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184 judgments found.
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January 2024
Misplaced notice and prison transfers amounted to sufficient cause to grant extension of time to file a notice of appeal.
Civil procedure — extension of time — application under s.11 Appellate Jurisdiction Act and Court of Appeal Rules — grant where sufficient cause shown
Civil procedure — Procedure
— counter-affidavit required
— facts in affidavit cannot be contradicted by mere oral submissions
Prison law — Prisoners — transfers and administrative misplacement of documents can constitute sufficient cause for extension
22 January 2024
Extension application struck out where court record showed a timely-filed appeal already on file.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to file appeal — application misconceived where record shows petition of appeal filed timely
22 January 2024
Appeal dismissed; statutory rape conviction upheld based on credible victim testimony and supporting medical evidence.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Assessment of credibility — trial court entitled to prefer credible prosecution witnesses over unconvincing defence
Criminal law — Statutory rape — Age of victim as essential element — proof by victim, relative or teacher
Evidence — penetration
— medical evidence corroborative
— slight penetration sufficient
Evidence — Sexual offences — Victim of tender years’ testimony may suffice under section 127(6) if credible
22 January 2024
Court appointed the petitioner administratrix after finding compliance with probate requirements and no objections.
Probate law
— Grant of letters of administration — Compliance with petition, affidavit, newspaper advertisement and clan appointment — Probate Rules 65, 66, 71(1)
— citation publication — Effect of citation and absence of caveats/objections — Publication and lapse of 14 days without caveat or objection
22 January 2024
Criminal law — publication of false information — ingredients to be proved in an offence of for publication of false information
Criminal procedure — Evidence — victim testimony — where were former Presidents of the United Republic of Tanzania — whether it was necessary to present the testimonies of the Presidents
22 January 2024
22 January 2024
An out-of-time, unpermitted amendment did not create a valid amended pleading; no material error found, revision dismissed.
Land law — Revision — Amendment of pleadings — Amended application filed out of time and without leave
22 January 2024
Appeal partly allowed: specific damages quashed, insurer ordered to bear repair costs, general damages reduced to Tsh.5,000,000.
Motor-vehicle collision; admissibility of eyewitness evidence; specific damages require strict proof (invoice alone insufficient); stamp duty irregularity curable; insurer liability where non-notification plea not pleaded; competency to tender police investigation documents; vicarious liability of employer for driver’s negligence; appellate reduction of excessive general damages.
22 January 2024
Eyewitness testimony can establish a prima facie case for malicious damage despite absence of destroyed property exhibits.
Criminal law
— Appeal — Interference with concurrent findings where lower courts misapprehend evidence
— Appellate procedure — Second appeal cannot entertain new grounds not raised earlier
— Evidence — Eyewitness testimony
— Malicious damage to property — Requirement of prima facie case
22 January 2024
Transport delay and prior absenteeism did not constitute sufficient cause to restore an appeal dismissed for want of prosecution.
Civil procedure
— Appeals originating in Primary Courts — Re‑admission of appeal dismissed for non‑appearance — Rule 17, GN No. 312 of 1964
— non-appearance — Transport delay — Insufficient explanation and prior absenteeism justify refusal to re‑admit appeal
22 January 2024
A subordinate court lacked jurisdiction where the DPP's consent and certificate omitted the statutory charging provision; convictions quashed, retrial ordered.
Criminal law — Jurisdiction to try economic offences — Requirement of transfer certificate and DPP consent (EOCCA ss 12(3), 26(1))
Criminal procedure
— DPP's consent and certificate conferring jurisdiction — DPP consent/certificate for economic offences (EOCCA) and subordinate court jurisdiction
— retrial principles (Fatehali Manji) — Defective/illegal trial (retrial appropriate)
22 January 2024
Court extended time to file estate inventory due to unresolved bank liabilities preventing timely asset ascertainment.
Probate law — extension of time to file inventory — Whether unresolved bank liabilities and inability to ascertain assets constitute sufficient cause to extend time — Probate and Administration of Estates Act s 107
22 January 2024
Temporary injunction refused—triable issues existed but no irreparable harm and balance of convenience favoured respondents.
