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229 judgments found.
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December 2025
An appeal filed in the name of a deceased person without substitution is incompetent and struck out.
Civil procedure — Competence of appeal — Appeal filed in the name of a deceased person — Proceedings against deceased are nullities
— attachment of matrimonial home (issue raised but not decided)
— Court may raise competence suo motu
31 December 2025
Conviction for rape and abduction quashed due to reasonable doubt on penetration, identity, and unlawful taking.
Criminal law
— Abduction — unlawful taking from custody — Element of taking/detention against will required
— Failure to call material witnesses — adverse inference
— Rape — proof of penetration — Role and weight of medical evidence (PF.3) compared with complainant and eyewitness testimony
31 December 2025
Conviction quashed due to material variance in date and unexplained delay in arraignment violating fair trial rights.
Criminal law — Rape — Material variance between charge particulars and evidence (date of offence) — Duty to amend charge under s.251 Criminal Procedure Act
— quashed and set aside
— Unexplained delay in arraignment
31 December 2025
A substantiated, continuous medical incapacity can constitute sufficient cause to extend time to file an appeal.
Extension of time; Limitation Act s.14(1) and Land Disputes Courts Act s.44(3); sickness as sufficient cause; accounting for each day of delay; diligence; prejudice to respondent.
31 December 2025
An appeal filed after the expiry of a court‑granted extension is incompetent and will be struck out.
Criminal procedure — Appeal — Non‑compliance renders appeal incompetent and liable to be struck out — Time limits and jurisdiction
31 December 2025
Invalid cautioned statement expunged, but statutory rape conviction upheld on victim and medical evidence.
Criminal law — Contradictions in witness statements
— Corroboration by medical evidence (PF3)
— materiality and root of the case
Criminal law — Evidence — admissibility of caution statement and compliance with four‑hour rule
Criminal law — Statutory rape — Proof of age, penetration and identity
31 December 2025
Non‑compliance with mandatory affidavit requirements under the Labour Court Rules renders the application incompetent and is struck out.
Labour law — Labour procedure — Affidavit requirements
19 December 2025
Tribunal erred in demanding a death certificate; a bus ticket sufficed to show sufficient cause to restore the land application.
Civil procedure — Restoration of proceedings dismissed for want of prosecution — Sufficiency of reasons for non-appearance
Evidence — Documentary proof — Travel/bus ticket as competent evidence of attendance at a funeral versus requirement of death certificate — Relevance and authenticity of documentary evidence
12 December 2025
Unsworn witness testimony is inadmissible; conviction quashed and retrial ordered.
Criminal procedure — Administration of oath/affirmation
8 December 2025
Consent judgment against an unjoined person is void; defective joinder renders subsequent proceedings incompetent.
Civil procedure
— Appeal — Procedural Irregularity — Change of parties without leave renders appeal incompetent
— Consent judgment — Validity where consent arises from a Deed of Settlement that does not include a party
— Joinder of parties — Non-joinder of necessary party renders plaint incurably defective
5 December 2025
Whether the taxing master wrongly applied liquidated-sum scales to an unliquidated damages claim, causing excessive instruction fees.
Legal profession
— Advocates remuneration order
— instruction fees
— misdirection on applicable scale
— taxation reference
— taxing master's discretion
5 December 2025
Termination was substantively and procedurally unfair; frustration not proven and CMA compensation award upheld.
Employment law — unfair termination — substantive and procedural fairness — frustration of contract not established — retrenchment procedures and compensation under section 41 ELRA
5 December 2025
November 2025
The applicant failed to prove desertion or willful neglect; divorce, property division and custody claims dismissed.
Family law — Divorce
— Grounds: wilful neglect (maintenance) and desertion — Evidence Act, burden on petitioner to prove on the balance of probabilities
— Petition founded on petitioner's wrongdoing, clean hands principle — Section 107(1) Law of Marriage Act
Family law — Division of matrimonial property — Dependent on valid divorce order — Law of Marriage Act s 114(1)
28 November 2025
Alleged fraud/misrepresentation in registered title must first be determined by the Registrar under s99; suit struck out.
Land law — Land registration — Land Registration Act, ss.99(1)(d) & (f)
— concurrent jurisdiction with High Court but Registrar is first forum for rectification
— Registrar’s power to rectify register for fraud, mistake or misrepresentation
— suit struck out as premature
24 November 2025
Administrator failed to prove a valid deed of gift; house formed part of the deceased’s estate, appeal dismissed.
