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Citation
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Judgment date
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| August 2016 |
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Failure to inform accused of s214 rights and insufficient identification and confession evidence rendered conviction unsafe.
Criminal procedure – trial taken over by successor magistrate – mandatory duty under section 214(1) to inform accused of right to recall/re-hear witnesses – failure renders proceedings defective. Evidence – identification at night – Waziri Amani principle: positive identification at night requires explanation of aids and circumstances. Evidence – confessional statement – objection requires inquiry/trial-within-trial to establish voluntariness before admission. Evidence – recovered stolen property – complainant must give distinctive description/ownership proof to link recovered item to alleged theft. Conviction unsafe where procedural breach and evidential weaknesses coexist.
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31 August 2016 |
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Arrest and prosecution for alleged traffic offence held lawful and not malicious; claim dismissed with costs.
Criminal law/tort — Malicious prosecution — Elements: prosecution, termination in favor, absence of reasonable and probable cause, malice and damages; traffic offences — lawfulness of arrest for refusal to obey police directions and refusal to accept notification; adverse inference from failure to call material witnesses.
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26 August 2016 |
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A private informer may incur civil liability for false imprisonment if a report based on suspicion and without cooperation leads to unjustified detention.
Criminal Procedure Act s.7(1)(a) – duty to report offences; false imprisonment – private informers’ liability where reports are based on mere suspicion or bad faith; refusal to cooperate with police undermines statutory protection; causation where informer’s report leads to unjustified detention; damages and interest fixed.
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26 August 2016 |
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Failure to exhaust probate or other statutory remedies bars a constitutional petition seeking redistribution of matrimonial assets.
Constitutional procedure — Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act s.8(2) — requirement to exhaust statutory or other lawfully available remedies before invoking constitutional remedies. Probate procedure — appointment of administrator and distribution under applicable rites — challenges to estate distribution must be pursued in probate forums (appeal/revision) before constitutional petition. Jurisdictional issue — appropriateness of joining private individuals as respondents under constitutional remedies (not decided further once s.8(2) sustained).
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24 August 2016 |
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Convictions quashed where evidence varied from charges and theft and occasioning loss were improperly charged together.
Criminal procedure – contents of judgment under s.312 CPA; Evidence – variance between charge and proof (money alleged vs LUKU units); Economic and Organized Crimes – theft and occasioning loss must be charged in the alternative (para 10(3) First Schedule); Documentary and electronic evidence – bank statement not admitted therefore no evidential value; Audits and natural justice – one-sided audit may be unreliable.
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22 August 2016 |
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Applicants charged with drug trafficking were not entitled to bail because the offence is statutorily non-bailable; application struck out.
Criminal law – Drug trafficking – Statutory non-bailable offence – section 27(1)(a) read with 27(1)(b) of the Drugs and Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Drugs Act; section 148(5)(ii) Criminal Procedure Act – bail application struck out. Procedure – Bail application – court lacks jurisdiction to grant bail where statute makes offence non-bailable – DPP directed to facilitate hearing to avoid delay.
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22 August 2016 |
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Appeal struck out for defective notice; judgment quashed and remitted to correct mistaken case number.
Criminal procedure – Notice of appeal under section 360(1)(a) – Notice must relate to the judgment appealed; administrative error in judgment numbering – quashing of erroneously numbered judgment and remittal for correction.
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22 August 2016 |
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Appellate court's failure to consolidate parallel appeals and reliance on issues first raised on appeal warranted nullification and rehearing.
Family law – divorce – division of matrimonial property – treatment of pension/terminal benefits and subsistence allowances as matrimonial assets. Civil procedure – appeals – duty to consolidate related appeals and consequences of failing to do so. Appellate review – inadmissibility of new evidence or issues not raised at trial. Remedy – nullification of appellate proceedings and order for rehearing before another magistrate.
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19 August 2016 |
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Conviction on a guilty plea was quashed due to procedural defects in adducing facts and an improperly conducted preliminary hearing.
Criminal procedure – Plea of guilty – Requirements under section 228(2) – prosecutor must adduce full facts and tender supporting exhibits before asking accused to admit facts; Preliminary hearing (s.192) – purpose, memorandum of agreed matters, explanation to unrepresented accused; admissibility of PF3 and cautioned statement – procedural safeguards; appealability of convictions entered on plea where procedural irregularities render plea unsafe.
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19 August 2016 |
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A charge failing to specify the precise subsection of a statutory offence is defective and warrants quashing of conviction.
