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655 judgments found.
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December 1985
Appellants' convictions for stealing by agent and fraudulent false accounting quashed for lack of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Evidence — proof beyond reasonable doubt
Criminal law — theft by agent (s.273(b)) and fraudulent false accounting (s.317(b))
— insufficiency
— missing accounting records and inconsistent investigative testimony undermining conviction
31 December 1985
Conviction for cattle theft quashed where identification evidence was confused and failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Cattle theft — Sufficiency of identification evidence — Reliability of witness identification and proof beyond reasonable doubt
31 December 1985
The court upheld the applicant's cattle‑theft conviction but quashed a co‑accused's conviction based solely on police statements.
Criminal law
— Cattle theft — identification evidence — Sufficiency of identification and documentary evidence to sustain conviction
— Statements before police — Credibility and timing of police statements — Reliance on police statements treated as voluntary without proper evaluation
Criminal procedure — revisional powers (s373(1)(a)) — Exercise of s.373(1)(a) Criminal Procedure Act to quash conviction absent prosecution appeal
31 December 1985
Family law
— Divorce — Dissolution of marriage — Wife obtaining divorce by self-reemption (khului)
— Separation of spouses — Whether court may compel a spouse to live with the other
Islamic law — Divorce — Dissolution of marriage — Wife obtaining divorce by self-reemption (khului)
31 December 1985
Appellant's cattle-theft conviction quashed where prosecution failed to identify the unmarked cattle as stolen.
Civil procedure — Appeal
— Conviction and sentence quashed for lack of proof
— order for return of property
Criminal law — Theft — Proof of identification of stolen property
— appellate intervention where conviction unsafe
— Essential requirement to link specific animals to accused where animals unmarked
— insufficiency of unmarked-cattle evidence
31 December 1985
Employer's withholding of employee-agreed savings did not constitute criminal failure to pay statutory minimum wages; civil remedy available.
Criminal law — labour offences — conviction for failing to pay statutory minimum wage — Regulation of Wages and Terms of Employment Cap. 300
31 December 1985
Reported
Khului effected after judgment cannot dissolve an Islamic marriage; s.107(3)(c) requires the act to be done and proved before judgment.
Family law — Islamic marriage — Redemption (khului)
31 December 1985
Court held compound offence cannot be split into separate counts; evidence was insufficient, conviction quashed and sentence set aside.
Criminal law — compound offence — impropriety of treating compound offence as separate counts — insufficiency of identification and ownership proof of alleged stolen property — conviction quashed and sentence set aside
31 December 1985
Court held brideprice does not bar children inheriting their mother; clan division of estate upheld.
Probate law — Inheritance — Customary Law
— brideprice payments do not extinguish children’s inheritance rights
— clan allocation may be endorsed by court
— distant relative’s claim based on brideprice not automatic
— legitimate and illegitimate children may inherit mother’s estate
30 December 1985
23 December 1985
20 December 1985
An unproved receipt chit and no witness evidence cannot establish delivery or entitlement to payment.
Contract — payment disputes — Proof of delivery of goods — Requirement to prove authenticity of receipt chit
Evidence — Documentary evidence — authenticity — Court may reject unproved documents
20 December 1985
An unproved commercial chit without witness authentication cannot establish delivery or payment liability.
Contract — Proof of delivery — Admissibility and authentication of commercial chit — Requirement of witness evidence to prove document origin
20 December 1985
Marked goods in possession can justify unlawful-possession conviction, but forfeiture needs evidence; theft requires proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law
— Theft by servant
— Unlawful possession of property reasonably suspected to be stolen — circumstantial evidence and admissions — marked property as basis for reasonable suspicion
Land law — Property forfeiture
— forfeiture of money
— hearsay insufficient
20 December 1985
Appellant's bridewealth ownership of seized livestock upheld; Primary Court judgment restored and animals returned.
Appellate practice — Appellate review of factual findings — Scope for disturbing Primary Court credibility and documentary findings
Civil procedure — Exemption from execution — Whether property given as bridewealth to a third party is exempt from execution by a judgment creditor
20 December 1985
20 December 1985
20 December 1985
19 December 1985
19 December 1985
Respondent knew the woman's marital status; enticement established and damages reduced to six cattle.
