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1,166 judgments found.
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October 2024
A court must impose the sentence agreed in a registered plea bargain; unlawful deviations are subject to revision.
Appellate practice — Revisionary jurisdiction — Court may set aside illegal sentence and substitute agreed custodial term
Criminal law
— Illegality of sentence — Imposing a fine contrary to plea agreement and not provided for by offence is unlawful
— sentencing — Limited discretion to depart from agreed sentence
Criminal procedure — Plea bargaining — Registered plea agreements binding on court
18 October 2024
Extension of time to file a bill of costs refused for failure to show sufficient cause or provide evidential proof.
Civil procedure — extension of time — sufficient cause — delay in supply of copy of judgment
Evidence — Affidavits versus submissions — Submissions are not evidence
18 October 2024
Summary judgment granted against employer for unpaid statutory social security contributions and penalties; interest and costs awarded.
Civil procedure
— Summary judgment — Defendant’s failure to obtain leave to defend deemed admission — Order XXXV CPC
— Summary procedure — Availability of monetary reliefs under Order XXXV — Enforcement of statutory social security contributions
17 October 2024
An incompetent reception-order application lacking affidavit and raising unpleaded relief must be struck out, not dismissed.
Civil procedure
— Incompetent application — proper remedy is striking out not dismissal
— Pleadings — parties bound by pleadings — raising new unpleaded prayers
— Revision — setting aside dismissal and substituting strike out
17 October 2024
Leave to seek judicial review dismissed as time‑barred because the operative decision dated 21 September 2022 started limitation.
Judicial review
— leave to apply for judicial review — Time limitation for leave to apply for prerogative orders — Rule 6 (Judicial Review Procedure and Fees) 2014
— prerogative orders — continuing breach doctrine and fresh running of limitation period — Whether referral letters constitute fresh decisions restarting limitation
Jurisdiction — Time‑bar as jurisdictional defect — Filing out of time without court leave deprives court of jurisdiction — Proceedings originating from a time‑barred application are incompetent
17 October 2024
Court recorded parties’ settlement as consent judgment ordering payment of TZS 500,361,563.80 to plaintiff, stay of execution until 31 March 2025, and each party to bear own costs.
Civil procedure
— Consent judgment — Recording and adoption of deed of settlement — settlement terms made enforceable as court order
— Stay of execution — Proper notice of execution
Contract law — Contract/payment disputes — Court enforcement of agreed split payment from third‑party payer (RUWASA)
17 October 2024
Court granted extension to file revision, holding technical delay excused and alleged illegality a sufficient cause.
Civil procedure — Execution proceedings — adequacy of valuation/breakdown in execution orders — requirement to file breakdown of payments and vacating of execution
Civil procedure — extension of time
— alleged illegality of impugned decision — High Court duty to examine alleged illegality
— sufficient cause for enlargement — Lyamuya factors applied
17 October 2024
An interpleader fails where the applicant lacks neutrality and defendants make no adverse claim; nominee is not a claimant.
Civil procedure — Interpleader — requirements of adverse claims and neutral stakeholder
Insurance law
— Abuse of process — inappropriate resort to interpleader where probate or claimants' proceedings are proper
— nominee — nomination does not confer beneficial ownership or override succession/probate
17 October 2024
Court overruled preliminary objections: forum clause in bill of lading not binding, plaint sufficiently stated value, allow amendment for misdescription.
Civil procedure — Preliminary objections
— defective party description amendable under section 3A and overriding objective
— forum-selection clause in bill of lading does not oust jurisdiction where plaintiff is neither shipper nor carrier
17 October 2024
Extension of time denied where appellant failed to prove service defects, diligence, or a record‑apparent illegality.
Civil procedure — extension of time — requirement of sufficient cause and judicial discretion Proof of service — personal service by process server and substituted service by publication — evidential burden Illegality as ground for extension
17 October 2024
Appellate court reduced excessive general damages, upheld proved specific damages, and confirmed insurer’s liability under the Motor Vehicle Insurance Act.
