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65 judgments found.
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March 1992
Appellate court upheld damages for adultery where direct witness evidence and lack of contradiction established the claim.
Appellate practice — Appellate review — weight of factual findings
Family law — adultery — sufficiency of evidence — whether presence of the woman in the appellant's house, statements about pregnancy/marriage and witness testimony constitute proof of adultery
31 March 1992
31 March 1992
Payment of fees within time validates a land offer despite lack of immediate notification; claimant failed to prove payment or loss of materials.
Evidence — Evidentiary burden — proving payment and possession — documentary records and consistent testimony essential
Land law — allocation of residential plots — validity of competing offers — payment of prescribed fees within time constitutes acceptance even without immediate notification to Land Office
Tort — Tort/fraud — allegation that occupier misappropriated building materials requires higher standard of proof
31 March 1992
27 March 1992
27 March 1992
Execution stayed pending intended application to set aside an ex parte decree; stay not time‑barred before execution.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Application to stay execution pending setting aside of ex‑parte judgment
— Application not time‑barred while execution has not been carried out
— time to set aside runs from knowledge of decree
Limitation law — Ex‑parte judgment — Time for applying to set aside ex‑parte decree — Period runs from the judgment debtor's knowledge of the decree
27 March 1992
Poor night‑time identification and absence of recent possession quashed two convictions; medical and circumstantial evidence upheld another.
Criminal law
— Armed robbery — night-time visual identification — Voice identification and mention of names unreliable
— doctrine of recent possession — elements required (possession, positive identification, recency)
Evidence — Medical evidence and PF3 — Use of hospital records and witness testimony to link accused to possession of firearm
27 March 1992
Long, continuous occupation entitled the applicant to prescriptive title; lower courts’ decisions were set aside and appeal allowed.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Appellate review of factual findings where evidence supports prescriptive title
Land law — Prescription — Acquisition of title by long and continuous occupation — Evidence of uninterrupted possession and use
26 March 1992
Criminal law — Criminal practice and procedure — Charges — Dismissal — Before lapse of 60 days illegal and void — Court may refuse adjournment
26 March 1992
Reported
A minister may be sued personally for torts allegedly committed in the course of official duties; s6 doesn't confer immunity.
Civil procedure — Government proceedings — consent to sue Government — Government Proceedings Act s 6
Constitutional law — public officer liability — limits on suing a Minister personally for non‑tort official acts
Tort — Vicarious liability — Vicarious liability and protection of officers
26 March 1992
Reported
Court dismissed charge and discharged accused for prosecutorial delay, clarifying s225(4) CPA discretion and constitutional limits on adjournments.
Constitutional law — Fair trial — Prosecutorial delay may justify dismissal and discharge under Article 13(6)(b) and the court's inherent powers
Criminal procedure — Adjournments
— Discretion
— and (c) mandatory once proper certificates filed
26 March 1992
Failure to identify the stolen cow prevented use of recent possession; conviction accordingly quashed.
Criminal law
— Evidence — recent possession doctrine and identificatory marks
— Theft (cattle) — identification of stolen property by colour only
25 March 1992
Appellate court set aside invalid administration orders over registered land; accused convicted of murder as self‑defence failed.
Civil procedure — Administration proceedings — Primary court jurisdiction — Registered land
— district court order based on that decision invalid
— primary court lacked jurisdiction
Civil procedure — Revision/Execution
— District court may not validate primary court decisions exceeding jurisdiction
— parties may institute fresh proceedings
Criminal law — Murder — Evidence of multiple stab wounds and post‑mortem report
— conviction and mandatory death sentence
— self‑defence not established
25 March 1992
Night-time visual identification without corroboration was unsafe; convictions and illegal sentences were quashed.
Criminal law — Visual identification — Night-time identification amid confusion and firearms
Criminal procedure — sentencing jurisdiction
— referral/sentencing procedure
— Trial court’s power to pass severe sentences
25 March 1992
An equivocal guilty plea caused by mismatch between charge and particulars vitiates the conviction; no retrial ordered due to time served.
Criminal law — Plea of guilty — Unequivocal plea — Variance between charge and particulars
25 March 1992
Court taxed plaintiff’s bill of costs, moderating a large instruction fee to 350,000 and allowing a total of 351,422.75.