Civil procedure — Atilio
Civil procedure — balance of convenience
— affidavit hearsay
— bank recovery and interest
— incorrect citation not fatal
Civil procedure — Irreparable harm
Civil procedure — Temporary injunction
22 January 2024
Application to restore struck-out defence dismissed for falsehoods, lack of supporting evidence and negligent non-appearance.
Civil procedure
— Evidentiary requirement — affidavit of registry officer necessary to prove alleged registry error — Affidavit veracity and supporting evidence
— restoration of struck-out proceedings — Whether sufficient cause shown for non-appearance
22 January 2024
Registrar erred by disregarding a time-barred preliminary objection and permitting registration of a deceptively similar trade mark.
Trade marks — time-limits and extension of time — functus officio — preliminary objection to late counter-statement — overriding objective cannot cure breaches of mandatory limitation provisions — deceptive similarity and goodwill — first syllable and anti-dissection rules.
22 January 2024
21 January 2024
Conviction quashed where unlawful search, unreliable seizure documents and defective identification left reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Armed robbery — identification of accused — requirements and dangers of mistaken identity
Criminal procedure
— Evidence — reliability of certificate of seizure and recent possession doctrine
— Inconsistencies in prosecution evidence — material contradictions vitiating conviction
— Search and seizure
20 January 2024
Primary court had jurisdiction under customary law; birth certificate and trial evidence established parentage; appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure
— Probate jurisdiction — Primary Court — applicability where deceased’s mode of life is contested — mode of life test versus intention test
— Procedural law — inadmissibility of raising DNA-testing for parentage for first time on appeal
Evidence — Evidence of parentage — birth certificate as conclusive proof absent contrary evidence
Succession law — customary law — when Primary Court may administer estate
19 January 2024
A subordinate court’s trial is a nullity where certificate/consent to try an economic offence omits the charging section.
Criminal law — Economic offences
— credit for time spent in custody
— jurisdiction vested in High Court
— omission of charging section renders conferment defective and proceedings a nullity
19 January 2024
A contested will was declared invalid; court granted joint letters of administration to the petitioner and caveator.
Civil procedure
— omission of lawful wife and uncertain dispositions — letters of administration where will invalid
— Probate and administration — Testamentary formalities — Validity of will — inconsistent dates
19 January 2024
The appellant’s long adverse possession and respondents’ failure to prove title led to the appeal being allowed.
Evidence — Burden and standard of proof — 'He who alleges must prove' and balance of probabilities
Land law
— Locus in quo — Where witnesses’ evidence conflicts on size, boundaries or neighbours, a court should consider visiting the locus in quo to resolve factual disputes
— adverse possession — prolonged uninterrupted occupation can defeat trespass/ownership claims
19 January 2024
Unexplained six‑month delay and failure to call key witnesses undermined the victim's evidence; conviction quashed.
Criminal law — sexual offences — delay in reporting and naming suspect
Evidence
— Credibility findings — appellate interference only where trial court misdirected or findings unsustainable
— Witnesses — Failure to call material witnesses
19 January 2024
Conviction quashed for unlawful possession of government trophy due to procedural defects and insufficient prosecution evidence.
Criminal law — Jurisdiction to try economic offences — Requirement of DPP's consent or certificate for trial — Charging provision requirement (EOCCA s12(3))
Criminal procedure
— Search and seizure — Compliance with s.38(3) CPA and certificate of seizure — Warrantless search and expungement of seizure certificate
— duty to read and explain documentary exhibits to accused — Documentary exhibits must be read out to the accused after admission (Marwa Wangiti principle) — Failure to read contents warrants expungement
19 January 2024
19 January 2024
A winding-up petition lacking a board resolution is incompetent and was struck out with costs.
Civil procedure
— abuse of court process — concurrent proceedings
— Formalities — verifying affidavit and jurat challenges
— Preliminary objections — competence of petition
18 January 2024
18 January 2024
Court set aside dismissal for non-appearance, accepting counsel's burial-related absence and bona fide notification efforts.