Civil procedure — Small claims jurisdiction — determined by value of specific/special damages, not general damages
Evidence — Proof of special (specific) damages — admissibility and sufficiency of medical/expense receipts — appellate deference to trial evaluation
Insurance law — Motor vehicle insurance act s.10
— insurer’s liability to satisfy judgments against insured
— notice requirements cannot be raised for first time on appeal
Road traffic law — Motor vehicle accidents — assessment of general damages — appellate interference where award is inordinately high or unsupported
17 October 2024
Accused convicted of attempted murder on recognitional, medical and admission evidence; sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
Criminal law — Attempted murder: ingredients
— alibi notice requirement
— intention, means adapted to execution, overt act, interruption
— medical evidence corroboration
— recognition evidence and earliest opportunity naming
— weight of post-arrest admission
17 October 2024
Unexplained 20‑year delay and non‑apparent illegality do not justify extension of time to appeal.
Civil procedure — extension of time
— inordinate delay and lack of diligence
— jurisdictional and procedural defects requiring evidential inquiry are grounds of appeal, not automatic cause for extension
— Lyamuya guidelines
17 October 2024
Applicant’s two-year delay unexplained; prison incarceration and alleged illegality did not justify extension of time.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to appeal — need to account for each day of delay (Bushiri) — incarceration without specific denial of legal access not sufficient
16 October 2024
Failure to attach the decree renders an appeal incompetent and must be struck out; overriding objective cannot cure it.
16 October 2024
Defamation proceedings filed contrary to mandatory Media Services Rules are a nullity; appeal allowed with costs.
Civil procedure — Procedural competence — point of law as to competency may be raised at any stage, including on appeal
16 October 2024
16 October 2024
Whether the respondent must produce bank statements and contracts under Order XI Rule 10 to determine applicant's commission claims.
Civil procedure — Order XI
— Bank statements and contract awards
— Discovery of documents
— Relevance and necessity for fair disposal
— Prematurity objection
— Confidentiality and public interest
16 October 2024
Extension to appeal granted where no admissible proof of substituted service; applicant acted promptly after discovering the ex‑parte judgment.
Civil procedure
— Extension of time to appeal — Lyamuya criteria (account for delay, diligence, inordinate delay, illegality)
— substituted service by publication — effectiveness depends on proper commencement and proof of service
16 October 2024
A company under receivership lacks locus standi to sue; only the receiver may initiate proceedings.
Civil procedure — preliminary objection — locus standi — jurisdictional issue
Company law — Receivership — Locus standi to sue when company under receivership — Companies Act ss 416(1) and 253(1)(e)
16 October 2024
Court upheld taxing officer’s discretionary awards on vouchers, one‑sixth rule, and bill consistency; reference dismissed.
Civil procedure — Bill of Costs — Form and scale of remuneration (Orders 13 & 39) — Alleged inconsistency not ground for interference
Civil procedure — Taxation of costs
— Application of the one‑sixth rule under Order 48 of the Advocates Remuneration Order — Instruction fees and taxing officer's discretion
— Receipts for disbursements required only if requested by Taxing Officer (Order 58) — Advocates Remuneration Order, 2015 (GN No. 263 of 2015)
16 October 2024
Omission to specify leave to refile when granting withdrawal is a reviewable error; leave to refile is granted.
Civil procedure — Review
— discretionary review to correct prejudice caused by ambiguous order
— omission in order granting withdrawal
15 October 2024
Clerical arithmetic errors in a judgment are curable and do not overturn a properly evaluated award of damages.
Civil procedure — Evaluation of evidence — appellate review of trial court’s consideration of pleadings and testimonies
Civil procedure — Judgment errors
— clerical/arithmetic slips curable
— do not necessarily invalidate substantive judgment
Road traffic law — Motor-vehicle accident — negligence/careless driving — civil damages arising from collision
15 October 2024
Application struck out for being supported by a defective affidavit containing hearsay; applicant ordered to pay costs.
Civil procedure
— Affidavits — Requirement that affidavits contain matters within deponent’s personal knowledge
— Affidavits by counsel — Limits on counsel deponents — Counsel cannot swear to others' statements without supporting affidavits from those persons
— striking out — Defective affidavits render proceedings incompetent
15 October 2024
Uncontroverted affidavit alleging part payments and calculation discrepancies sufficed to grant leave to defend under Order XXXV Rule 3(1)(b).