Civil procedure — Costs — Taxation of bill of costs — Reasonableness of instruction fees — Court’s discretion to moderate claimed fees having regard to complexity, research undertaken and value in dispute
24 March 1992
Appellate court upheld village committee land allocation based on sufficient oral evidence; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — Appellate review — deference to trial court’s credibility findings and factual determinations
Land law — village allocation committees — validity of allocation — sufficiency of oral evidence to prove committee membership and allocation
24 March 1992
24 March 1992
Appeal allowed on forgery and uncharged‑count convictions; conviction for obtaining money by false pretences upheld but sentence varied.
Criminal law
— Forgery — Sufficiency of evidence — whether forgery established for counts 1 and 2
— Obtaining Money by False Pretences — evidence required to sustain conviction where a forged cheque is presented and cashed
— sentencing
Criminal procedure — Conviction on a count not charged — validity of conviction on count 3 when appellant was not charged
24 March 1992
Whether circumstantial evidence and non‑compliant alibi proved the accused's guilt for murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Murder — Circumstantial and last‑seen evidence — Requirement to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence
Criminal procedure — Alibi notice (s194 CPA) — Particulars required under s.194 Criminal Procedure Act and effect of inadequate notice — Court may accord no weight to an alibi under s.194(6)
Evidence — Post‑mortem report establishing cause of death — Post‑mortem establishes homicidal injury but does not alone identify perpetrator
24 March 1992
Convictions upheld: secondary evidence and corroboration sustain theft and false-accounting convictions; sentence not excessive.
Criminal law — theft and false accounting — admissibility of secondary documentary evidence — cautioned statements/confessions and alleged duress — sufficiency of evidence and sentence proportionality
24 March 1992
Taxation reduces excessive instruction fee, disallows unsupported receipts, and halves certain attendance claims, producing a reduced taxed bill.
Civil procedure — Costs
— Excessive fee reduced from 60,000 to 25,000 and balance disallowed
— Claims unsupported by receipts disallowed
— Taxation of bill
— Where attendance not disputed, half of claimed amounts allowed and half disallowed
— Final taxation and net allowed amount
24 March 1992
23 March 1992
Conviction based on inadequately proven identification of recovered stolen property is unsafe and was quashed.
Criminal law — Theft — Identification evidence — Proof of identification and chain of custody of recovered property — Conviction unsafe where procedural safeguards for identification not shown
23 March 1992
Conviction for burglary and theft quashed where required identification procedures for stolen property/accused were not satisfied.
Criminal law — Burglary — Identification evidence and procedural safeguards for identification of stolen property/accused — Conviction quashed
23 March 1992
Fault alone does not determine dowry refund; marriage duration and children must be considered.
Customary law — Customary/dowry law — refund of bride-price
— appellate reduction of refund where marriage long and produced children
— duration of marriage and issue are material factors
— Quantum of refund not determined solely by fault for marriage breakdown
20 March 1992
Inherited or acquired property tended during marriage and a wife's domestic contributions may be divisible as matrimonial assets.
Family law — Division of matrimonial property — Whether assets acquired or inherited during marriage can form part of the matrimonial pool — Relevance of joint tending and offspring of livestock — Recognition
20 March 1992
Order 23 Rule 1 CPC permits a plaintiff to proceed against any or all defendants; the defendant's objection was dismissed.
Civil procedure — Plaintiff's right to proceed against one or more defendants — Defendant's objection lacking merit and dismissed
19 March 1992
Conviction quashed where delayed arrest and investigative inconsistencies made visual identification unsafe.
Criminal law
— Conviction safety — Procedural irregularities and weak identification evidence render convictions unsafe and liable to be quashed
— Robbery with violence — Visual identification — Delay in arrest undermining certainty of identification
Evidence — Identification — reliability of eyewitness testimony — Honest witness may be mistaken (Roria principle)
18 March 1992
Conviction based on doubtful visual identification after six-month delay is unsafe; appeal allowed and appellant released.
Criminal law — Robbery with violence
Criminal law — Visual identification
— Conviction unsafe where identification doubtful
— Delay in arrest undermining identification evidence
— reliability and danger of mistaken identification
18 March 1992
18 March 1992
Village council allocation to villagers prevails over a non-resident’s clan inheritance claim; appeal dismissed with costs.
Land law — Village land allocation
— possession and non-use as evidence against possessory rights
— validity of village council allocation to villagers vs clan/ancestral claims
17 March 1992
Appellate court restores Primary Court finding of ownership but upholds reduced damages because 28 trees were not proved.
