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1,166 judgments found.
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December 2024
Circumstantial evidence and a corroborated repudiated confession sufficed to convict the accused of murder.
Criminal law — murder conviction based on circumstantial evidence
Criminal law — Repudiated confession
— admissibility and weight where corroborated
— Defence insufficiency and burden to raise reasonable doubt
— Identification of exhibits at scene as corroborative evidence
— Postmortem findings corroborating cause of death
10 December 2024
A judgment naming a party not shown in the pleadings is a nullity and must be quashed and remitted.
Civil procedure
— authenticity of court records
— misnaming or introducing a different defendant in a judgment without parties' amendment can render the judgment a nullity — appellate correction of such misnaming without hearing inappropriate — remedy: quash and remit for fresh composition of judgment
10 December 2024
Court granted extension of time to restore dismissed application despite incomplete explanations, finding delay not inordinate.
Civil procedure — extension of time — application to set aside dismissal order — sufficiency of explanations and corroborating evidence — judicial discretion to extend where delay not inordinate and refusal would cause prejudice to beneficiaries
10 December 2024
Court records consent settlement requiring defendant to pay reduced outstanding statutory contributions in monthly instalments; penalties subject to Board approval.
Civil procedure
— Consent judgment — settlement deed recorded and incorporated as court decree
— Costs — each party to bear own costs
— Effect — full execution extinguishes further rights and obligations
— Penalty waiver — conditional upon Board of Trustees approval
— Statutory contributions — reduced outstanding sum payable in monthly instalments
10 December 2024
Plaintiff awarded summary judgment for unpaid NSSF contributions with prescribed pre‑ and post‑judgment interest and costs.
Civil procedure
— Relief — Principal sum, accrued penalties, interest and costs
— Summary judgment
Contract law — Social security law — Employer obligation to remit NSSF members’ contributions — Liability for unpaid contributions and penalties
10 December 2024
Agent breached retail agency agreement by misreporting customer payments; only part of claimed special damages proved.
Civil procedure — Remedies — Declaratory relief for breach and fraud, award of specific and general damages, interest and costs
Contract law — agency — Independent retail outlet agent obligations to collect and remit customer charges and to act in utmost good faith
6 December 2024
Appellant failed to prove tortious negligence and causation on a balance of probabilities; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — proof on balance of probabilities — Requirement that civil claims be proved on the balance of probabilities
Evidence — Failure to call material witnesses — adverse inference for failure to call material witnesses
Tort — Tort of negligence — duty, breach and damage
6 December 2024
Majority administrators may file amended estate accounts under s.104; company assets excluded only if proven not deceased's assets.
Companies law — Transmission of shares on death — Distribution of deceased’s company shares among heirs
Evidence — Burden and standard of proof — Allegations of third‑party encumbrance require cogent documentary or oral proof — Evidence Act ss.110 & 112
Probate law — Administration of estates — Validity of inventory filed by majority of co‑administrators — s.104 Probate and Administration of Estates Act
6 December 2024
Whether an advocates disciplinary committee breached the appellant’s right to be heard by raising suo moto issues and relying on prior complaints.
Legal profession
— Advocate conduct — Right to be heard and suo moto issues — Article 13(6)(a) Constitution
— Res judicata and locus standi — Raising new issues on appeal
— sanction proportionality — Use of prior complaints in assessing sanction — Advocates (Disciplinary and other Proceedings) Rules, Rule 35(2)
6 December 2024
6 December 2024
Failure to prove request for certified judgment prevents exclusion of limitation; bill of costs was rightly dismissed as time-barred.
Civil procedure — preliminary objection on point of law/limitation may be raised at any stage. Right to be heard
— no condemnation unheard where rejoinder was filed
— parties may address limitations in written rejoinder
Legal profession — Advocates remuneration order (gn. 264) — Bill of Costs
6 December 2024
6 December 2024
Unsigned meeting minutes and lack of consignee complaint meant the appellant failed to prove negligence; appeal dismissed.
Evidence
— Electronic evidence — authenticity and Electronic Transactions/Electronic Evidence requirements — Electronic Transactions Act s.6
— weight and credibility of documentary exhibits (sale agreement, minutes) — Requirement of approval/signature for conclusiveness — Weight accorded to unsigned minutes
Tort — Negligence — burden to prove duty and breach not satisfied — Requirement to prove consignee's complaint/non-receipt
6 December 2024
Appeal dismissed: appellant failed to prove existence of an oral agreement or entitlement for commercial use of image and voice.
