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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 1986 |
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Owner entitled to release of seized vehicle for safe‑keeping, subject to production when required in court.
Criminal Procedure Act s.51(1) — Release of seized property to non‑charged owner for safe‑keeping; Condition of production when required in court; Police objection permissible only where release would prejudice investigation or trial.
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31 December 1986 |
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Appeal dismissed: land held as security for a loan requiring redemption by repayment; locus visit unnecessary and costs wrongly ordered against respondent.
Land dispute – whether payment created mortgage/conditional sale or temporary licence – redemption by repayment – necessity of locus in quo where boundaries undisputed – costs for locus visit and allocation of costs.
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30 December 1986 |
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Appeal against conviction for theft by a post officer dismissed; defence conspiracy allegation found unsubstantiated.
Criminal law – Theft by servant (ss.271 and 265 Penal Code) – Credibility of prosecution witnesses – Defence allegation of conspiracy by supervisors – Appeal against conviction and statutory minimum sentence – Evidence must raise reasonable doubt to overturn conviction.
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23 December 1986 |
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Appeal against conviction and sentence for theft by servant dismissed; circumstantial evidence and credibility findings upheld.
Criminal law – Theft by servant – Conviction on circumstantial evidence – Sufficiency of circumstantial proof to exclude reasonable hypothesis of innocence; Alibi – credibility and corroboration; Witness credibility – prior inconsistent police statement and familial bias; Sentencing – minimum sentence confirmation for large-scale theft.
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22 December 1986 |
| November 1986 |
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Provocation reduced the unlawful killing from murder to manslaughter; accused convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Criminal law – Homicide – Distinction between murder and manslaughter – provocation negating malice aforethought; Eyewitness and post‑mortem evidence establishing causation; Defences of self‑defence, intoxication and confusion examined and rejected.
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29 November 1986 |
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Appellate court affirms conviction for storebreaking based on possession and disposal of stolen millet; statutory minimum sentence upheld.
* Criminal law – storebreaking and theft – possession of recently stolen property and attempted disposal as evidence of guilt.
* Sentencing – minimum statutory sentence under the Minimum Sentences Act – appellate court cannot reduce prescribed minimum.
* Pleading – unnecessary citation of additional Penal Code section where composite offence section suffices.
* Form – misuse of "seize" and "arrest" noted but not fatal to conviction.
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14 November 1986 |
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Charging receiving and retaining stolen property together is permissible only if they target the same mischief; otherwise conviction unsafe.
Criminal law – property offences – distinction between receiving stolen property and retaining stolen property – knowledge at time of receipt versus later knowledge and continued possession; Criminal procedure – duplicity – charging alternative offences in one count – permissible where alternatives target same mischief, otherwise bad for duplicity; Remedy – unsafe conviction quashed and matter remitted for proper joint trial.
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11 November 1986 |
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Accused acquitted of murder where witness contradictions and medical evidence failed to prove causation beyond reasonable doubt.
* Criminal law – Murder – whether prosecution proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt – conflicting eyewitness testimony and contradictions among witnesses undermining case.
* Evidence – credibility – impeachment by prior inconsistent statement and witness demeanour.
* Evidence – medical evidence and causation – small clotting wound inconsistent with alleged weapon.
* Circumstantial evidence – insufficiency where direct evidence is unreliable and causation is unestablished.
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6 November 1986 |
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Appellate court found circumstantial prosecution evidence equivocal and defence alibi/receipts raised reasonable doubt, rendering the conviction unsafe.
* Criminal law – robbery with violence and unlawful possession of ammunition – reliance on circumstantial evidence – requirement that such evidence exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence.
* Criminal procedure – appellants’ defence (receipts and alibi) may, if credible, create reasonable doubt and render conviction unsafe.
* Appeal – where circumstantial evidence is equivocal and defence evidence credible, conviction must be quashed.
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6 November 1986 |
| August 1986 |
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Appeal dismissed because the defendant village was not shown to be a registered legal entity capable of being sued.
Property law – Suit for possession – Defendant must be a legal person; village must be shown to be registered and corporately capable of being sued – Absence of registration renders suit incompetent.
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14 August 1986 |
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Conviction substituted to obtaining by false pretences and three-year sentence confirmed; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — distinction between cheating (s.304 Penal Code) and obtaining by false pretences (s.302 Penal Code); evidential requirements for each offence; substitution of conviction under s.306(3) Criminal Procedure Act, 1985; confirmation of sentence.
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11 August 1986 |
| July 1986 |
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Accused found to have caused deaths but acquitted because killing of adult was treated as self-defence and transferred malice excused.
Criminal law – Murder – Malice aforethought – self-defence as justification negating malice – transferred malice where original act justified – circumstantial evidence of perpetration (silence, conduct after incident).
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3 July 1986 |
| June 1986 |
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18 June 1986 |
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Prosecution failed to prove identity of murder suspects; unreliable post-arrest identifications necessitated acquittal.
* Criminal law – Murder – Identity of assailants – Necessity for reliable identification evidence and descriptive particulars.
* Evidence – Identification – Identification parade highly desirable; identification after suspects were tied by villagers unreliable.
* Evidence – Burden of proof – Prosecution must prove identity beyond reasonable doubt; failure requires acquittal.
* Defence – Alibi – Supported alibi increases reasonable doubt where prosecution identification is weak.
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11 June 1986 |
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10 June 1986 |
| May 1986 |
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26 May 1986 |
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A charge of robbery with violence does not automatically bar bail; prosecution must prove the statutory aggravating elements.
