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.
7 judgments
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Results. 7 judgments found.

7 judgments
October 2021
Conviction based on untested visual identification of the applicant was unsafe and was quashed.
  • Criminal procedure
    • — Amendment of charge — prejudice and recall of witnesses — Curability under s.388 CPA
    • — identification parade — When absence may render identification unsafe — Dock identification valueless where parade not conducted
  • Evidence — Visual identification — Where assailant is unfamiliar, identification unsafe without parade or corroboration — Waziri Amani safeguards
29 October 2021
A defective statutory citation in the charge was curable; the applicant's rape conviction was upheld on credible victim and eyewitness evidence.
  • Criminal procedure
    • — Appeal — interference with concurrent findings of fact only for misapprehension or miscarriage of justice
    • — Defective statement of offence — wrongful/omitted citation of statutory subsections — curability
    • — Identification — daylight, acquaintance and earliest opportunity
    • — Sexual offences — weight of complainant’s evidence and corroboration by eyewitness
29 October 2021
A defective citation may be curable if particulars disclose the offence, but an equivocal guilty plea warrants quashing the conviction.
  • Appellate practice — Discretion on retrial — courts may decline retrial where long delay, witness unavailability or faded memory, and personal circumstances of accused make retrial unjust
  • Criminal procedure — Defective charge — citation of repealed/non-applicable statutory provisions — curability where particulars and facts disclose ingredients of offence
29 October 2021
Appeal allowed: conviction for attempted rape quashed due to unreliable prosecution evidence and non‑proof beyond reasonable doubt.
  • Criminal law — Rape: essential ingredients — Proof of intent to procure prohibited sexual intercourse — Penal Code s 132(1), (2)(a)
  • Criminal procedure — charge particulars and curative power under section 388 CPA — Defective charge curable where accused informed of nature of offence — CPA s 388(1)
  • Evidence — Failure to call material witnesses — adverse inference permissible — Evidence Act s 143
28 October 2021
A transfer order omitting the magistrate's name vitiated jurisdiction; insufficient evidence and procedural defects precluded retrial.
  • Criminal procedure
    • — Ruling on case to answer — Duty to comply with ss.230 and 231 CPA
    • — transfer to Resident Magistrate with extended jurisdiction — Requirement to name magistrate in transfer order (s256A(1) CPA)
  • Evidence — night-time identification and identification of clothing — Sufficiency of eyewitness identification for conviction
22 October 2021
Transfer order omitting the magistrate's name vitiated jurisdiction; conviction quashed due to procedural defects and insufficient evidence.
  • Criminal law — Jurisdiction — Transfer and reassignment of cases under section 256A of CPA — Criminal Procedure Act s 256A(1)
  • Criminal procedure
    • — Retrial principles (Fataheli Manji) — Retrial not ordered where prosecution fails to prove case or interests of justice do not require it — Retrial not ordered where proceedings vitiated by jurisdictional defect and evidential gaps
    • — Trial fairness — Failure to analyse prosecution evidence and to warn on single-witness identification — Impact on conviction
22 October 2021
Repudiated extra‑judicial and oral confessions corroborated by seized property can sustain criminal convictions.
  • Appellate practice — Appellate review — Appellate review of factual findings — Duty of first appellate court to re-evaluate evidence and avoid misdirection
  • Criminal law — Money laundering — adequacy of charge particulars under Anti‑Money Laundering Act and CPA — Anti‑Money Laundering Act ss.12(e),13(a)
  • Evidence — Confession — Repudiated Confession — Corroboration required
18 October 2021