Appellate practice — Representation — Appearance by advocate equates to appearance by the party
Evidence — Evidence disclosure — Administrator’s duty to disclose, concealment and inconsistent conduct undermining credibility of a claimed transfer
Probate law — Deed of gift — Requirements for valid deed of gift: intent, delivery and acceptance
21 November 2025
Summary judgment granted where defendant failed to seek leave to defend alleged unpaid NSSF contributions and penalties.
Civil procedure
— Remedies — decretal sum, interest at court rate, and costs
— Summary judgment — defendant's failure to apply for leave to appear and defend after service — entitlement to summary judgment
Contract law — Social security — Employer statutory duty to remit NSSF contributions (employer and employee portions)
20 November 2025
Child victim's credible testimony, corroborated by medical evidence, sufficed to uphold rape conviction and sentence.
Criminal law — sexual offences — Rape — Child’s uncorroborated evidence admissible and may ground conviction where credibility is properly assessed — Court will not entertain new issues on appeal absent pleading or leave
14 November 2025
Delay by prison authorities in lodging an appeal notice may justify an extension of time to appeal under section 382(2).
Criminal procedure
— Court discretion — imposition of timetable for filing notice and petition of appeal
— Extension of time to appeal
— Prisoner litigants — inability of prison authorities to lodge notices — sufficient cause for extension
13 November 2025
Delay from prison transfer and late provision of judgment copies justified extension of time to lodge appeal.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time — delay due to late supply of judgment and intra-prison transfer — time for obtaining copies excluded from computation — requirement of diligence and sufficient cause
12 November 2025
Extension of time to file appeal granted where prisoner prepared notice but prison authorities failed to lodge it; electronic filing rules noted.
Criminal procedure — extension of time to lodge notice and petition of appeal — prisoner prepared notice but prison authorities failed to lodge it — Judicature and Application of Laws — use of service bureaus and ex parte relief for technical filing problems
12 November 2025
Extension of time granted to file appeal notice due to prison authorities' failure to lodge applicants' documents.
Civil procedure — Electronic filing — Judicature and Application of Laws
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to file Notice of Intention to Appeal — prisoners’ inability to lodge documents due to prison authorities’ failure
12 November 2025
Transfer and delay in obtaining judgment copies justified extension of time to lodge appeal where applicant acted diligently.
Criminal procedure
— Extension of time to appeal — Sufficient cause
— computation of time for filing notice of appeal — Whether delay in obtaining copies of the judgment and proceedings is excluded from computation under the proviso to s 382(2)(b)
— prisoner transfer and delay in obtaining judgment — Whether transfer and an honest mistaken belief that a notice had been lodged justify extension where the applicant acted diligently
12 November 2025
Conviction quashed where identification, exhibit chain of custody, confession, and prolonged detention were defective.
Criminal law
— Confessions — strict compliance with statutory procedural safeguards
— constitutional rights — right to be brought before court promptly and prejudice from prolonged pre-arraignment detention
— proof beyond reasonable doubt
12 November 2025
Employer proved misconduct and fair procedure; CMA’s 16‑month compensation award quashed.
Labour law
— admissibility of investigation reports, transcripts and electronic evidence
— applicability of group/subsidiary internal policies
— assessment and reduction of compensation awards
— conflict of interest of disciplinary panel members
— employer’s burden to prove misconduct on balance of probabilities
— procedural fairness in disciplinary investigations
11 November 2025
Applicant failed to show good cause for extension to file appeal, having not accounted for lengthy delay or proved date of service.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to file appeal — Notice within 10 days and petition within 45 days — Lyamuya factors applicable
— Oral grounds not pleaded inadmissible
— parties bound by pleadings
7 November 2025
Ward Tribunal lacked pecuniary jurisdiction absent a valuation report; appeal allowed.
Civil procedure
— Proper remedy arising from execution — objection proceedings before DLHT, not fresh Ward Tribunal suit
— Res judicata — not determined where a dispositive jurisdictional point succeeds
Land law — Jurisdiction of Ward Tribunal — Pecuniary jurisdiction
— Estimated/pleaded value insufficient
— valuation by competent valuer required to establish monetary jurisdiction
7 November 2025
Where trespass is discovered after a deceased’s death, s.24 LLA can postpone accrual, saving otherwise time-barred land claims.