Bail — interpretation of section 148(5)(e) Criminal Procedure Act 1985 — charge of robbery with violence not per se non‑bailable — prosecution must prove serious assault, threat of violence or possession of firearm/explosive to justify refusal — appellate power to set aside magistrate’s refusal and grant bail.
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6 May 1986 |
| April 1986 |
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14 April 1986 |
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Convictions quashed where unreliable accomplice testimony, document discrepancies and unfair identification undermined prosecution.
Criminal law — Conspiracy to defraud; reliability of documentary evidence (invoices, cheques, requisitions); accomplice testimony and caution; identification parade fairness; knowledge element in uttering false documents; quashing convictions for insufficiency of evidence.
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10 April 1986 |
| March 1986 |
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Shooting at one soldier that killed another amounts to murder by transferred malice; provocation and insanity defences rejected.
Criminal law – murder by firearm; identification and post‑mortem evidence; defence of insanity/temporary incapacity; provocation test and transferred malice; trial procedure where only one assessor sat.
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6 March 1986 |
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Circumstantial evidence failed to prove linkage to prison‑armoury theft; convictions quashed for reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence — requirement of irresistible inference before conviction; escape from lawful custody and store‑breaking/stealing — possession of firearm not by itself proof of link to prison armoury theft or conspiracy; benefit of doubt resolved for appellant.
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5 March 1986 |
| February 1986 |
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Late prosecution appeal and insufficient evidence rendered the District Court's retrial orders untenable and were quashed on revision.
Criminal procedure – appeal against acquittal filed out of time – necessity of extension of time; presence of respondent at appellate hearing; propriety of ordering trial de novo where evidence is insufficient; revisionary powers under s.373(1)(b) Criminal Procedure Act 1985.
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26 February 1986 |
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A claim against village offices fails; the village or district council (or individuals personally) must be sued, not the office.
Local government — Civil procedure — Suability — Village Chairman and Ward Secretary as offices are not legal entities — Registered Village Councils and District Councils are legal entities and proper defendants — Individuals occupying offices may be sued personally for actionable civil wrongs — Pleadings must allege wrongful official act and quantifiable loss.
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13 February 1986 |
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Conviction for theft by a branch official quashed for insufficient evidence; receipt irregularity deemed administrative rather than criminal.
* Criminal law – theft by servant – standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt – insufficient evidence where sums partially accounted for and co‑accused testimony unreliable.
* Evidence – credibility of co‑accused and documentary proof of deposits/expenditure critical to prosecution’s case.
* Administrative irregularity – improper use of locally purchased receipts for collections is disciplinary/administrative, not necessarily criminal.
* Sentencing – trial court’s failure to impose statutory minimum sentence noted as error in law.
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13 February 1986 |
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Delay in village allocation does not justify taking disputed land; inspection showed respondent lawfully cleared around his trees, appeal dismissed.
* Criminal law – disobedience of lawful orders – whether clearing bush around trees on boundary constitutes offence under s.124 Penal Code; * Customary land – effect of tribunal finding and humanitarian allocation directive – whether delay in allocation authorises self‑help; * Appellate review – use of fact inspection to determine alleged re‑entry and lawfulness of conduct.
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1 February 1986 |
| January 1986 |
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Court varied lower-court division of matrimonial assets, allocating specific houses and the farm between appellant and respondent.
Matrimonial property — division of houses and land after cohabitation and divorce — assessment of contributions to acquisition and development — appellate intervention for misdirection by lower courts.
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31 January 1986 |
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Appellate court quashed convictions where documentary and witness evidence were unreliable and prosecution failed to prove theft beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – Theft by servant/stealing by servant – Sufficiency and authenticity of documentary evidence – need for expert handwriting comparison where provenance disputed – proof beyond reasonable doubt – reliability of witness evidence on alleged conversion/sale.
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24 January 1986 |
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Owner entitled to proceeds realised from sale of dead bull’s meat (Shs 500/=) where death was accidental while respondent trained it.
Civil liability for animal loss – liability where animal dies while being trained at owner's request – accidental death – recovery limited to proceeds realised from sale of carcass.
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23 January 1986 |
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Long continuous occupation and equitable considerations can defeat a later purchaser’s claim; buyer’s remedy is against the seller.
Land law – long continuous effective occupation and equitable protection of occupants; sale by owner after permitting occupation; purchaser’s remedy is against seller, not displacement of long-term occupant; courts reluctant to disturb long possession absent compelling reasons.
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23 January 1986 |
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Primary Court conviction nullified where assessors failed to participate, requiring release and retrial before a different magistrate.
Criminal procedure — Primary Court — requirement for assessors to sit and give opinion under s.8(2) Magistrates Court Act — failure of assessors to participate renders conviction and sentence null — retrial ordered before different magistrate.
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20 January 1986 |
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Convictions quashed where receipts, unexplained procedures and access to store created reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – stealing by public servant; obtaining money by false pretences – standard of proof and reasonable doubt; Evidence – documentary receipts and prosecution’s duty to verify or call witnesses; Custody of corporate property – access by third parties and misdirection by trial court; Distinction between negligence/pecuniary loss and criminal liability.
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3 January 1986 |
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Appeal allowed: convictions for store‑breaking/stealing and receiving stolen property quashed; appellants released.
Criminal appeal — store‑breaking and stealing (Pen. Code c.296(1)) — receiving stolen property (Pen. Code c.311(1)) — prosecution declines to support convictions — appellate court quashes convictions and sets aside sentences; appellants ordered released.
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1 January 1986 |