Criminal law – charge sheet particulars – requirement to specify subsection/paragraph of statutory offence; Penal Code s.154 – necessity to plead correct subsection; Trial procedure – requirement to record conviction before sentencing; Miscarriage of justice – defective charge invalidating trial; Revisional powers – quashing proceedings and setting aside conviction and sentence.
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18 August 2016 |
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Applicant failed to prove contractual breach or money had and received; CEO removed but share forfeiture invalid.
Company and contract law – service contract performance and termination – effectiveness of removal by lock‑out; Company law – forfeiture of shares – compliance with Articles of Association required; Evidence – audit/investigative reports prepared post hoc ('fishing expeditions') may have no evidential value; Claim for money had and received – burden on claimant to prove receipt and non‑accounting by defendants.
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15 August 2016 |
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First count was defectively charged and invalid; one appellant's stealing conviction upheld, the other's conviction quashed, and the illegal omnibus sentence set aside.
Criminal law – defective charge sheet – conspiracy charged under non‑existent subsection rendering count a nullity; sufficiency of evidence – conviction upheld where accused apprehended with stolen firearm but quashed where linkage rests on recanted naming; sentencing – omnibus sentence and excess over magistrate's s.170 powers; revision and immediate release.
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12 August 2016 |
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Trial court judgment lacking required formalities is a nullity; conviction and sentence set aside, accused released.
Criminal procedure — Formal requirements of judgment — Non‑compliance with provisions as to content, signature and date renders judgment a nullity; conviction and sentence set aside; retrial not ordered.
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12 August 2016 |
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Bail application under the Criminal Procedure Act is incompetent where the EOCCA provides the bail procedure.
Criminal procedure – Bail – Applicability of Criminal Procedure Act s.148(3) where accused is charged under the Economic and Organized Crimes Control Act – EOCCA’s specific bail provisions (ss.29(4), 36(1)) prevail; wrong citation renders application incompetent; reliance on Edward Kabunga v R.
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12 August 2016 |
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Applicant granted 14-day extension to file appeal after court found sufficient cause and demonstrated diligence.
Limitation law – section 14(1) – extension of time to lodge an appeal – requirement to account for each day of delay. Judicial discretion – sufficient cause and diligence (Lyamuya criteria). Procedural fairness – consideration of earlier struck-out application in assessing reasonableness of delay.
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10 August 2016 |
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Conviction based on weak nighttime identification and hearsay was unsafe; imposed sentence exceeded magistrate's statutory power.
Criminal law – Cattle theft – sufficiency of evidence; Visual identification – nighttime identification and reliability; Hearsay and first-hand evidence; Suspicion insufficient for conviction; Sentencing – magistrate’s limited sentencing power under section 170 Criminal Procedure Act; Conviction unsafe where identification is inadequately explained.
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10 August 2016 |
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A duplicitous and inadequately particularised charge vitiates conviction; appeal allowed, conviction quashed and sentence set aside.
Criminal law – Charge construction – Duplicitous charge – Lumping armed robbery and gang robbery in one count – incurable defect. Criminal procedure – Particulars of offence – must disclose essential elements including to whom violence/threat directed. Remedy – incurably defective charge vitiates conviction; appeal allowed, conviction quashed, sentence set aside.
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5 August 2016 |
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Appeal allowed: convictions quashed for failure to record conviction, unsafe identification, inadmissible confessions, and weak recent-possession evidence.
Criminal procedure – requirement to record conviction in judgment; identification evidence – visual ID at night and surrounding circumstances; confessions – necessity of trial-within-trial or inquiry for objected cautioned statements; doctrine of recent possession – need for positive identification and proof of ownership; convictions unsafe where prosecution fails to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
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5 August 2016 |
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Failure to inform accused under s.240(3) and inadequate child voir dire led to quashing rape conviction and substituting sexual harassment.
Criminal law – admissibility of PF3 medical report – mandatory duty under section 240(3) to inform accused of right to summon maker; Evidence – child witness voir dire – section 127(2) requires recorded findings that child understands oath duty; Proof of rape – requirement to prove penetration; Substitution of conviction – where rape not proved, cognate lesser offence (sexual harassment, s.138D) may be substituted.
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5 August 2016 |
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Extension of time granted where delayed supply of judgment and child’s illness constituted sufficient cause; s95 CPC inapplicable.
Law of Limitation Act, s.14(1) – extension of time – sufficient cause includes delayed supply of certified copy and illness. Law of Marriage Act, s.80(3) – Civil Procedure Code inapplicable to matrimonial appeals; s.95 CPC wrongly invoked. Procedural requirement – copy of judgment not mandatory but may be necessary for unrepresented or legally aided litigants. Exercise of judicial discretion – extension granted; no order as to costs.
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3 August 2016 |