Civil procedure — Dismissal at mention — court declined to rule on propriety
Civil procedure — Setting aside dismissal
— Advocates' duty to notify court in writing
— Good cause for non-appearance (bereavement and attempted notice)
18 January 2024
17 January 2024
Revision dismissed; CMA award upheld as termination valid and procedure followed; applicant limited to certificate of service.
Labour law — Revision of CMA award
— determination of issues framed at hearing
— disciplinary procedure and authority to terminate
— proof of leave
— remedies limited to certificate of service
— right to be heard (Article 13(6)(a))
— unfair labour practice
17 January 2024
17 January 2024
Expiry of a fixed‑term contract is not unfair dismissal; claimant failed to prove unpaid leave or holiday pay.
Labour law
— Terminal benefits — certificate of service, repatriation, accrued leave — Requirement to specify years and produce proof
— termination of employment — Fixed Term Contract — Automatic expiry versus unfair dismissal
17 January 2024
Application to extend time to seek leave became moot after retrospective amendment removing leave requirement; matter struck out.
Civil procedure
— Extension of time to appeal — Whether extension required where legislative amendment removes leave-to-appeal requirement — Appellate Jurisdiction Act s 5 (Misc Amend Act No. 11 of 2023)
— Overtaken by events — Effect of retrospective procedural amendments — Striking out proceedings as remedy
17 January 2024
Court held it was functus officio and struck out a subsequent revision challenging the same CMA award.
Civil procedure
— functus officio — finality of judicial determination — court cannot reopen or contradict its final decision on the same subject matter
— Procedure — consolidation and right to be heard — different grounds do not defeat finality of judgment
Labour law — Revision of CMA awards — limitation on re-litigation before same court
17 January 2024
17 January 2024
Guilty plea to manslaughter accepted; 10-year starting point reduced by one-third and credited custody, leaving 5 years 8 months to serve.
Criminal law — plea bargaining and substitution of charges — acceptance of guilty plea to lesser offence
Criminal law — sentencing
— application of Tanzania Sentencing Guidelines, 2023
— balancing deterrence and rehabilitation
— credit for time spent in custody
— guilty plea as mitigation (one-third reduction)
17 January 2024
Accused sentenced to six years for high‑level manslaughter after guideline assessment, plea discount and time‑served deduction.
Criminal law
— application of Tanzania Sentencing Guidelines 2023 — guilty plea credit (1/3) and deduction of time served
— Manslaughter — Sentencing — classification as high‑level manslaughter due to weapon, multiple wounds and vulnerable injury site
17 January 2024
16 January 2024
16 January 2024
Extension of time denied where delay was not fully accounted and alleged illegality was not apparent on the CMA record.
Labour law
— jurisdiction — CMA’s finding on jurisdiction defeats claim of facial illegality
— Labour procedure — Extension of time
16 January 2024
16 January 2024
Court granted limited letters of administration pendente lite to protect the family and manage deceased's businesses pending probate.
Probate law — letters of administration pendente lite — Appointment and scope of administrator pendente lite to preserve and manage estate pending probate — Section 38, Probate and Administration of Estates Act
16 January 2024
An advocate's affidavit containing matters beyond his personal knowledge renders an applicant's extension application incompetent and liable to be struck out.
Civil procedure
— Competence of application — defective affidavit renders application incompetent and liable to be struck out — Order XIX r 3 CPC
— extension of time — affidavit containing hearsay — Order XIX r 3 CPC
16 January 2024
Whether ward tribunals must mediate land disputes under amended s.13 before adjudication and DLHT must ensure compliance.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure
— Obligation of DLHT to re‑examine Ward Tribunal records and ensure mediation certificate before hearing appeals affecting title
— Written Laws
Land law — Ward Tribunal
— Mandatory mediation and prohibition on adjudication absent certificate
— Written Laws
16 January 2024
16 January 2024
15 January 2024
15 January 2024
15 January 2024
15 January 2024
Applicant failed to show sufficient cause, including detention or alleged illegality, to justify extension of time to file a labour claim.
Labour law — condonation/extension of time — factors: length of delay, reasons, arguable case, prejudice — alleged illegality as basis for extension (merits vs. procedural illegality)
15 January 2024
15 January 2024