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184 judgments found.
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January 2024
Incarceration and financial hardship do not constitute good cause to extend time to file a criminal appeal.
Criminal procedure
— Discretionary factors — length of delay, reasons for delay, prejudice to respondent
— Extension of time to file appeal
— good cause — incarceration and lack of funds held insufficient
26 January 2024
Court allowed an extension to file appeal despite unexplained delay, citing appellant’s incarceration and reliance on prison officers.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to appeal
Criminal procedure — section 361(2) CPA
— discretionary extension for good cause
— incarceration and reliance on prison officers as factor in interests of justice
26 January 2024
Unexplained delay and failure to name the assailant made identification and an uncorroborated caution statement insufficient for conviction.
Criminal law — Armed robbery — proof beyond reasonable doubt — Delay in arrest and failure to name suspect undermining identification evidence
Criminal procedure — Cautioned statement — Admissibility and weight of confession corroborating other evidence
Evidence — Identification — Delay in reporting and failure to name suspect
26 January 2024
26 January 2024
Failure to route an appeal via the District Court renders the High Court appeal incompetent; probate proceedings were vitiated by procedural irregularities.
Civil procedure — Appeals from Primary Courts — Mandatory filing and endorsement of appeal at District Court — Magistrates' Courts Act s.25(3)-(4)
Probate law
— appointment of administrator — proper procedure to challenge appointment — Fifth Schedule to the Magistrates' Courts Act para 2(a)
— contentious probate converted to civil suit — Irregularity vitiating proceedings
26 January 2024
Conviction on a guilty plea quashed where court conducted a preliminary hearing and facts failed to show essential rape element.
Criminal procedure — Guilty plea
— conviction unsafe and quashed
— equivocal plea
— preliminary hearing improperly held after guilty plea vitiates proceedings
— retrial ordered
26 January 2024
Delay in the employer’s reply does not automatically renew a fixed‑term contract without evidence of post‑expiry work.
Labour law
— Evaluation of evidence — Alleged failure to consider exhibits and bias by Arbitrator
— fixed‑term contracts — Renewal by default and reasonable expectation — Employment and Labour Relations (Code of Good Practice) GN. No. 42 of 2007 r.4(3)
26 January 2024
Appellate court upholds conviction: evidence, oral chain of custody and search procedures were sufficient.
Criminal law — possession of prohibited plants
— admissibility of exhibits tendered by non-makers
— chain of custody may be proven orally
— minor timing discrepancies not fatal
— Preliminary Hearing not evidence
— proof beyond reasonable doubt
26 January 2024
26 January 2024
26 January 2024
Court found termination substantively justified but partly awarded unpaid terminal benefits and certificates of service.
Employment law — unfair termination
— admissibility and weight of disciplinary documents
— disciplinary procedures
— employer’s duty to prove valid reasons under s.37(2) ELRA
— entitlement to terminal benefits and proof of payment
— substantive and procedural fairness
25 January 2024
Stay denied where applicants failed to prove impending sale and did not furnish required security.
Civil procedure
— Affidavit practice — Whether one affidavit by one applicant can support multiple applicants' applications — Requirement that authorization and instruction be expressly reflected in the affidavit
— Stay of execution — cumulative requirements: substantial loss, no unreasonable delay, and security — Security for due performance under Order XXXIX r 5(3) CPC
25 January 2024
Applicant failed to show irreparable harm or balance of convenience; interim relief refused and application dismissed.
Land law
— Compensation — Loss of natural resources on village land compensable under Village Land Act s 3(1)(g),(h)
— Interim relief — temporary injunction to preserve status quo pending suit where prima facie ownership dispute, risk of irreparable loss, and balance of convenience established — Village Land Act s 3(1)(g),(h)
25 January 2024
25 January 2024
A revision cannot substitute for an available appeal; the High Court struck the revision application as incompetent.
Civil procedure — Revision
— affidavit formalities
— limitation and joinder of administrator (administratorship closed)
— preliminary objection on competence
— Revision cannot be used as an alternative to appeal
25 January 2024
A divorce petition filed without a valid conciliation‑board certificate is incompetent and renders subsequent proceedings null.
Civil procedure — Incompetent/premature petition — nullity of proceedings where jurisdictional precondition not satisfied
Family law
— Divorce — Jurisdictional requirement
— Validity of conciliation certificate — six‑month limitation
Limitation law — Limitation — Appeal period
25 January 2024
Prisoners’ allegation that prison officers failed to file a notice of appeal did not constitute sufficient cause to extend time.
Civil procedure — Factors for extension of time — Factors to consider (Lyamuya) and overriding objective to decide matters on substantive justice — Applicant must account for each day of delay and demonstrate diligence
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to file notice of appeal and appeal out of time — Sufficient cause — Inmate’s restricted access to counsel and courts as ground for extension
25 January 2024
Appeal dismissed: dispute over registered land requires joinder of land authorities and Attorney General; tribunal lacked jurisdiction.