Civil procedure
— Burden of proof
— Evaluation of evidence — oral agreement — use of image and voice in commercial adverts
6 December 2024
Suit struck out for failure to exhaust TFF/TEFA internal remedies; standing challenge to impugned constitution provision rejected.
Civil procedure
— jurisdiction — Internal association dispute resolution clauses — TFF Constitution Articles 66, 67
— Locus standi — Challenge to validity of association constitution — Impugned constitutional provision cannot be relied upon to deny standing when its validity is contested
5 December 2024
Court vacated unpleaded damages and vehicle release, upheld loan default and calculated outstanding debt with 4% monthly penal interest.
Debt recovery; security seizure under loan agreement; pleadings and unpleaded reliefs; burden of proof for missing property and valuation; contractual penal interest (4% per month); counterclaim reinstatement; vandalisation vs theft.
4 December 2024
Applicant failed to account for each day of delay; extension to file reference refused with costs.
Civil procedure — extension of time — application to extend time to file a reference against Taxing Master’s decision — sufficiency of reasons in supporting affidavit
Limitation law — time runs from supply of certified copy (s.19) — court's discretion to extend time guided by length/reason for delay, arguability and prejudice — Law of Limitation Act s 19(2)
4 December 2024
Unchallenged affidavit evidence of settlement negotiations can constitute sufficient cause to set aside an ex parte judgment.
Civil procedure — Setting aside ex parte judgment
3 December 2024
Failure to decide a reserved preliminary objection on a counterclaim before hearing merits rendered subsequent proceedings null and ordered a retrial.
Civil procedure — Counterclaim
— proceedings on it are null if preliminary objection on competency is undetermined
— treated as a separate suit
Civil procedure — preliminary objection
Civil procedure — remedy — quash proceedings and order retrial where preliminary objection was not decided
3 December 2024
Court granted extension of time to lodge appeal, holding travel and cancelled flight constituted sufficient cause.
Civil procedure — Extension of time to appeal
— Court of Appeal Rules rr 83(2), 90(1), 45(a)
— Sufficient cause
3 December 2024
Whether respondents breached a restructured loan and corporate guarantee, giving rise to proven indebtedness and post‑judgment interest.
Contract law
— Guarantee — guarantor’s liability co‑extensive with principal borrower
— loan facility — default on scheduled repayments
Damages — Computation of damages
— post‑judgment interest and execution procedures
— Proof of special damages
3 December 2024
Illegality apparent on face of a primary court judgment can justify extension of time to file an appeal.
Civil procedure
— Extension of time to appeal — illegality apparent on the face of the record as ground for extension — Pecuniary jurisdiction of Primary Court (Magistrates Courts Act s 18(1)(iii))
— jurisdiction — Pecuniary jurisdiction — Effect of award exceeding Primary Court limit (Tshs 30,000,000)
2 December 2024
A judgment delivered without giving parties notice of the date of judgment is inoperative and must be quashed.
Civil procedure — Order XX r.1 CPC
— Judgment delivered in absence of parties without notice is inoperative and a nullity
— Notice of date of judgment
Civil procedure — remedy
— Appeal not competent from non-operative judgment
— quash and remit for fresh judgment
2 December 2024
November 2024
An apparent illegality on the record, e.g. an undetermined jurisdictional issue, can justify extension of time to appeal.
Civil procedure
— Requirement to act diligently and account for delay — Economic/COVID-19 difficulties not decisive where apparent illegality exists
— extension of time — illegality apparent on face of record as sufficient cause — Appellate Jurisdiction Act s 11(1)
Criminal law — Criminal appeal — jurisdiction — Failure to decide jurisdictional ground constituting apparent illegality
29 November 2024
Resignation clause made loans immediately repayable; default notice and auction were valid, but decretal amount reduced.
Contract law
— Costs — discretion, costs follow the event
— General damages — compensatory award and appellate re-assessment
— Interest — court rate (7%) on proven decretal sum
— Sale of mortgaged property — advertisement, valuation and auction
— Service of default notice — notice to guarantor and postal copy
— staff loan agreement — repayment on resignation
29 November 2024
Applicant granted leave to seek judicial review after court found locus, timeliness and arguable grounds (jurisdictional and procedural defects).
Judicial review — Administrative decision
— excess of jurisdiction, denial of hearing (audi), imposition of liability on non-party
— Shipping/port authority regulatory decisions
Judicial review — leave to apply — requirements: locus/interest, six-month limitation, and prima facie/arguable case
29 November 2024
Failure to enter a formal conviction was curable; arson conviction upheld and life sentence reduced to thirty years.
Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Sufficiency of circumstantial evidence to support a conviction
Criminal procedure
— High Court revisional powers under s.373(1)(a) CPA — variation of illegal sentence and ordering release
— omission to enter conviction before sentence — consequences and remedies (remittal, retrial, appellate curative powers)
29 November 2024
Applicant failed to aver mandatory Rule 5(3) conditions in affidavit; stay of execution dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— Security
— Stay of execution
— no unreasonable delay
Evidence — Evidence versus submissions — Submissions are not evidence
29 November 2024
Cautioned statements taken outside the statutory four‑hour period without lawful extension are inadmissible.
Criminal law — Cautioned statement — delay in recording violates s.50(1)(a) CPA — Police General Order compliance
Evidence — voluntariness and admissibility of cautioned statements — Voluntariness of repudiated confessions — Prosecution bears onus to prove voluntariness
29 November 2024
Accused acquitted where prosecution evidence was contradictory, uncorroborated, and failed to prove causation beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Manslaughter — causation and proof beyond reasonable doubt
Criminal procedure — Burden of proof — Prosecution duty to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt
Evidence — Witness credibility — Interested witnesses — Need for corroboration of relatives' testimony
29 November 2024
Appellant failed to prove breach due to absent independent expert evidence; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — Judgment writing — mandatory requirement to state points for determination, decision and reasons — Costs follow the event — s.30(2) CPC
Contract law — breach of contract — Evaluation of evidence in proving breach — Burden of proof
Evidence — Expert evidence — Expert report — Adverse inference from non-production of inspection report
29 November 2024
Inaction by prison officers in forwarding inmates’ petitions can constitute good cause for extension of time to file an appeal.
Criminal procedure
— Extension of time to file appeal — Whether custodial status and prison administrative delay constitute sufficient cause for enlargement of time — Criminal Procedure Act s 361(2)
— prisoners’ appeals — notice of appeal given to officer‑in‑charge of prison within statutory time deemed filed in time — Criminal Procedure Act s363
Evidence — affidavits — Certified prison affidavits — Sufficiency of prisoner’s affidavit where respondent does not contest and officer affidavit unlikely
28 November 2024
High Court cannot revise interlocutory ex parte subordinate-court orders; application challenging phone-access order struck out as incompetent.
Civil procedure — Competence of applications — omnibus applications and related-prayers exception
Criminal procedure — Revision — Whether High Court may revise interlocutory/ex parte orders of subordinate courts
28 November 2024
Applicant failed to account for delay and did not show illegality apparent on the face of the record; extension refused.
Civil procedure
— Civil revision — Whether alleged illegality must be apparent on the face of the record to justify extension of time
— extension of time — duty to account for each day of delay
28 November 2024
Appeal concerned charge defect, probate jurisdiction overlap, sufficiency of theft evidence, and illegality of imposed fine.
Criminal law — Defective charge — omission of subsection — curable if no prejudice
Criminal law — Jurisdiction — distinction between criminal prosecution and probate remedies
Criminal law — sentencing
— illegality of imposing a fine where statute prescribes imprisonment
— restitution as remedy
Criminal law — Theft — elements of theft and standard of proof
28 November 2024
Applicant granted 14-day extension to seek leave for judicial review after accounting for a short, reasonable delay.
Civil procedure
— extension of time — application for leave to apply for judicial review — whether sufficient cause shown under Lyamuya criteria
— remedy — competence of judicial review to be assessed at leave stage, not on extension application
28 November 2024
High Court granted bail under EOCCA where prosecution did not oppose, imposing substantial financial and reporting conditions.
Criminal law
— Bail conditions — Security equal to half per‑accused liability (cash or title deed) and promissory bond by sureties — Application of ss 36(5) and 36(6) EOCCA
— Bail pending trial — principles for setting bail conditions — Application of ss 36(5) and 36(6) EOCCA
Criminal procedure — Jurisdiction — Economic offences triable by High Court — High Court competence where alleged proceeds exceed trial court monetary limit
26 November 2024
Insurance disputes within the Ombudsman’s monetary remit must ordinarily be filed with the Ombudsman, ousting court jurisdiction.
