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87 judgments found.
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April 2024
A non-party to matrimonial proceedings cannot obtain revision for land awarded in those proceedings absent a pre-existing legal interest; ownership claims belong in land courts.
Civil procedure — Revisionary jurisdiction
— not for re-appreciation of evidence
— Scope limited to legality, correctness and regularity
Family law — Matrimonial proceedings — Distribution of matrimonial assets — Ownership disputes involving third parties should be litigated in competent land fora, not by revision of matrimonial decree
Natural justice — Right to be heard
— Meaningful where person has a legal interest properly before the court
— non-parties cannot claim hearing absent such interest
30 April 2024
30 April 2024
Court granted adoption after finding statutory requirements met and that adoption is in the child’s best interest.
Family law — Adoption
— best interests of the child — Weight of social inquiry and Guardian Ad Litem recommendation
— change of name and service of adoption order on Registrar of Births and Deaths — Law of the Child Act ss.69-70
— compliance with procedural requirements: Commissioner’s consent, social investigation report, Guardian ad litem — Law of the Child Act ss.54,56,59,75
30 April 2024
30 April 2024
Plaintiff failed to prove laboratory negligence or quantifiable damages; claim dismissed with costs.
Tort — Medical negligence — laboratory testing and result handling — distinction between counselling and analytical testing
— burden and standard of proof in civil cases
— improper joinder of managing director
30 April 2024
30 April 2024
30 April 2024
An unsigned, undated and inconsistent trial judgment is fatally defective, nullified, and remitted for retrial.
Civil procedure — Judgment formalities
29 April 2024
Court ordered successor bank to produce specified bank statement with affidavit of authenticity as crucial evidence for breach‑of‑contract claim.
Civil procedure — Discovery
Civil procedure — Evidence
— bank statements as banker’s books
— successor bank’s duty to produce documents in its custody or power
29 April 2024
Summary judgment for unpaid statutory pension contributions, penalties, interest and costs after defendant failed to show triable issues.
Civil procedure — Summary procedure (order xxxv) — dismissal of leave to defend for want of triable issues — employer’s statutory duty to remit NSSF contributions — recovery of principal, penalties, interest and costs
29 April 2024
The court granted the applicant’s request and restored Criminal Appeal No.116 to the file.
Criminal procedure — restoration of appeal — application by Director of Public Prosecutions — court order restoring Criminal Appeal No.116
29 April 2024
Court restored a withdrawn criminal appeal under s386(3) CPA to protect victims' indemnity rights.
Appellate practice — Withdrawal of appeal — Director of Public Prosecutions' power to withdraw and re‑institute appeals — Criminal Procedure Act s 386(1)
Criminal law — Compensation — Restoration justified where acquittals impede victims' indemnity claims
Criminal procedure — restoration of appeal — Whether leave may be granted under rule 77(3) where withdrawal induced by fraud or mistake — Criminal Procedure Act s 386(3)
29 April 2024
Court granted 60‑day extension to liquidator to file inventory due to valuation delays and pending TRA tax proceedings.
Civil procedure — Enlargement of time — discretion to extend prescribed periods and criteria of sufficient cause — Asset valuation delays and pending tax proceedings as grounds for extension
Company law — winding up — Extension of time to file liquidator’s inventory — Court’s discretion under Civil Procedure Code s 93 and Companies Act s 302(3) — Sufficient cause required
29 April 2024
Committal dismissed: applicant failed to prove respondent had means to pay but was refusing to do so.
Civil procedure — Execution of decree — committal as civil imprisonment
29 April 2024
Whether the borrower breached a loan contract and the mortgaged property is deemed sold to the lender.
Contract law — loan agreement evidenced by written contract and supporting documents
— breach established by bank statements and documentary evidence
— disbursement and repayment terms
Contract law — Security and enforcement
— contractual clause treating breach as deemed sale enforceable
— surrender of certificate of title as collateral
29 April 2024
29 April 2024
Applicant's extension refused for failing to explain the 25-day delay following the superior court's decision.
Civil procedure — extension of time
— technical delay: delay caused by time spent prosecuting a matter in court can constitute good cause for extension of time — Pendency in superior courts may excuse accounting for that period
— whether applicant accounted for delay — Lyamuya guidelines applied
29 April 2024
Victim's recognition, supported by medical corroboration and timely reporting, upheld the rape conviction.
Criminal law — Visual identification — reliability where identification aided by lamp and moonlight and witnesses were previously known to accused
Criminal procedure — delay in arrest/reporting — Failure to call arresting witnesses — No prejudice shown
Evidence — Corroboration by medical PF3 — Medical evidence (PF3) and victim's credible testimony can sustain conviction
28 April 2024
Court rejected alleged cautioned statement for non‑compliance with s58 CPA and disputed Arabic signature and custody dates.
