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53 judgments found.
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December 1987
Insufficient proof of malice aforethought; accused convicted of manslaughter, not murder, and sentenced to five years.
Criminal law — Defence of accidental killing/self-defence — where death occurs in a mutual fight, accidental killing may negate malice aforethought
Criminal law — Murder
— proof of intent to kill
— requirement of malice aforethought
Criminal law — Sentence — consideration of custody already served
Evidence — Evidential assessment — conflicting assessor views and circumstantial evidence (pursuit, scene of stabbing)
16 December 1987
Single credible eye‑witness testimony supported conviction for intentional murder; accused sentenced to death.
Criminal law — Murder — Identification and single eye‑witness evidence
— Defence of accident rejected
— Mental capacity (sound mind) confirmed
— Reliability and sufficiency for conviction
16 December 1987
Reliable visual identification upheld despite grudges; appeals against robbery convictions dismissed.
Criminal law — Robbery with violence — proof beyond reasonable doubt
Evidence — Visual/identification evidence
— factors: lighting, prior acquaintance, prompt identification, detailed description
— Reliability and sufficiency to support conviction
12 December 1987
Appellate court affirmed assault convictions and 18‑month sentences where prosecution witnesses were credible and defence evidence unreliable.
Criminal law — assault causing actual bodily harm
— appellate review of factual findings and sentence
— corroboration by independent eyewitnesses
— Credibility of prosecution and defence witnesses
— motive (prior conviction) as supporting inference of participation
12 December 1987
November 1987
27 November 1987
27 November 1987
Appeal against conviction for misappropriating entrusted funds dismissed for failure to account and implausible defence.
Criminal law
— Defence of partial performance and offer of goods — lack of corroboration and failure to account for balance undermines defence
— Entrustment of money to purchase goods — evidence and credibility of witnesses
21 November 1987
16 November 1987
Eyewitness and medical evidence upheld convictions for assault and malicious damage; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — assault causing bodily harm — identification evidence and PF3 corroboration
Criminal law — Malicious damage to property
— appeal dismissed
— eyewitness proof of vehicle damage
10 November 1987
October 1987
Whether inheritance and adverse possession established ownership where the trial court mis‑evaluated possession evidence.
Appellate practice — Appellate review of factual findings — Justification for reversing trial court for erroneous evaluation of evidence
Land law
— adverse possession — Requirement of continuous uninterrupted possession for statutory period
— customary land — Whether acts of possession (e.g. planting a lemon tree) can support title by customary law
28 October 1987
Appeal dismissed: night‑time identification upheld; alibi disregarded for non‑compliance and found unhelpful.
Criminal law — identification evidence — reliability assessed by surrounding circumstances (prior acquaintance, lighting, proximity, duration, immediate naming)
Criminal procedure — Alibi — late/non-notified alibi may be disregarded
27 October 1987
Identification by familiar witnesses, supported by circumstantial evidence, upheld conviction and sentence; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law
— Circumstantial evidence
— identification evidence — Reliability of ID where complainants were acquainted with accused, some illumination, clothing matched and items produced in court
Criminal procedure — Appeal — When an alibi and denial do not render conviction unsafe
21 October 1987
21 October 1987
Whether identification at night with poor lighting rendered the conviction unsafe.
Criminal law — identification evidence — Visual identification — adequacy of lighting and risk of mistaken identity — conviction unsafe if identification unreliable
20 October 1987
Conviction for robbery with violence quashed where theft unproven and identity of assailants was unsafe.
Criminal law — Robbery with violence — doubtful identification — unsafe voice and torch-based identification at night — doubts resolved in favour of accused
16 October 1987
Appeal allowed: son cannot validly pledge mother’s inherited land; district court improperly decided matters not raised.
Civil procedure — Appeal — appellate courts should not entertain new matters not raised in the court below — Improper substitution of findings
Land law — Inheritance — Pledge of land by son without consent — Validity of pledge
16 October 1987
Review application dismissed as incompetent after decree execution and notice of appeal were already in place.
Civil procedure
— Execution — satisfaction of decree prior to review application may render review overtaken by events
— Grounds for review — alleged advocate negligence does not rescue an otherwise incompetent or moot application
— Inherent powers — court will not grant relief rendered moot by execution
— Review — review not competent where appeal has been preferred
14 October 1987
7 October 1987
Appeal allowed: conviction quashed due to witness contradictions and improper use of accused’s police statement.
Criminal law — Theft by servant
— appellate intervention where prosecution declines to support conviction
— contradictions in witness statements
— inadmissible use of accused’s police statement as proof of ownership
— sufficiency of evidence and standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt
1 October 1987
September 1987
Appeal dismissed: convictions for burglary and theft upheld based on reliable identification and recovery of stolen property.
