of alleged illegality at extension stage.
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4 November 2021 |
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Procedural defects (assessors' participation and unsworn witnesses) vitiated proceedings; retrial ordered.
* Land law – procedure – District Land and Housing Tribunal composition – requirement of a chairman and two assessors; assessors must give written opinions before judgment (Regulation 19(2)). * Civil procedure – procedural irregularities – change of presiding chairmen without reasons; assessors’ names not clearly recorded. * Evidence – witnesses must be sworn or affirmed; unsworn testimony has no evidential value (Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act). * Remedy – fundamental procedural defects vitiate proceedings; nullification and retrial ordered.
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3 November 2021 |
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Conviction quashed where visual identification was unsafe and alibi inadequately considered, despite curable procedural defects.
* Criminal law – Rape – charge sheet defects – omission of correct statutory citation curable under s.388 CPA where particulars and evidence give full notice. * Evidence – PF3 admitted but not read out – contents expunged. * Evidence – Proof of victim’s age may be given by sibling/relative. * Evidence – Visual identification is weakest form; must be watertight; alibi must be considered. * Procedure – Right to counsel: no duty on court to inform accused; legal aid requires application and certification.
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3 November 2021 |
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Appellants' armed robbery convictions upheld; charge defect and procedural lapses deemed curable, identification credible.
Criminal law — Armed robbery — Defective charge curable under s.388 Criminal Procedure Act where particulars and evidence give sufficient notice; Identification — Night-time identification valid where witness knew accused and there was lamp/torch/moonlight; Delay in arrest — Unexplained delay not necessarily fatal where investigation explains subsequent arrest; Change of magistrates — Successor may read judgment and sentence under s.214(3) CPA but reasons for taking over desirable; Burden of proof — Prosecution must prove theft with violence and identity beyond reasonable doubt.
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2 November 2021 |
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Alleged illegality in a trial judgment can justify extension of time to appeal; Court may grant extension suo motu to allow review.
Criminal procedure – extension of time under s.361(2) CPA – alleged illegality as sufficient cause for extension – appellate limitation: issues must have been raised and decided below – Court of Appeal’s power to grant extension suo motu in interest of justice.
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1 November 2021 |
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Convictions based on un-read cautioned statements and unreliable visual identification cannot stand.
Criminal law – Cautioned statements must be read out after admission; failure is incurable – Visual identification requires favourable conditions and naming at earliest opportunity – Identification parade requires prior description and is pointless where witness knew suspect – Proof beyond reasonable doubt.
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1 November 2021 |
| October 2021 |
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Convictions based on unreliable visual identification without an identification parade were quashed as unsafe.
* Criminal law – Visual identification – identification evidence must be watertight; apply Waziri Amani factors. * Identification parade – necessary where identifying witnesses are strangers; absence renders dock identification valueless. * Dock identification – of no evidential value without prior parade. * Appeal – concurrent factual findings will not be disturbed unless there are misdirections or miscarriage of justice. * Procedural irregularities – tested by whether they caused prejudice; curable under s.388 CPA if no substantial injustice.
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29 October 2021 |
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A defective statutory citation in the charge was curable; the applicant's rape conviction was upheld on credible victim and eyewitness evidence.
Criminal procedure – defective statement of offence – wrongful/omitted citation of statutory subsections – curability under section 388(1) CPA; Sexual offences – weight of complainant’s evidence and corroboration by eyewitness; Identification – daylight, acquaintance and earliest opportunity; Appeal – interference with concurrent findings of fact only for misapprehension or miscarriage of justice.
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29 October 2021 |
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A defective citation may be curable if particulars disclose the offence, but an equivocal guilty plea warrants quashing the conviction.
* Criminal procedure – defective charge – citation of repealed/non-applicable statutory provisions – curability where particulars and facts disclose ingredients of offence (s.388(1) CPA).
* Plea procedure – guilty plea must be recorded after explanation of essential ingredients in a language understood by accused and admissions recorded in accused’s own words; failure renders plea equivocal and unsafe.
* Discretion on retrial – courts may decline retrial where long delay, witness unavailability or faded memory, and personal circumstances of accused make retrial unjust.
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29 October 2021 |
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Charge defects curable but conviction overturned for unreliable evidence and failure to call a material witness.
Criminal law — Attempted rape — Charge defects and curability under section 388(1) CPA — Voir dire and child of tender age — Evidence credibility and contradictions — Duty to call material witnesses; adverse inference.