Criminal procedure
— Admissibility of confessional statements — Non‑compliance with statutory safeguards under the CPA — Section 58(6)(a) Criminal Procedure Act (certification/signature requirement)
— committal proceedings — material variance between committal record and DPP's information — Use of committal/remand records to rebut prosecution chronology of arrest and recording
Evidence — admissibility of cautioned statement — Proof of authorship and burden on prosecution to prove disputed cautioned statement and identity of signatory
25 April 2024
Applicant granted summary judgment for unpaid social security contributions, with interest and costs, after respondent’s default.
Civil procedure — Employment/social security — Recovery of unremitted members’ contributions and penalties
Civil procedure — Interest
— Award of pre-judgment interest at published lending rate and post-judgment court rate
— Costs awarded to successful plaintiff
Civil procedure — Summary judgment
25 April 2024
24 April 2024
High Court lacked jurisdiction to stay execution of a Primary Court decree where the applicant relied on an inapplicable Civil Procedure Code provision.
Primary Court appeals; jurisdiction to stay execution; Civil Procedure Code (Order XXI r.24) inapplicable to Primary Court appeals; Civil Procedure (Appeals in Proceedings Originating in Primary Courts) Rules, G.N. No.312/1964; stay of execution under rule 8(1); preliminary objection to be decided before merits
24 April 2024
A probate court misdirected itself by resolving a matrimonial dispute; proceedings quashed and remitted for trial de novo.
Civil procedure — Appeal/remedy — retrial
Probate law — Administration of estates — appointment of (co-)administrators — Validity of administrator appointment and effect of district court order for retrial (trial de novo)
24 April 2024
Court admitted subordinate court charge sheet and proceedings as exhibits despite lack of prominent stamps or seals.
Evidence — admissibility of documentary evidence
Evidence — court documents — court seal, certification and prosecutorial stamp — relevance and necessity
Evidence — trial-within-a-trial
— interpretation of accused's prayer for admission of exhibits
— tendering prior subordinate-court charge sheet and proceedings
24 April 2024
Unreliable visual ID and failure to prove recent possession led to acquittal for lack of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — doctrine of recent possession
— adverse inference for failure to call key witnesses
— burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt
— requirements (ownership, recentness, exhibit, witnesses)
Criminal law — identification parade collateral — limited probative value
Criminal law — Visual identification — Waziri Amani criteria
24 April 2024
24 April 2024
Non-joinder of the Attorney General in a suit by a government institution vitiates proceedings; suit struck out.
Administrative law — Government proceedings act
— mandatory joinder of Attorney General in civil proceedings by or against government
— Written Laws
Civil procedure
— Non-joinder — vitiates proceedings and cannot be cured by presence of State Attorney or later intervention
— Precedent — non-joinder amounts to illegality and denial of right to be heard
22 April 2024
Non-joinder of the Attorney General in a suit by a government institution vitiates proceedings and warrants striking out.
Administrative law — Government proceedings act — mandatory joinder of the Attorney General in civil proceedings by or against government entities
Civil procedure — Procedural compliance
— non-joinder of Attorney General vitiates proceedings
— presence of State Attorney does not cure defect
Civil procedure — remedy — suit struck out for incompetence where Attorney General is not joined as required by law
Civil procedure — Statutory interpretation — plain/ literal meaning
22 April 2024
Court found cautioned statement lawfully recorded under s.58 CPA and voluntary; defence allegations of torture and forgery unproved.
Criminal procedure — admissibility of cautioned statements
— applicability of sections 58 and 53
— burden to prove voluntariness and exclusion for torture
— handwriting comparison
— statutory four‑hour rule and its exceptions
22 April 2024
Applicant granted seven-day extension to file submissions on jurisdictional preliminary objections under s.93 CPC.
Civil procedure — extension of time
19 April 2024
Court ordered winding up of a company on just and equitable grounds and appointed an official liquidator for three months.
Civil procedure — Insolvency) rules — compliance with advertisement/notice requirements and absence of objection
Commercial law — Appointment of official liquidator — suitability
19 April 2024
The respondent who files a defence and preliminary objection instead of seeking a stay waives the right to arbitration.
Arbitration — Arbitration clause — effect on jurisdiction
— Arbitration Act 2020 (ss. 12, 13) prescribes referral/stay remedies
— choice of arbitration does not automatically oust court jurisdiction
Civil procedure — Procedure
— preliminary objection is improper to terminate suit
— stay of proceedings pending arbitration is the appropriate remedy
19 April 2024
A tort claim for unauthorised use of an image was time‑barred; earlier proceedings did not exclude limitation.