Land law
— Appellate review — limited interference with trial court’s factual findings
— damages — award reduced where loss not fully proved
— Property/trees — proof of ownership/possession — credibility findings of trial court preferred on appeal
17 March 1992
Application to set aside dismissal dismissed because supporting affidavit was improperly attested in breach of Cap.12 s.7.
Civil procedure — Affidavits — improper attestation
17 March 1992
17 March 1992
16 March 1992
Application for leave to appeal out of time dismissed due to inadequate explanation for delay and inconsistent prosecutorial statements.
Criminal procedure
— Application for leave to appeal out of time
— credibility of prosecutorial statements — inconsistency between DPP’s earlier written view of insufficient evidence and later submissions of strong prospects of success — affidavit credibility and dismissal of application
16 March 1992
Unsatisfactory identification and uncorroborated co-accused confession cannot sustain conviction; unlawful sentence set aside.
Criminal law
— identification evidence — Sufficiency to convict — Ambiguous conduct open to innocent explanation
— sentencing — Competence of trial court to impose sentence
Evidence — Confession of co-accused — Cannot convict another in absence of corroboration
13 March 1992
A guilty plea upheld conviction and forfeiture under the Import Control Ordinance despite a procedural irregularity; appeal dismissed.
Import Control Ordinance — importation without licence — conviction on plea of guilty — sentence — forfeiture of goods under section 20(2) — procedural irregularity: failure to call accused to show cause not fatal where discretion properly exercised.
13 March 1992
Appellate court declines to disturb trial court credibility findings; respondent’s long possession upheld and appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— Appeal — appellate review of credibility findings — deference to trial court — findings not to be disturbed unless manifestly perverse
— Possession — long continuous possession (30+ years) upheld as basis for respondent’s exclusive possession
12 March 1992
Conviction for robbery upheld on identification and recent possession; sentence reduced to seven years for sentencing error.
Criminal law
— Recent possession — arrest with stolen vehicle supports conviction
— Robbery with violence — Identification evidence — victim’s direct identification at scene sufficient
— sentencing — appellate reduction of unlawful sentence
11 March 1992
Conviction for theft upheld where circumstantial evidence excluded reasonable hypotheses of innocence; sentence affirmed.
Criminal law — Theft — sufficiency of circumstantial evidence — Whether circumstantial evidence must point irresistibly to guilt
Criminal procedure — Appeal — Evaluation of credibility and sufficiency of evidence to support conviction — Evaluation of circumstantial links and assessment of sentence
11 March 1992
Court allowed late supplementary affidavit but ordered defendant to reimburse plaintiff's travel and hearing expenses.
Civil procedure — Interlocutory applications — Affidavit defects — Reimbursement of travel and lodging expenses
11 March 1992
Reported
Omnibus sentences are unlawful; each count requires separate sentencing, which may run concurrently or consecutively.
Criminal law — Obtaining Money by False Pretences — identification evidence — Appropriateness of sentence
Criminal law — sentencing
— Concurrent versus consecutive sentences — Offences committed in same transaction or within short interval
— Omnibus sentence unlawful — Separate sentence required for each conviction
11 March 1992
Criminal law
— Criminal practice and procedure — Sentencing — Omnibus sentence — Offences committed in close association with each other — Whether consecutive or concurrent sentence — Rectification of sentencing procedure by an appellate court
— Obtaining by false pretence
11 March 1992
11 March 1992
Unexplained recent possession of stolen goods sustained convictions; five-year burglary sentence upheld on appeal.
Criminal law
— Burglary and stealing — doctrine of recent possession — Unexplained possession of stolen goods shortly after theft raises presumption of guilt
— temporal proximity and nature of items relevant to strength of presumption — Identification of recovered items at police station — Sentence not excessive
11 March 1992
Primary court's finding that respondent's cattle damaged appellant's crops was restored; appeal allowed and costs awarded.
Tort — Civil liability for damage by animals — suitability and sufficiency of oral testimony identifying ownership — appellate interference with primary findings of fact
10 March 1992
Appellant’s conviction quashed where uncorroborated child evidence was admitted without the required voir dire.
Criminal law — Evidence Act s.127 — Voir dire and competency/truthfulness of child witnesses
Criminal law — medical evidence
— Conviction unsafe where statutory procedure and corroboration absent
— inconclusive findings
Criminal law — sexual offences — Sodomy — Child complainant
6 March 1992
6 March 1992