Land law
— Government proceedings — Joinder of Attorney General — Jurisdictional bar to tribunal
— Registered title — Allegation of wrongful registration
25 January 2024
Failure to mediate and a defective social inquiry vitiated the custody decision; retrial ordered, child placed with the applicant pending rehearing.
Family law
— Child custody — Best interests of the child — Application of section 39 and section 26 of the Law of the Child Act
— Procedural requirements — Whether the Juvenile Court complied with Rules 69(2) and 71(2) requiring referral to mediation before hearing a custody application
— Social inquiry — Social inquiry report — Consultation of the child and other relevant persons (Rule 72(2)(b)) — Effect of non‑compliance
25 January 2024
Consent under EOCCA s26(1) must be the DPP's; defective consent vitiates proceedings and retrial was refused.
Criminal law — Economic offences — Requirement of DPP's consent under section 26(1) EOCCA — Consent must be issued by the DPP and defective consent vitiates proceedings
Criminal procedure — Retrial — Retrial inappropriate where prosecution would fill evidential gaps
Jurisdiction — Defective jurisdiction — remedy: quash conviction and set aside sentence
25 January 2024
A company's suit filed without board resolution was incompetent, so proceedings and judgment were quashed.
Company law — Companies law — Corporate capacity to sue
— Authority to institute proceedings
— requirement of formal board resolution
Evidence — authenticity of documentary evidence — Objections to exhibits should be raised at trial, not first raised on appeal
Land law — adverse possession — Limitation and time‑bar claims
25 January 2024
24 January 2024
Village allocation without statutory abandonment notice invalid; respondent’s ownership upheld despite vacated locus visit.
Land law — Village land allocation — abandonment procedures
— allocation without statutory steps is illegal
— locus in quo visits discretionary
— requirement of publication and 90‑day challenge before reallocation
24 January 2024
Court upheld Taxing Master's use of statutory advocate fee and dismissed challenge to taxed costs.
Civil procedure — Taxation of costs — reasonableness and fairness of taxed bill — application of Advocates Remuneration Order item 1(k) (instruction/legal representation fee). Court’s supervisory power to review Taxing Master’s assessment where costs cause injustice. Locality or cost of living does not displace statutory scale where fe
24 January 2024
Delay caused by pursuing an incompetent revision application can be excused as technical delay warranting extension to appeal.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time — Technical delay caused by prosecuting a revision application — Conviction on plea with procedural irregularities
— Authorities: Fortunatus Masha
— Hassan Bushiri
24 January 2024
Applicant's sickness and alleged errors did not justify extension of time due to unexplained delay and lack of diligence.
Civil procedure — extension of time — good/sufficient cause
— correction of errors in judgment and decree
— factors: length of delay, reasons, prejudice, conduct
— illness as potential ground for extension
— requirement of promptness and accountability
24 January 2024
Court quashed CMA award for procedural defects, found complaint timely and contract renewed by default, and ordered refiling.
Labour law
— arbitration procedure — Material irregularity — Remedies under s.40 ELRA
— fixed‑term contracts — Renewal by default where employee continues to work after expiry and employer accepts labour
— limitation and jurisdiction — complaint filed out of time — Law of Limitation Act, item 21
24 January 2024
Appeal allowed: guilty plea was equivocal due to defective plea-taking procedure; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
Criminal procedure
— plea of guilty
— section 360(1) CPA general bar to appeals from guilty pleas but exceptions apply where plea is imperfect, ambiguous or equivocal — conviction quashed and retrial ordered
24 January 2024
Bank may sell mortgaged land, but only after a fresh valuation and issuance of the 14‑day statutory sale notice.
Civil procedure — Procedure
Land law — Land act) — requirement of 14‑day statutory notice/publication before sale of mortgaged land
Land law — mortgage enforcement — valuation reports
— evidential requirement to tender valuation reports in court
— validity period of valuation (3 years)
24 January 2024
Court confirmed supply agreement and debt based on admissions; unproven payments to alleged agent failed to defeat claim.
Civil procedure
— Pleadings — Admissions in written statement of defence can support judgment on admission if clear and unequivocal
— amendment of pleadings — Leave to amend
Evidence — Documentary evidence — Annexures to pleadings are not evidence unless formally tendered and admitted during trial
24 January 2024
Bail pending appeal refused where applicant failed to show exceptional circumstances or a substantial point of law.
Criminal procedure — Bail pending appeal — balancing liberty and administration of justice. Medical condition alone requires supporting medical evidence to justify bail
Family law — Family dependence/breadwinner status not ordinarily exceptional
23 January 2024
23 January 2024
23 January 2024
23 January 2024
Application to maintain status quo ante dismissed for lack of precise description and insufficient irreparable harm.
Administrative law — Judicial review — procurement decisions by public bodies — Status quo ante that would pre-empt or prejudge substantive review of administrative nullification
Civil procedure — interim relief — maintenance of status quo — Requirement for clear description and proper exercise of judicial discretion
23 January 2024
Unexplained delay and dubious medical evidence do not justify extension of time to file a review.