Criminal law — alibi — Prison records disproving alibi
Criminal law — Burglary — Identification evidence
— mistaken identity not a real possibility
— Witnesses who knew accused
Criminal law — sentencing
— concurrent sentences
— Minimum statutory sentence
Criminal law — Stolen property — Identification by distinctive mark and prompt disposal by accused supporting link to burglary
9 September 1987
August 1987
Absence of independent corroboration and missing exhibits led to acquittal for murder due to reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Murder — sufficiency of evidence and reasonable doubt
Evidence
— Extra‑judicial statements — Voluntariness and corroboration — Need for independent corroboration of statements implicating co‑accused
— Non‑production of physical exhibits — Effect on prosecution’s ability to prove offence
20 August 1987
July 1987
Burglary conviction overturned for lack of proof of night‑time breaking and substituted with housebreaking; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law
— Burglary — requirement that breaking be committed at night
— Evidence — identification of stolen property — Sufficiency to prove theft
Criminal procedure — substitution of conviction — Substitution of offences (s.300 CPA)
30 July 1987
Whether identification by prior acquaintance, voice and moonlight provided a safe basis for convicting the appellant of robbery with violence.
Criminal law — Robbery with violence — Identification evidence — Recognition by prior acquaintance, identification by voice and by moonlight — Corroboration by recovery of weapon and circumstances of offender's absence from duty
28 July 1987
A landlord entitled to vacant possession after reasonable notice and offering reasonable alternative accommodation; ambiguous conditional decree expunged.
Civil procedure — Executability of decree — conditional judgment tied to non‑party performance may be inexecutible
Land law — Rent restriction — Order for vacant possession
Land law — Vacant possession
— Landlord’s need for premises for dispensary
— reasonableness of notice and alternative accommodation
27 July 1987
Conduct and part performance established a binding agreement, entitling the plaintiff to specific performance.
Contract law — Offer and acceptance — Whether confirmation of success, provision of a standard Marketing Licence Agreement and preparatory advice constituted a firm offer capable of acceptance
Contract law — specific performance
— Part performance — Whether acts (import permit, deposit for tanker, recruitment and training of staff, setting aside capital) amounted to part performance supporting specific performance
— Specific performance and special damages — Appropriateness of specific performance where damages are inadequate and a collateral agreement exists
25 July 1987
Documentary irregularities defeated the appellant’s title; respondent may redeem the land by paying redemption money; appeal dismissed.
Land law — title by purchase — reliability of documentary evidence
— erasures and substitutions may render a sale document inadmissible
— possession and improvements may attract redemption compensation
— redemption/right to re-acquire
21 July 1987
Appeal against robbery conviction dismissed; identification upheld, alibi rejected, compensation reduced to Shs.600/=
Civil procedure — Appeal — conviction and sentence affirmed save for reduction of compensation
Criminal law
— alibi — insufficiency to raise reasonable doubt
— Robbery with violence — Identification evidence — immediate identification — reliability of visual ID
Tort — Compensation — variation of quantum where trial court mis-assessed amount stolen
10 July 1987
A trespasser may not claim compensation or adverse possession where the owner protested and prosecuted; boundary mistakes rejected.
Land law
— adverse possession/long possession — owner’s protests and criminal prosecutions defeat claim of acquiescence
— Appellate review — trial court's finding of title and nominal damages upheld
— trespass — removal of survey beacons — deliberate removal defeats mistaken boundary defence
— Unexhausted improvements — trespasser who persists after protest not entitled to compensation
10 July 1987
Convictions for trespass/malicious damage quashed where ownership of land was disputed and civil action is the proper remedy.
Criminal law
— civil action is the proper remedy — Convictions and compensation orders quashed
— Trespass and malicious damage — Ownership dispute — Where ownership of land is contested, criminal proceedings for trespass are inappropriate
10 July 1987
June 1987
Conviction quashed where evidence materially varied from particulars of the charge and prosecution failed to prove the alleged theft.
Criminal law — Theft by public servant — Variance between particulars of charge and evidence — Prosecution bound by particulars absent amendment
Criminal procedure — Variance between charge particulars and evidence — Material variance between pleaded particulars and evidence — Conviction unsustainable
Evidence — documentary returns and inspection reports — Need for specific counts when distinct allegations arise
29 June 1987
Criminal prosecution for forcible detainer inappropriate where title is disputed; conviction quashed, civil action required.