Land law
— Limitation of actions — Where deceased died before cause of action accrued, s.24(1) LLA computes limitation from first anniversary of death or date right accrues to estate — accrual may be when trespass discovered
— s.9(1) constructive accrual at death subject to s.24 exception — jurisdictional nature of limitation requires material evidence
7 November 2025
Appeal allowed where respondent failed to prove existence of hire contract or payment for alleged excavator loss.
Evidence — appellate review
— locus standi/wrong party raised but not determined after dispositive findings
— misdirection by first appellate court in re-evaluating evidence
Evidence — Contract evidence
7 November 2025
Applicant failed to show good cause for unexplained delay; extension to file appeal denied.
Civil procedure — Technical delay — period spent prosecuting an initially incompetent appeal in good faith excluded from delay computation. Requirement to account for every day of delay and to demonstrate reasonable diligence
Criminal procedure — extension of time to file notice of intention to appeal and appeal — good cause required
5 November 2025
Uncorroborated e‑filing failure and unexplained 75‑day delay do not constitute good cause for extension of time.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to appeal — good cause required
Evidence — affidavits
5 November 2025
Technical delay and prompt action by a prisoner justified extension of time to file an appeal out of time.
Civil procedure — Technical delay — procedural defects and misdirected filings by a prisoner can constitute sufficient cause if acted upon promptly
Criminal procedure — Extension of time
5 November 2025
October 2025
Application struck out for failing to join a necessary party from the original proceedings, rendering it incompetent.
Civil procedure — Non-joinder of necessary parties — Fatal where rights of absent parties will be affected — Right to be heard (audi alteram partem)
Land law — Revision of DLHT decisions — Locus standi of estate administrator — Administrator not party to original proceedings must ensure joinder of parties directly affected
27 October 2025
High Court upheld DLHT: e‑filing deemed filed when fees paid within seven days; mortgage and auction nullified for lack of valid spousal consent and lender's due diligence.
Civil procedure
— Electronic filing — Rule on electronic submissions
— form of appeal — Appeals from DLHT exercising original jurisdiction
Evidence — cross‑examination — Raising issues suo motu and failure to cross‑examine — Effect on admission and weight of evidence
Land law — matrimonial property and spouse consent — Whether spousal consent was required for alienation of the matrimonial home
27 October 2025
Tribunal exceeded jurisdiction by ordering valuation and compensation beyond the Court of Appeal’s declaratory decree.
Civil procedure — Execution of decree — Whether a declaratory statement that owner remains until fairly compensated constitutes an executable order for payment
Land law — Valuation and compensation — Valuation and compensation are substantive matters and cannot be created at execution stage
Civil procedure — Execution of decree — executing court’s obligation not to go behind decree but to ensure proper execution
24 October 2025
Dismissal for off‑duty traffic offence was substantively unfair; procedures were fair and reinstatement was ordered.
Civil procedure — Remedies — reinstatement
Employment law — substantive and procedural fairness of dismissal — employer's burden
24 October 2025
Unreliable recognition under poor lighting and inconsistent witness conduct produced reasonable doubt, resulting in acquittal for murder.
Criminal law — alibi — notice requirements — CPA and discretionary weight of late alibi
Criminal law — identification
— lighting conditions, prior acquaintance, opportunity and reliability of recognition
— recognition evidence
— Waziri Amani factors
Criminal law — Murder
Evidence — Evidentiary sufficiency — postmortem corroboration of cause of death insufficient to substitute for unsafe identification
23 October 2025
Failure to lodge a caveat does not bar revocation of probate based on alleged forgery and lack of testamentary capacity.
Probate law
— Caveat
— invalidity for forgery, missing pages and unexplained disinheritance
— proof of handwriting and signature comparison
— supervisory jurisdiction to annul grants obtained by fraud or defective proceedings
— testamentary capacity and medical evidence
17 October 2025
Taxing Master misapplied fee scale; instruction fee reduced to TZS 2,500,000 under correct schedule and principles.
Legal profession
— Advocates remuneration order — Taxation of instruction fees
— where relief amount not specified apply 11th schedule item (d) — Taxing Officer’s discretion and minimum fee — Electronic filing date determines filing timeliness — Expunction of inadmissible affidavit paragraphs
17 October 2025
Illegality apparent on the record (denial of right to be heard) can alone justify extension of time to challenge ex parte judgment and execution.