Labour law — extension of time to file review
— credibility and verification of medical evidence
— forged/defective medical certificate undermines credibility
— procedural compliance with GN No.106/2007
— sufficiency of reasons and Lyamuya principles
— vagueness of relief (failure to identify impugned decision)
23 January 2024
Appellant failed to prove title or adverse possession; trial tribunal's credibility findings upheld and appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure — Procedural principle
— adverse possession cannot be used offensively by a plaintiff claiming title
— appellate deference to trial tribunal on credibility findings
Land law — adverse possession — elements required (abandonment by true owner, actual possession, lack of colour of right, animus possidendi, statutory period, uninterrupted possession)
Land law — proof of title
— burden on party alleging gift to call corroborating evidence
— evaluation of evidence on balance of probabilities
23 January 2024
Application for interim status‑quo in probate dispute dismissed for lack of evidence of imminent risk to the property.
Probate law — interim relief — Maintenance of status quo over estate property pending probate appeal — Requirements of imminent danger and balance of convenience, Civil Procedure Code ss 68, 95, JALA s 2(3)
23 January 2024
Conviction quashed where prosecution failed to positively identify stolen cattle by peculiar marks under recent‑possession doctrine.
Criminal law — Theft — Doctrine of recent possession
Criminal procedure — Safety of conviction
Evidence — Identification of stolen animals
— colour alone insufficient
— peculiar marks required
23 January 2024
Victim's evidence and records sustained convictions; sentences reduced due to appellant's juvenile status and sentencing limits.
Criminal law
— Juvenile sentencing — incorrect age on charge sheet vitiates sentence — Application of Penal Code s.131(2)(a), Law of the Child Act and Criminal Procedure Act s.170(1)
— sexual offences against a child — reliance on victim’s testimony and medical (PF3) corroboration — Proof of rape: penetration and lack of consent supported by direct testimony and medical evidence
Evidence — Competence and credibility of family witnesses — Competence and credibility of relatives as witnesses — Evidence Act s.127
23 January 2024
Reference dismissed; disallowed amount not over one‑sixth, and taxing officer’s award left undisturbed.
Legal profession — Advocates’ remuneration
— Taxation of costs — Whether more than one‑sixth disallowed requires rejection of whole bill
— Taxation procedure — Role and powers of taxing officer — Duty to execute decree not to alter or determine matters outside taxation (eg, legal aid entitlement)
23 January 2024
23 January 2024
A conviction for rape cannot validly replace a charge of gang rape; non-cognate alternative verdicts are impermissible.
Criminal law — gang rape — Rape — Alternative verdicts
23 January 2024
Amendment removing leave requirement to appeal to the Court of Appeal is procedural, retrospective; pending leave application withdrawn without costs.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — Removal of leave requirement for civil appeals to Court of Appeal (effective 1 December 2023)
Civil procedure — Procedural law — Retrospective operation of procedural amendments — amendment construed as procedural and applicable to pending matters
Land law — Land law procedure — Impact of statutory amendment on pending applications for leave to appeal from land dispute proceedings
23 January 2024
Statutory rape conviction quashed where victim's age was not independently proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Appellate practice — Appellate review of trial court's evaluation of evidence and credibility — First appellate court entitled to re-evaluate evidence and uphold trial court findings when contradictions render claimant's case unproven
Criminal law — sexual offences against a child — Proof that victim is under relevant statutory age is an essential ingredient
Evidence — interested witnesses — interest may render testimony unreliable
23 January 2024
The applicant’s extension to file a revision was struck out because an appeal remained available and revision is not a substitute for appeal.
Appellate practice — Revision — Not a substitute for appeal — Revision permissible only where appeal is unavailable or exceptional circumstances exist
Civil procedure
— extension of time — Application for extension to file revision — Not to be granted where it would serve no purpose because appeal remains available
— jurat of attestation — Alleged defect raised as preliminary objection (not determined)
23 January 2024
The court granted a 14‑day extension to apply to set aside an ex parte order, finding prior technical delays sufficient cause.
Civil procedure — Civil procedure code s.3A(1)
— authorities: Fortunatus Masha
— Eliakim Swai
— overriding objective
23 January 2024
Conviction quashed where prosecution failed to call a key witness and produce phone records, undermining identification beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Unnatural offence — Proof of identity and penetration — Adverse inference — Insufficient corroboration where victim admits multiple perpetrators
23 January 2024
Leave to appeal granted where applicant raised arguable procedural irregularities warranting Court of Appeal review.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — Leave to appeal — leave granted where intended appeal raises arguable points of law or fact deserving serious consideration
Civil procedure — jurisdiction of Court of Appeal — High Court should not usurp appellate function but may determine if grounds merit appeal
Land law — Land procedure — alleged procedural irregularities at DLHT: hearing in absentia, change of presiding officer, absence of assessors' opinion, failure to visit locus in quo, improper amendments, failure to refer to Ward Tribunal
23 January 2024
22 January 2024