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28 October 2021 |
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A High Court transfer order omitting the named magistrate vitiated jurisdiction; conviction quashed due to procedural and evidential defects.
* Criminal procedure – Transfer from High Court – Section 256A(1) CPA requires naming the resident magistrate with extended jurisdiction – omission vitiates trial jurisdiction
* Evidence – Identification at night – necessity to explain source of light and conditions for reliable ID
* Evidence – Admissibility of post-mortem report – must be properly tendered, produced by maker and read in court
* Evidence – Unsworn testimony – non-compliance with section 198(1) CPA requires expunging evidence
* Procedure – Failure to give ruling on case to answer, failure to close defence case, unspecified interpreter, and omission to cite statutory provisions at conviction/sentence – cumulatively prejudicial
* Remedy – Retrial discretionary; where retrial would allow prosecution to fill evidential gaps and prejudice accused, conviction may be quashed and accused released
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22 October 2021 |
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Transfer order omitting named magistrate vitiated trial; conviction quashed for jurisdictional, evidential and procedural defects.
* Criminal procedure – Transfer of case under section 256A(1) CPA – transfer order must name the resident magistrate with extended jurisdiction; omission vitiates trial. * Evidence – Admissibility and proper introduction of post-mortem reports; requirement to read exhibits after admission. * Evidence – Unsigned/unsworn eyewitness testimony and failure to explain identification conditions at night undermines reliability. * Fair trial – Duty to record interpreter’s language, give ruling on a case to answer, and properly close defence; procedural irregularities can nullify proceedings. * Revisionary powers – Court may nullify proceedings and quash conviction where jurisdictional and substantive defects make retrial unjust.
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22 October 2021 |
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Convictions for armed robbery and money laundering upheld where confessions were voluntary and corroborated despite procedural omissions.
* Criminal law – armed robbery; money laundering – adequacy of charge particulars under Anti-Money Laundering Act and CPA. * Evidence – voluntariness and admissibility of extra-judicial and oral confessions; treatment of repudiated confessions and requirement for corroboration. * Appellate procedure – duty to consider defence evidence and Court of Appeal’s power to re-evaluate evidence. * Identification evidence – CCTV and witness identification as corroborative, not sole, basis for conviction.
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18 October 2021 |
| May 2021 |
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Court grants extension of time after finding High Court erred in dismissing unchallenged affidavit explaining delay.
* Criminal procedure – Extension of time – s.11(1) Appellate Jurisdiction Act – concurrent power of High Court and Court of Appeal to extend time. * Civil procedure – Competence – refusal of extension: appeal to Court of Appeal is generally incompetent; proper remedy is fresh application under Court Rules (second bite). * Appellate Jurisdiction – s.4(2) revisional powers – Court may retain record and exercise revisional jurisdiction to rectify procedural injustice. * Evidence – uncontroverted affidavit – failure of respondent to file counter-affidavit means the applicant's averments stand and may constitute sufficient cause.
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7 May 2021 |
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7 May 2021 |
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A court must join the land-allocating authority where title validity and railway-reserve inclusion are necessary to adjudicate a land dispute.
Civil procedure – joinder of necessary parties – Order I Rules 3 and 10(2) CPC – court’s duty to add necessary parties suo motu; Land law – effect of registered title – section 33(1) Land Registration Act; Railway reserve – necessity of land-allocating authority to resolve boundary/title disputes.
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7 May 2021 |
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Appellant’s appeal dismissed: age and child evidence were adequately proved, voir dire irregularity cured by corroboration, date variance not prejudicial.
Criminal law — Rape of a child — Proof of age may be by medical evidence and PF3; voire dire irregularity when receiving child evidence does not automatically invalidate testimony but calls for corroboration; defence of grudges must raise reasonable doubt to succeed; variance between charge and evidence is curable if not prejudicial.
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6 May 2021 |
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Defects in the record of appeal (judgment, decree, certificate) are curable; appellant granted 45 days to rectify.
• Civil procedure — Record of appeal — defective judgment caption; omission in decree; defective certificate of delay — curability under Rule 96(7) of the Court of Appeal Rules and section 96 Civil Procedure Code — supplementary record of appeal. • Appellate practice — defective certificate of delay invalid but rectifiable (Katibhai Patel).
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5 May 2021 |
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Review dismissed: review cannot re‑open appeal issues; alleged section 130 Evidence Act error not manifest on record.