Insurance law — Insurance Ombudsman
26 November 2024
Investigator owed duties to the employer, appellant failed to prove negligence on balance of probabilities; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — Procedural fairness — right to be heard
— later disciplinary hearing may suffice
— No automatic right to be interviewed during an investigation absent scope or terms requiring it
Evidence — Civil evidence — burden and standard of proof
Insurance law — Utmost good faith and disclosure — Relevant to fact-finding where misrepresentation/non-disclosure alleged
Tort — Negligence — Existence of legal duty of care — Investigator engaged by employer owes duty to employer, not to third-party employee
26 November 2024
Applicant failed to show good cause for extension of time; counsel's negligence and ignorance do not justify delay.
Civil procedure — extension of time
Civil procedure — Good cause
— counsel's negligence, ignorance of law or busy schedule are not sufficient
— Inordinate delay and discretionary refusal to extend time
26 November 2024
Application for interim injunction restraining sale of mortgaged assets dismissed for failure to show irreparable harm.
Civil procedure — Temporary injunctions — Requirements of triable issue, irreparable harm and balance of convenience — Mortgage and lender’s right to recover — Dispute over interest calculation does not alone establish irreparable injury where monetary compensation is available
26 November 2024
Death of an administrator renders letters of administration inoperative, permitting the court to issue fresh letters to beneficiaries.
Probate law — Revocation of letters of administration — letters may be revoked if they have become useless or inoperative — Probate & Administration Act s49(1)(d), s49(2)
26 November 2024
Application to revoke letters of administration struck out as functus officio due to prior time-bar and res judicata rulings.
Administrative law — Locus standi — heirs' standing to challenge administration of estate (raised but not determinative once functus officio found)
Civil procedure
— Abuse of process — repeated identical applications and constructive res judicata
— Pleadings — name discrepancies and jurisdictional objections — matters of pleading/fact
— res judicata and functus officio
Probate law — Revocation of letters of administration
25 November 2024
Insufficient identification, lack of PF3 and uncorroborated, retracted confession made the armed robbery conviction unsafe.
Criminal law — Armed robbery
— admissibility/weight of retracted caution statement recorded by investigator
— habitual-offender status and sentence enhancement
— visual identification
25 November 2024
Application to set aside ex-parte judgment dismissed as time-barred; correction under section 96 does not stop limitation.
Civil procedure — limitation — application to set aside ex-parte judgment — Item No.5, Part III Law of Limitation Act (30 days) — date of judgment pronouncement versus date of correction under section 96 CPC
25 November 2024
Non‑endorsement of DPP consent and jurisdiction certificate deprived the subordinate court of jurisdiction, quashing conviction and ordering retrial.
Criminal procedure — Jurisdiction
— DPP's consent and certificate conferring jurisdiction
— Endorsement/acknowledgement in subordinate court proceedings mandatory
— Mere presence in court file insufficient
— Recent Court of Appeal authority (Emmanuel Mark Nyambo) followed
— Proceedings, conviction and sentence quashed
— Retrial ordered
25 November 2024
A judgment omitting the offence and statutory provision of conviction is a nullity and must be re-composed by the trial court.
Appellate practice — Written submissions — Failure to file written submissions equating to non-appearance and appellate court entitlement to proceed under Rule 17(3) — Ex-parte determination of appeal
Criminal procedure — Judgment must specify offence and statutory provision (s.312(2) CPA) — Failure to state statutory section renders conviction a nullity — Criminal Procedure Act s.312(2)
Evidence — Child witness (tender age) — Section 127(2) Evidence Act — Requirement of prior promise to tell the truth for unsworn evidence
25 November 2024
Appellate court upheld armed robbery conviction, finding night recognition reliable and the alibi unpersuasive.
Criminal law
— Armed robbery — Elements required to prove armed robbery — Elements: stealing, being armed, use or threat of violence
— Evidence — visual identification — Waziri Amani factors (lighting, distance, duration) required to render identification watertight
— Identification parade — not required where in-scene identification and corroborative evidence are reliable — Role and necessity of identification parade where witnesses knew suspect
25 November 2024
Delay in filing appeal caused by late supply of judgment/decree by tribunal justified a 14-day extension to file the appeal.
Civil procedure
— computation of time — Land Disputes Courts Act s41 — period excludes time to obtain copies. Requirement of diligence — prompt action upon receipt of documents supports grant of extension
— extension of time — Law of Limitation Act s14 — good cause — delay caused by tribunal in supplying judgment/decree deemed excusable
25 November 2024
Confession corroborated by DNA and last-seen testimony established murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Murder — confession and corroboration — DNA and last-seen evidence — Penal Code ss.196-197
Criminal procedure — admissibility of cautioned statements — trial‑within‑a‑trial, voluntariness and requirement to give reasons before admission — Corroboration requirements
25 November 2024