Civil procedure — Summary procedure — leave to appear and defend — Requirement of triable issue and reasonable defence — Sufficiency of uncontroverted affidavit averments about part payments and disputed computation
15 October 2024
Supply debt established; loss of profit unproven; judgment for unpaid sum, reduced general damages, interest and costs.
Contract law — Contract/sale of goods
— assessment and award of general damages and interest
— loss of profit unproven
— proof of supply by weighbridge receipts
— settlement agreement as admission of liability
15 October 2024
15 October 2024
Extension under s.14 granted where applicant accounted for delay, showed diligence, and delay was not inordinate.
Limitation Act s.14(1) — Extension of time — discretion and Lyamuya guidelines — accounting for delay — technical delay excluded — diligence required.
15 October 2024
Court held an employer guarantor liable despite a naming discrepancy; struck‑out defenses cannot be relied on after mediation default.
Banking law — Guarantees — personal guarantors’ liability co-extensive with principal debtor — Surety's liability co‑extensive and immediate (Law of Contract Act s.80)
Civil procedure
— mediation — striking out written statement of defence for non-attendance — Order VIII C Rule 29 (failure to attend mediation)
— misnomer and amendment — Court may correct inadvertent naming errors and order amendment to focus on substance over form
15 October 2024
Alleged private chamber discussion did not establish bias; recusal denied and main hearing ordered to proceed.
Civil procedure — Code of conduct for judicial officers (rule 9) — grounds for disqualification
Civil procedure — Forum shopping — courts should resist recusal requests based on flimsy or imaginary fears. Requirement for strong grounds to demonstrate a real possibility of bias
Civil procedure — Judicial recusal — alleged bias from private chamber discussion
— fair‑minded informed observer test applies
— insufficient without tangible evidence
11 October 2024
Court dismissed challenge to Advocates Act provisions, holding committee compositions do not inherently produce bias or breach TLS self‑regulation.
Constitutional law — challenge to composition and functions of National and Regional Advocates' disciplinary committees
— alleged bias from Attorney General and prosecution/judicial membership
— alleged encroachment on Tanganyika Law Society's self‑regulation
— discrimination and equal protection claims
— presumption of constitutionality and availability of administrative remedies
11 October 2024
Omission of a sub‑section in a charge is not fatal if particulars caused no prejudice; conviction restored on sufficient evidence.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — duty of first appellate court to re‑evaluate evidence objectively, not to set aside convictions on technicalities
Civil procedure — Relief — quashing of appellate decision and restoration of trial court judgment where conviction supported by evidence
Criminal law — charge sheet — omission to cite specific sub‑section of s.228 Penal Code — defect curable if no prejudice to accused
Evidence — PF3 and eyewitness testimony — weight and credibility in wounding offences
10 October 2024
Administrator ordered to file a true, full inventory and account under s.107; complainant’s objection upheld.
Probate law — Requirement for a true and full inventory and account under s.107 Probate Act and Probate Rules (Forms 80/81) -- failure to state estimated values or full particulars undermines validity of distributions and prevents closure of estate.
10 October 2024
Bank failed to prove loan arrears after bank statements and agreements were expunged for lack of authentication and breach of confidentiality.
Banking law — duty of confidentiality — Banker’s duty of secrecy and limits of power of attorney — Third-party access requires customer consent, statute, or court order
Evidence — Bankers' books — Whether computer-generated records/computer print-outs constitute bankers' books under the Evidence Act, 1967 — Requirement of officer/partner affidavit and proof of custody and usual course of business
10 October 2024
Pre‑ and post‑contractual conduct (emails, invoices, TIN, EFD receipts) established an implied contract breached after an advance payment.
Contract law — Implied contract — parties’ conduct, delivery and post‑dated cheques evidence intention to contract — Law of Contract Act s 9
Evidence — Admissibility of documents — Unexplained deletion of references to bank statements is an irregularity affecting evaluation of documentary evidence
10 October 2024
Failure to swear an interpreter for a witness who does not understand the court's language is a fatal irregularity requiring retrial.