Criminal procedure — Review jurisdiction under Rule 66(1) — Manifest error on the face of the record — Section 130(1) Evidence Act (addressing spouse‑witness) — Section 256A Criminal Procedure Act (transfer of case) — Review is not an appeal; finality of litigation.
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5 May 2021 |
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Improper summing up by the trial judge, including expressing his views to assessors, vitiated the proceedings and mandated retrial.
* Criminal procedure – Trials with assessors – Duty to sum up evidence to assessors under s.298(1) Criminal Procedure Act – summing up must fairly summarise evidence and not express judge's own views.
* Trial irregularity – improper comments by judge during summing up – may vitiate proceedings and render them a nullity.
* Retrial – ordered only when interests of justice require; serious offences may warrant retrial after nullification.
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3 May 2021 |
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Conviction quashed where witnesses who testified under the original charge were not recalled after the charge was altered.
* Criminal procedure – substitution/amendment of charge – requirement under s.234(5) CPA to recall witnesses who had testified under original charge.
* Evidence – recalling witnesses after charge alteration – testimony given before substitution has no evidential value unless witnesses are recalled.
* Evidence – hearsay – testimony repeating what others said inadmissible to sustain conviction.
* Standard of proof – prosecution must prove offence beyond reasonable doubt; failure to recall witnesses and reliance on hearsay negates proof.
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3 May 2021 |
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Failure to obtain and consider assessors' written opinions vitiated tribunal proceedings, requiring retrial before a different bench.
Land dispute — survey/plot numbering; District Land and Housing Tribunal — assessors must give written opinions (Reg. 19(2), s.23) and opinions must be considered (s.24); failure to obtain/record assessors' opinions vitiates proceedings; retrial ordered.
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3 May 2021 |
| April 2021 |
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Failure of a trial court to supply judgment can constitute good cause for extension of time to file a criminal appeal; High Court must not predetermine appeal merits.
* Criminal procedure — Extension of time to file appeal — Applicant must show "good cause" under section 361(2) CPA — delay caused by trial court’s failure to supply judgment can amount to good cause.
* Jurisdiction — High Court must not predetermine competence or merits of an intended appeal when deciding extension applications.
* Appellate power — Court of Appeal may exercise section 4(2) AJA powers to determine extension applications when High Court errs.
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30 April 2021 |
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Failure to inform the appellant of his right to object to assessors and to explain assessors' role nullified the trial.
Criminal procedure – assessors – duty of trial judge to inform accused of right to object to assessors and to explain assessors' role; practice versus law; non‑compliance renders proceedings a nullity; retrial ordered where original trial is illegal or defective; circumstantial evidence/last‑seen doctrine raised but proceedings quashed on procedural grounds.
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28 April 2021 |
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First appellate court must critically re‑evaluate trial evidence; respondent failed to prove valid surrender, appellant declared lawful owner.
* Civil procedure – first appeal – duty to re‑evaluate trial evidence – re‑appraisal must be clear and substantive.
* Evidence – burden and standard in civil cases – he who alleges must prove on balance of probabilities.
* Land law – validity of surrender and allocation – necessity of owner’s mandate and proper documentary chronology.
* Appellate jurisdiction – this Court may re‑evaluate evidence where first appellate court fails to do so.
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28 April 2021 |
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Conviction for rape upheld: defective charge not prejudicial and victim's unchallenged testimony sufficient.
Criminal law – Rape – Defective charge (omission of s.130(2)(a)) – prejudice to accused; Criminal procedure – Compliance with s.312(2) CPA; Evidence – Victim’s unchallenged testimony as sufficient proof in sexual offences (Selemani Makumba); Appellate review – Issues not raised in lower courts cannot be entertained on second appeal.
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27 April 2021 |
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Defective summing up to assessors—Judge disclosed views, vitiating proceedings; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
Criminal procedure – Trials with assessors – Mandatory duty of trial Judge to sum up evidence, explain burden and defences; prohibition against disclosing judicial views to assessors; defective summing up vitiates proceedings and entitles appellant to retrial.
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27 April 2021 |
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Conviction for unlawful firearm possession quashed due to contradictory witness identity and failure to issue seizure receipt under s.38(3) CPA.
Criminal law – Unlawful possession of firearm – requirement of independent witness at seizure and issuance of receipt under s.38(3) CPA – contradictions in witness identity and absence of seizure receipt vitiate prosecution case; procedural omission to allow cross-examination of co‑accused not prejudicial where no implication.
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23 April 2021 |