Customary marriage; enticement of wife; proof of respondent's knowledge of marital status; absence of consent by husband; quantum of cattle damages; appellate review of factual findings.
18 December 1985
Divorce petition was incompetent for failure to obtain conciliatory-board referral and prior leave for petitioning within two years.
Civil procedure — jurisdiction
Family law — Divorce
— exceptions and pleading of facts
— Requirement of prior leave to present petition before two years of marriage — jurisdictional effect of non-compliance
18 December 1985
17 December 1985
District Court erred by requiring land-title resolution before deciding tree ownership; Urban Court decision restored.
Appellate practice — Appeal procedure — Grounds not raised and decided in lower court will not be entertained on appeal
Land law — trees growing on disputed land — Ownership of trees may be determined without resolving land title when land ownership was not pleaded or in issue
17 December 1985
17 December 1985
Res judicata cannot be raised first on appeal and does not bind where the previous judgment involved different parties.
Civil procedure — Res judicata — Prior Primary Court judgment bars relitigation where same parties and same subject matter
— Binds only the parties or their privies
— decisions in rem excepted
Civil procedure — Res judicata — cannot be raised and decided on appeal when not pleaded or argued at trial
Land law — Ownership and title — Appellate interference with concurrent findings — Not warranted where evidence supports lower courts
16 December 1985
13 December 1985
Appellate court upheld theft conviction and statutory five-year sentence based on credible eyewitness and discovery evidence.
Criminal law
— Credibility — Trial court’s acceptance of prosecution witnesses where appellant failed to cross‑examine or provide credible alibi
— sentencing — Statutory minimum sentence applicable for theft of public authority property
— Theft — Evidence — Direct eyewitness and discovery evidence supporting conviction
13 December 1985
Theft by servant conviction upheld; Minimum Sentences Act misapplied but three-year sentence maintained.
Criminal law
— Theft by servant — Proof beyond reasonable doubt — Credibility of prosecution witnesses
— sentencing — Minimum Sentences Act, 1972 — Requirement to prove ownership by specified authority before invoking Act
13 December 1985
13 December 1985
Joint-robbery convictions affirmed under common intention; conviction quashed for appellant lacking participation evidence.
Criminal law — Robbery with violence — Sufficiency of evidence — common intention/joint liability
13 December 1985
Possession, concealment and false register entries proved theft of government firearms; three-year statutory minimum sentence upheld.
Criminal law
— Defence credibility — Claim of lawful issue for patrol duties rejected where concealment and falsification inconsistent with lawful issue
— Sentence — Statutory irreducible minimum sentence applicable to theft of government property
— Theft of government property — Firearms and ammunition missing from armoury — Recovery hidden at defendant’s house — Possession plus concealment supports inference of theft
Evidence — Circumstantial evidence and false entries in official register — sufficiency to sustain conviction
13 December 1985
Conviction upheld on marked property and recent possession; compensation reduced due to lack of valuation evidence.
Criminal law
— Compensation in criminal proceedings — Valuation of stolen goods — Reduction where value not established on evidence
— Recent possession — Unexplained recent possession of stolen goods shortly after theft raises presumption justifying conviction — Presumption that recent possession requires explanation
— Theft — identification of stolen property by special marks — sufficiency of owner’s identification and doctrine of recent possession
13 December 1985
Village‑conducted identification parade and delayed dock identification rendered the appellants' convictions unsafe and were quashed.
Criminal law
— dock identification — inadequacy without prior identification parade — Risks where witness was unconscious and identification delayed
— Identification parade — Proper conduct and record of parade essential for reliable identification evidence
13 December 1985
Appeal against cattle-theft conviction dismissed where recovered cattle and credible eyewitness and police evidence sustained conviction.