Civil procedure — Criminal/civil procedure — Obligation to provide and swear interpreter when witness does not understand court language
10 October 2024
10 October 2024
Court granted 14-day extension to file Notice of Appeal due to advocate's inaction; respondents unopposed.
Civil procedure — Extension of time to appeal
— Effect of respondent's consent on grant of relief
— negligence/inaction of former advocate as sufficient cause — Advocates Act s 66
10 October 2024
Affidavit under s.4(2) BRADEA must show personal effect and should be sworn by the affected person; counsel may attest only to personal knowledge.
Civil procedure
— Affidavits — advocate may swear affidavit only on matters within advocate's personal knowledge
— expungement of defective paragraphs — effect on competence of petition
Constitutional law — Constitutional procedure — affidavit of admissibility — requirement that affidavit state extent petitioners were personally affected by alleged contraventions of Articles 12
10 October 2024
Claim for breach of privacy dismissed where exhibition banner and oral notice established consent and damages were unproven.
Privacy/personality rights — Consent to photography and publication — Public awareness disclaimer at exhibition — Lack of proof of intrusion, appropriation or commercial gain — Burden of proof on balance of probabilities — Damages not established.
10 October 2024
High Court lacks original jurisdiction to order dismissal or revoke a nurse’s certificate absent exhaustion of statutory appeal remedies.
Civil procedure — Appeal to minister (s.31) and onward to high court (s.32)
— High Court lacks original jurisdiction to order dismissal or revoke practising certificate where statutory appeal remedies exist
— tort claims for damages maintainable in High Court
9 October 2024
Continuing breach of a profit‑sharing contract justified monetary recovery of the capital and an award of damages.
Contract law — performance and breach — Conversion of capital provided in specie to monetary value where party refuses performance
Damages — General damages
— General damages discretionary
— statutory court interest
Limitation law — Continuing wrong doctrine — Continuing breach and accrual of limitation
9 October 2024
The appellant's locking of the respondent's house was a shut‑out, not a land dispute; damages were unproven after loan default.
Jurisdiction
— distinction between eviction (land dispute) and lock‑out/shut‑out (not necessarily a land matter) Stare decisis — flexible application
— failure to prove causal loss Loan/contract — debtor's default and uncooperative conduct undermines claim for damages
— precedents applied according to facts and points decided Evidence — burden to prove damages on balance of probabilities
9 October 2024
Failure to sign each witness's testimony under section 210(1)(a) vitiated the trial; conviction quashed and sentence set aside.
Criminal procedure
— Trial procedure — Requirement that the trial judge append signature at the end of each witness’s testimony — Section 210(1)(a) Criminal Procedure Act
— retrial principles (Fatehali Manji) — Retrial inappropriate where prosecution would fill evidential gaps — Interests of justice
Evidence — Admissibility of exhibits — Effect of absent locus visit record, missing sketch plan and unexplained documents on validity of proceedings — PF3 / cautioned statements / improper tendering
9 October 2024
Court granted seven-day extension to apply for leave to defend where delay was due to resigned officer withholding documents and technical misfiling.
Civil procedure
— Procedural delay — Resignation of officer served with summons and mistaken filing in wrong registry as grounds for extension
— Summary procedure — Leave to defend — consequences of late application and grounds for extension
9 October 2024
A vague charge failing to specify elements under section 13 rendered the trial a nullity; conviction and sentence quashed.
Criminal procedure — Drafting of charge — defective charge renders trial a nullity — defect not curable
9 October 2024
8 October 2024
Bank law: payment under unconditional guarantee valid absent fraud; mortgage sale void where statutory notice not given.
Commercial law — Bank guarantees
— Fraud exception narrow
— oblige bank to pay on demand absent fraud
Evidence — Burden of proof — counterclaim dismissed where bank failed to prove outstanding balance
Land law — mortgage enforcement
— failure renders sale illegal
— statutory 60‑day default notice and 14‑day auction notice mandatory
8 October 2024
Court upheld conviction, expunged an untimely cautioned statement, and found the extra-judicial confession admissible.
Criminal law — Admissibility of cautioned statements
Criminal law — extra-judicial confessions before Justices of the Peace
— compliance with Chief Justice Guide
— corroboration of accomplice/confession evidence
8 October 2024
8 October 2024