Civil procedure — Land disputes — Disputed title: remedy by civil action, not criminal prosecution
Criminal law — forcible detainer — Essential element: absence of colour of right
Evidence — Sufficiency of prosecution evidence — Conviction unsupported where the Republic does not support the prosecution and accused asserts colour of right
29 June 1987
Whether the applicant could be appointed administrator and the effect of an alleged Primary Court‑witnessed will on respondents’ occupation of estate property.
Probate law — Succession and estates — appointment of administrator — validity and evidential weight of an alleged written will witnessed in Primary Court — jurisdiction of Primary and District Courts to make possession and compensation orders affecting estate property
18 June 1987
10 June 1987
May 1987
Appellate court allowed appeal and set aside revisional order where revisional court misdirected itself on sufficiency of theft evidence.
Criminal law — appeal from revisional order — revisional court substituting its view for trial court’s findings — sufficiency of evidence to prove theft beyond reasonable doubt — acquittal restored where defence explanation and owner’s testimony exonerate accused
28 May 1987
25 May 1987
Voluntary cautioned and extra‑judicial confessions corroborated by postmortem evidence sustain a murder conviction.
Criminal law
— Murder: proof of death, causation and malice aforethought — Causation and malice aforethought under sections 196, 197 and 200 of the Penal Code
— admissibility of cautioned and extra‑judicial statements — Whether cautioned and extra‑judicial statements have sufficient probative value to sustain conviction
Criminal procedure — Failure to call material witnesses — Omission to call village chairman not fatal where militiaman's direct report and arrest evidence bridged the gap
13 May 1987
Appellant's conviction for theft by servant quashed for failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Theft by servant — Proof beyond reasonable doubt
Criminal procedure — Compensation orders — Necessity of evidentiary basis to quantify loss before awarding compensation
Evidence — Circumstantial evidence and adequacy of accused’s explanation — Acquittal where prosecution fails to exclude reasonable possibility
9 May 1987
6 May 1987
A purchaser cannot obtain vacant possession of a protected paying tenant without proving alternative equivalent accommodation exists.
Land law
— Rent restriction act s.19 — requirement that court be satisfied alternative accommodation is available before ordering vacant possession — Alternative reasonably equivalent accommodation (s.19)
— Tenancy — Proof and recognition of existing tenancy by purchaser of property — Credibility and documentary evidence
5 May 1987
Appeal allowed: occupier was a gratuitous occupant, not a tenant; purchaser entitled to vacant possession with costs.
Land law — Property — vacant possession — purchaser seeking possession after purchase — occupier’s status (tenant
5 May 1987
April 1987
Circumstantial evidence proved unlawful killing but not malice aforethought; accused convicted of manslaughter and jailed seven years.
Criminal law
— Circumstantial evidence — Where case depends wholly on circumstantial evidence, facts must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence — Penal Code ss 195, 196
— Homicide: murder versus manslaughter — Whether malice aforethought proved for murder — Penal Code ss 195, 196
30 April 1987
28 April 1987
15 April 1987
A short, inadequate notice and eviction without court order amounted to trespass; damages awarded instead of reinstatement.
Land law
— Acceptance of rent — may not revoke notice where conduct shows landlord not serious
— Remedy — damages preferred to reinstatement where reinstatement would disturb innocent third parties
— Rent law — termination of tenancy — validity of letters from third parties as surrender of tenancy
— Tenancy — monthly tenancy
— trespass — illegal eviction without court order
14 April 1987
Accused convicted of manslaughter for fatal beating; prosecution failed to prove intent to kill.
Criminal law — Homicide: murder versus manslaughter — intention to kill or cause grievous harm required for murder — Penal Code ss 195, 196
10 April 1987
March 1987
25 March 1987
25 March 1987
Breaking out of a court lock‑up is not a s.296(2) offence, but may constitute escape under s.116 Penal Code.
Criminal law
— Breaking into a building — Whether a primary court lock‑up falls within section 296(2) Penal Code — Section 296(2) Penal Code
— Escape from lawful custody — Conviction and sentencing under Penal Code s.116 — Section 116 Penal Code
23 March 1987
February 1987
Appeal dismissed: conviction for knowingly giving false information to police under s122(b) upheld, sentence affirmed.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Conviction and sentence
Criminal law — Offence of giving false information to a public officer — Elements: false statement, knowledge of falsity, and intention to induce police action
Evidence — credibility and sufficiency — Implausible explanations and absence of corroboration justify conviction for knowingly giving false information
27 February 1987
Appellate court allowed DPP appeal, found eyewitness identification credible, set aside acquittal and convicted respondents.
Criminal law — identification evidence
— admissibility and sufficiency of exhibits
— appellate interference with trial acquittal
— Reliability of eyewitness identification
27 February 1987