Civil procedure
— Appellate review — avoid deciding merits when granting extension
— extension of time — illegality as sole ground for extension where apparent on face of record
— Right to be heard — Service of summons — ex parte judgment and execution — nullity of proceedings
17 October 2025
Convictions for rape and impregnating a schoolgirl upheld where age, penetration and paternity were proven.
Criminal law
— Rape — Elements: age of victim, penetration, identity — Strict liability for sexual intercourse with a person under 18
— impregnating a schoolgirl — ingredient requiring proof that victim was a primary or secondary school student — School admission register and PF3 medical report as corroborative evidence
Evidence — cross‑examination — Right to cross‑examine — Evidence Act ss.146,164,177
15 October 2025
Failure to secure a social welfare officer for a child witness vitiated the evidence and warranted quashing and retrial.
Criminal procedure — retrial principles (Fatehali Manji) — Defective/illegal trial (retrial appropriate) — Application of Fatehali Manji principles
Evidence
— Child witness — Best interests of the child cannot cure mandatory procedural defects — Law of the Child Act s.115(4)
— Reliance on Social Welfare Officer’s report where no contrary evidence is adduced — Mandatory attendance of social welfare officer under s.115(4) Law of the Child Act — Law of the Child Act s.115(4)
13 October 2025
13 October 2025
Termination was unfair; CMA rightly declined loan adjudication absent the agreement and subsistence must accrue until repatriation.
Employment law
— Repatriation and subsistence — Accrual from employee's request for repatriation — Section 44(1)(c) ELRA
— unfair dismissal — substantive and procedural fairness — Section 38(2) ELRA
Evidence — Documentary evidence — Written loan agreement must be tendered to found a loan claim — Evidence Act ss.66, 68
10 October 2025
Extension of time granted due to apparent illegality and denial of hearing on an unpleaded issue.
Civil procedure — Extension of time to appeal
— Alleged illegality apparent on record as sufficient ground
— appellate court framing new issue not pleaded
— right to be heard
— technical delay from struck-out proceedings
9 October 2025
An equivocal guilty plea, not shown to be understood and to admit each element, must be quashed and remitted for proper plea-taking.
Criminal law — Plea of guilty — requirement of an unequivocal plea — Plea must amount to admission of every constituent of the charge
Criminal procedure
— Duty to explain charge in a language understood by the accused — Charges and particulars must be explained in a language the accused understands — Section 228(1) Criminal Procedure Act
— Proper remedy for defective plea-taking — Quash conviction and remit for proper plea-taking
8 October 2025
Absence of a social welfare officer while a child testified rendered the evidence inadmissible and required a retrial.
Family law — Law of the child act s115(4)
— mandatory attendance of social welfare officer when a child testifies
— non‑compliance renders child’s evidence inadmissible
— retrial ordered with strict statutory compliance
— trial proceedings founded on such evidence are nullity
8 October 2025
Appellant failed to prove cattle damage on balance of probabilities due to material contradictions and an inadequate valuation report.
Tort — Damage to crops by grazing cattle — Proof on balance of probabilities — Corroboration not generally required but evidence must be consistent
Evidence
— Contradictions — Material contradictions can raise reasonable doubt
— Admissibility and weight of expert valuation reports — Valuation must specify particulars of extent/area to support claimed compensation
7 October 2025
Prisoner failed to show sufficient cause for extension of time to lodge notice of intention to appeal.
Civil procedure — extension of time
— inordinate delay fatal to application
— mere incarceration or difficulty obtaining private counsel not per se sufficient where prison legal aid exists
— sufficient cause
— unsupported/contradictory affidavits unreliable
6 October 2025
A District Court lacked jurisdiction to tax a time-barred bill of costs and High Court costs; taxation quashed.
Civil procedure
— Advocates Remuneration Order — timing and taxation of bills — Sixty days from date of order
— Taxation of costs — Jurisdiction of taxing officer — proper forum is where the case terminates (High Court)
— Effect of notice of appeal — Pendency of appeal does not suspend the statutory filing period for bills of costs
3 October 2025
The appellant's appeal filed beyond the 45-day statutory limit without extension was dismissed as time-barred.
Civil procedure
— Preliminary objections
— Procedural consequence — appeal dismissed with costs where time bar established
Land law — Land appeal — limitation period — appeal filed out of time
Limitation law — Law of Limitation Act ss. 3(1), 14(1) — jurisdictional effect
3 October 2025