Criminal law — Cattle theft — Credibility and sufficiency of prosecution evidence — Statutory minimum sentence — Penal Code ss 265, 268
13 December 1985
13 December 1985
An appellate court will not disturb concurrent factual findings absent compelling reasons; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— Appeal — Interference with concurrent findings of fact — Appellate court will not disturb concurrent factual findings unless there is misapprehension of evidence, miscarriage of justice, or violation of law or procedure
— possession and recovery of livestock — Attachment by court officials at third party's instigation
Evidence — Failure to call material witnesses — adverse inference for failure to call material witnesses
12 December 1985
Appeal dismissed: appellate court upheld respondent's title to disputed land on balance of probabilities.
Appellate practice — Appeal procedure — Burden of proof on appellant alleging purchase — Mere assertion without corroboration is insufficient
Land law — Land ownership dispute — Evaluation of evidence — Sketch map and credible witness testimony may suffice
12 December 1985
Primary Court lacked power to order refund of bride‑price without marriage dissolution; appeal dismissed and cattle returned or compensated.
Family law — bride-price refund
— appellate revisional powers
— attachment against third party
— irregular Primary Court order
— Primary Courts cannot order refund absent petition and dissolution of marriage
— remedy by return of property or cash compensation
12 December 1985
Dowry not refundable where husband caused breakdown, failed to prove wife's misconduct, and refused conciliatory proceedings.
Family law — customary marriage — refund does not dissolve marriage — Effect of party's blameworthy conduct and failure to prove misconduct
12 December 1985
12 December 1985
11 December 1985
Adultery damages upheld where the respondent proved marriage and the appellant’s tenant defence was disbelieved.
Family law
— adultery — proof of adultery and entitlement to damages
— Appellate procedure — raising new issues on appeal
— Credibility — tenant
— proof of marriage — corroborative testimony of spouse and burden of proof on alleged trespasser
11 December 1985
Whether entrusted cattle were to be returned or discharged by agreed monetary payment, and the evidential weight of tribunal testimony.
Land law — Evidence
— admissibility and weight of prior reconciliation-tribunal testimony
— credibility findings and quantification of monetary compensation
Land law — Property law — trust versus gift of livestock
10 December 1985
Appellant entitled to one quarter of matrimonial house based on direct and indirect contributions; procedural irregularity in additional evidence noted.
Family law — Matrimonial property division: s114 — Contribution and proof under section 114 — Law of Marriage Act s.114
10 December 1985
Court allowed bridewealth refund but reduced it by one cow per year for eight years the mkamwana served.
Bridewealth refund — application to mkamwana arrangements — G.N. 279/63 — deduction for period of cohabitation and service — measure of deduction (one head per year).
10 December 1985
Appeal dismissed; respondent's evidence of ownership and boundary markers held more credible than appellant's.
Land law — boundary/possession dispute — inspection of site important where factual measurements and encroachment issues arise
7 December 1985
A vague appellate judgment cannot overturn the Primary Court’s finding that the appellant owned the land.
Land law
— Appellate review — vague or indecisive appellate judgment cannot properly disturb lower court findings
— Improvements and compensation — unfair to order owner to pay compensation to a trespasser
— ownership dispute — primary court’s finding of ownership upheld where evidence favored the plaintiff
— Possession — long occupation (15 years) does not by itself establish title absent pleaded legal basis
7 December 1985
Conviction quashed where prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the alleged theft or provenance of seized items.
Criminal law — sufficiency of evidence — authorship of bank pay-in slips — reasonable doubt where handwriting differences, bank stamp on duplicate, witness credibility defects and opportunity to alter documents
7 December 1985
Late amendment alleging dangerous high-speed driving was unlawful; conviction quashed for duplicity and insufficient evidence.
Criminal law — Traffic Offences — Adequacy of particulars in charge — Criminal Procedure Code s 293
Criminal procedure
— Amendment of charge at judgment stage — Limits of court's power under s 209 — Late substantive amendments unlawful
— Charge-sheet duplicity (multiple offences/dates/victims in one count) — Multiplex charges causing prejudice to accused
7 December 1985
Self‑defence claim rejected; convicted of manslaughter (s.195 Penal Code) and sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Criminal law
— Homicide: murder versus manslaughter — Distinction where death occurs during a fight, provocation or self‑defence — Penal Code ss 18A, 18B, 195
— Sentence — Mitigation for first offender, time in custody, ill‑health and dependants
7 December 1985