High Court of Tanzania

This is the second level in the Judiciary justice delivery hierarchy. It has both appellate and original powers on civil and criminal matters. It also hears appeals from the Courts of Resident Magistrate, the District Courts, and the District Land and Housing Tribunals in exercise of their original, appellate and/or revisional jurisdiction. The High Court is divided into Zones and specialized Divisions. 

Physical address
24 Kivukoni Road, P O Box: S.L.P. 9004
10 judgments
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Results. 10 judgments found.

10 judgments
September 1973
Grave provocation from prior insults and follow‑up taunts reduced culpability from murder to manslaughter.
  • Criminal law — Murder- Provocation — Whether provocation established to reduce offence to manslaughter
  • Evidence — Hearsay — Admissibility under Evidence Act s.62(1)(b)
21 September 1973
August 1973
No case to answer where prosecution relied on a single intoxicated, uncorroborated eyewitness contradicted by the premises owner.
  • Criminal law — No case to answer — sufficiency and credibility of evidence
  • Criminal law — single intoxicated eyewitness
    • — lack of corroboration and contradictory evidence from premises owner
    • — medico-legal cause of death: severe head injury
16 August 1973
Accused found legally insane at the time of the killings and ordered detained as a criminal lunatic.
  • Criminal law — Insanity defence — Burden and standard of proof
    • — accused presumed sane until defence proves insanity on balance of probabilities
    • — psychiatric evidence on paranoid schizophrenia accepted
    • — special finding
3 August 1973
June 1973
Revisional court confirmed maximum sentence for injuring communal property, prioritising deterrence and public interest.
  • Appellate practice — Revision — when appellate/revisional court should not interfere with trial court’s sentence
  • Criminal law
    • — Offence of injuring an animal
    • — Sentencing principles — consideration of nature of offence, offender’s circumstances and public interest. Protection of communal/Ujamaa property — deterrence and salutary sentences
27 June 1973
April 1973
Self-defence rejected; conviction for grievous harm upheld; sentence reduced to nine months and compensation ordered.
  • Criminal law — appellate review — evaluation of magistrate’s findings on credibility and misdirection
  • Criminal law — Offence of grievous/actual bodily harm — Stab wounds and abdominal injuries as evidence of serious injury
  • Criminal law — Self-defence
    • — requirements and limits
    • — where attacker initiates assault defensive plea fails
  • Criminal law — Sentence
    • — appellate reduction for youth and first-offender status
    • — award of modest compensation
24 April 1973
March 1973
Whether evidence supports conviction for obtaining money by false pretences and whether the probationary sentence should be altered.
  • Criminal law — Obtaining Money by False Pretences — Sufficiency and credibility of evidence
  • Criminal law — sentencing
    • — appellate discretion to enhance sentence but decline where inappropriate
    • — probation is not strictly a sentence
16 March 1973
Whether summary dismissal under s.317 is appropriate and when in forma pauperis leave and time extensions should be granted.
  • Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — extension of time to appeal to raise question of law
  • Civil procedure — Procedural fairness — right to call/recall witnesses and reliance on affidavits in criminal trial
  • Criminal law — Civil/criminal procedure — leave to appeal in forma pauperis
  • Criminal procedure — summary rejection of appeals — whether High Court may summarily dismiss appeal without oral argument
  • Evidence — mistaken identity as ground for appeal
3 March 1973
February 1973
Late appeal admitted due to premature return of exhibits; acquittal for stealing by agent upheld on reasonable doubt.
  • Criminal law — stealing by an agent — conversion and fraudulent intent — property received on behalf of another
  • Criminal procedure — time for appeal and admission out of time — exhibits prematurely returned by trial court as good cause
  • Evidence — spouse testimony
24 February 1973
Appellants' convictions based on weak, indistinct identification of stolen property were unsafe and quashed.
  • Criminal law — Theft/burglary
    • — evidence of indistinct/common features may render conviction unsafe
    • — Identification of stolen property
2 February 1973
Conviction for stealing by servant quashed where evidence and exhibit failed to disprove a plausible loan explanation.
  • Criminal law — Stealing by servant — Proof beyond reasonable doubt — Credibility of witnesses
2 February 1973