Limitation law — Limitation of actions
— Schedule
— accrual of cause of action
Limitation law — computation of limitation — exclusion where earlier proceedings prosecuted in good faith
19 April 2024
19 April 2024
Applicant failed to show sufficient cause to re-admit dismissed appeal due to counsel’s negligence and lack of notice.
Civil procedure — restoration of dismissed appeal
19 April 2024
Application to suspend default-imprisonment for unpaid fines and allow instalments dismissed for lack of evidence and exceptional circumstances.
Civil procedure — discretionary relief — factors for suspension: (i) non-jeopardy to sentencing purpose, (ii) reliable financial means for payment, (iii) exceptional circumstances
Criminal procedure — suspension of imprisonment in default of fine — release on bond — power to order payment by instalments
Evidence — Evidentiary requirement — proof of assets/income and credible grounds for exceptional hardship
19 April 2024
Warrant amended to correct conviction date; court held sentence runs from pronouncement, not from conviction date.
Criminal procedure — Amendment of warrants — Apparent errors in conviction date and court
Criminal procedure — Sentence commencement
— Remedy for non-consideration of remand period is appeal against sentence
— Sentence runs from date of pronouncement, not conviction
19 April 2024
Technical delay from a withdrawn reference justified a 14-day extension to file the intended reference.
Civil procedure — extension of time — sufficient cause — technical delay arising from withdrawal of earlier reference and follow-up for court orders constitutes sufficient cause
— fourteen-day extension granted
— no order as to costs
19 April 2024
One-day delay to file defence due to counsel's bereavement constituted good cause; ten-day extension granted.
Civil procedure — extension of time to file written statement of defence
19 April 2024
A forum-selection clause referring termination disputes to China ousts local court jurisdiction; suit struck out with costs.
Civil procedure — preliminary objection
19 April 2024
19 April 2024
19 April 2024
The applicants' application to restore a dismissed revision was denied for failure to show sufficient cause and for gross negligence.
Civil procedure
— Procedural fairness — Applicants bear burden to show reasons preventing appearance and diligence thereafter
— Restoration of dismissed proceedings — Sufficient cause required for restoration of a matter dismissed for want of prosecution
Legal profession — Advocacy practice — Engagement in superior court
19 April 2024
Applicant failed to show diligence or apparent illegality to justify extension of time to appeal; application dismissed with costs.
Appellate practice — Appeal procedure — technical delay doctrine — applicability only where subsequent proceedings are connected to the original appeal
Civil procedure
— extension of time
— Illegality as ground for extension
19 April 2024
Summary judgment granted where employer failed to defend claims for unpaid statutory pension contributions and penalties.
Civil procedure — Summary judgment — defendant’s failure to obtain leave to defend — Allegations in plaint deemed admitted
Labour law — Employment/contributions law — Employer’s statutory duty to remit employees’ pension contributions — Interest awarded
18 April 2024
Court lifted corporate veil to hold directors personally liable where company failed to satisfy and evade a long‑standing decree.
Company law — Directors’ liability
— concealment of company assets and failure to file statutory returns
— Evidence required to pierce corporate veil
— Public interest in enforcement of court orders
Company law — Execution — unsatisfied decree and enforcement
Company law — lifting corporate veil
18 April 2024
A witness may expand upon a prior statement with impeachment as the remedy; the seizure certificate was admissible despite redaction.
Criminal procedure
— admissibility of evidence
— Prevention of Terrorism Act s.33 — seizure, detention orders and admissibility
18 April 2024
Court recorded and entered parties’ settlement as a consent judgment and directed payment to the specified bank account.
Civil procedure
— Alternative dispute resolution — Mediation leading to consent judgment under Order VIII Rules 33(a) and 34 — Judicial encouragement and effect of settlements
— Consent judgment — Recording and adoption of deed of settlement — Direction of payment to specified bank account
17 April 2024
High Court lacked jurisdiction to rehear a bail‑pending‑appeal application already decided; application struck out under functus officio.
Criminal law — Medical grounds for bail — alleged ill‑health and need for physiotherapy insufficient to reopen decided application. Duty to disclose prior proceedings — non‑disclosure noted by court
Criminal procedure — Bail pending appeal — application struck out where identical earlier application was decided on the merits
17 April 2024
Court convicted both accused of murder on credible identification, corroborative caution statements and circumstantial evidence; sentenced to death.
Criminal law — Murder — identification evidence — Admissibility and voluntariness of caution statements — Postmortem evidence of asphyxia
17 April 2024