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91 judgments found.
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December 1990
14 December 1990
Substituted service by publication and failure to file defence justified ex parte judgment with costs and interest.
Civil procedure
— Costs and interest — award
— default — entry of ex parte judgment where defendant does not file a written statement of defence
— substituted service by publication — validity of substituted service when defendant fails to file defence
12 December 1990
The applicant's appeal dismissed; acquittal upheld for insufficient proof and improperly admitted written statement.
Criminal law
— appeal against acquittal — receiving/retaining stolen property
— proof beyond reasonable doubt — identification, chain of custody, post-seizure record entries
Evidence — Extra-judicial statements — admissibility — requirement of maker's declaration and perjury warning
6 December 1990
Missing or defective lower court records justify setting aside proceedings and ordering a fresh trial in a properly constituted court.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Missing or defective lower court records — Where appellate determination is frustrated by absence of records, lower courts' proceedings may be set aside and matter retried de novo
Jurisdiction — Parties allowed to institute fresh suit in a court of proper jurisdiction
4 December 1990
November 1990
Ex parte judgment entered where defendant served by publication failed to appear; plaintiff's affidavit sufficed under Order VIII r.14(1).
Civil procedure — Ex parte judgment — Service by publication in newspaper — Adequacy of notice
30 November 1990
Court grants ex parte judgment after defendant failed to file a defence and plaintiff proved case by affidavit.
Civil procedure — Defendant’s non-compliance with summons to file a written statement of defence — Plaintiff’s affidavit proof — Ex parte judgment
30 November 1990
Conviction quashed where nighttime eyewitness identification and identification of stolen goods were unreliable.
Criminal law
— identification evidence — Reliability of eyewitness identification at night
— Search and seizure/chain of custody — irregularities undermine admissibility and weight of evidence
— similarity insufficient
— Stolen property
Criminal procedure
— Burden of proof
— defective identification and unclear provenance of exhibits make conviction unsafe
30 November 1990
A subsequent promise to repay does not erase theft; conviction upheld but sentence reduced for mitigation.
Criminal law
— Consent and ratification — Subsequent promise to repay or post-facto compromise does not negate criminal liability
— sentencing — Genuine intention to repay is a mitigating factor warranting reduction of sentence
— Theft by agent — Conversion of money entrusted for a specific purpose constitutes larceny even if the agent intends to repay
28 November 1990
Conviction based solely on the applicant's name on an uncontextualised list, without identification or stolen goods, is unsafe.
Criminal law — Robbery — Evidentiary value of a third‑party list containing accused’s name — Whether a list bearing the applicant's name found in a co‑accused's house constitutes proof of participation in robbery
Evidence — Circumstantial evidence — Safety of convictions where evidence is largely circumstantial and identification weak — Requirement for an independent link or identification to connect documentary list to the offence
21 November 1990
Appellants' convictions for robbery quashed where night-time torch-lit identification was unsafe and not proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Robbery with violence — Identification evidence — Night-time conditions and use of torches flashing into victims’ eyes
— conviction cannot stand where misidentification is not excluded
— Unfavourable conditions may render identification unsafe
17 November 1990
Appeal allowed because identification was unreliable and contradictions created reasonable doubt about guilt.
Criminal law — identification evidence — Reliability undermined by poor lighting, inconsistent witness accounts and absence of contemporaneous identification
Criminal procedure — Appeal against conviction — Conviction unsafe where contradictions create reasonable doubt
Evidence — Contradictions about clothing, injuries and number/location of offences weaken prosecution case
14 November 1990
Bail granted in principle but conditioned on depositing half the property's value in cash under Act 10/89.
Criminal law — Bail — grant in principle but conditional where property value exceeds statutory threshold
— release on deposit
— remain in custody on default
7 November 1990
Confession, recovery of stolen goods and eyewitness identification supported the appellants’ convictions; eight-year sentences upheld.
Criminal law
— Burglary and stealing — Admissibility and weight of co-accused’s confession — Recovery of buried stolen property
— identification evidence — credibility of eyewitness testimony at night — Possession as evidence of joint liability — Sentence review
7 November 1990
7 November 1990
October 1990
Circumstantial evidence (bones, gun testimony, threats, flight) proved death and guilt; accused convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Criminal law — Murder
— human bones and forensic confirmation
— Proof of death and guilt by circumstantial evidence where no body found
Criminal procedure — Alibi — notice requirement
Evidence
— Credibility of witnesses delayed in reporting due to fear
— weight of threats and flight as consciousness of guilt
29 October 1990
Conviction upheld on reliable visual identification; sentence increased to 30 years and compensation awarded for stolen property.
Criminal law
— Armed robbery — mandatory/minimum 30-year sentence — Application of H.S.A. 1972 as amended 1989
— Robbery with violence — Visual identification — Reliability where identification occurs in good lighting and the witnesses are familiar with accused
Evidence — Confession of co-accused — Conviction cannot be based solely on an uncorroborated co-accused confession
27 October 1990
The appeal was dismissed for want of prosecution due to the appellant’s persistent non-appearance and failed service attempts.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Dismissal for want of prosecution — Appellant’s persistent non-appearance and inability to effect service justify dismissal
22 October 1990
An appeal filed in 1979 was dismissed for want of prosecution after the parties could not be served.
Civil procedure — Dismissal for want of prosecution — returned unserved summonses — prolonged delay
22 October 1990
22 October 1990
Appellate court upholds primary court finding that respondent proved entitlement to disputed trees; appeal dismissed.
Land law — credibility of oral testimony
Land law — division of family land
Land law — Land/trees dispute
Land law — Standard of proof
— appellate review of primary court findings
— balance of probabilities
18 October 1990
Conviction quashed where prosecution failed to identify stolen goods and improperly shifted burden to the accused.
Criminal law — Receiving stolen property — Identification of stolen goods — Proof beyond reasonable doubt required
Evidence
— Doctrine of recent possession — Requisites: possession of stolen property, positive identification, recent theft, and property forming subject of charge — Application requires reasonably clear identification linking items to the theft
— Criminal burden of proof — Prosecution cannot shift burden to accused to produce receipts
18 October 1990
Court entered ex parte judgment after defendant failed to file defence; plaintiff awarded amount, interest and costs.
Civil procedure
— Default by defendant to file Written Statement of Defence — Leave to prove claim ex parte by affidavit — Entry of ex parte judgment
— Remedies — decretal sum, interest, and costs
12 October 1990
Whether the defendant negligently caused the plaintiff's vehicle to catch fire and is liable for loss-of-use damages.
Civil procedure — Counterclaim — Storage charges dismissed for lack of evidential basis
Criminal law — Credibility — Assessment of witnesses and inspection reports on balance of probabilities
Damages — Loss of use — Court may reject excessive or unreliable hire-rate evidence and award a reasonable sum
Tort — Negligence — Liability of workshop for damage to customer's vehicle while in custody — Vehicle caught fire during servicing and workshop held negligent
9 October 1990
September 1990
Bail refused because the Economic and Organised Crimes Act bars bail for offences involving high‑value property absent statutory security.
Criminal law — Bail under EOCCA — jurisdiction of High Court to grant bail when committal court application is impeded by value threshold — Economic and Organised Crimes Control Act s35 (as amended)
Criminal procedure — Jurisdiction of subordinate courts — District Court lacked jurisdiction where DPP conferred jurisdiction on Resident Magistrate's Court — Economic and Organised Crimes Control Act s35 (as amended)
24 September 1990
No binding sale of forklift with spares was formed; applicant limited to refund of down‑payment.
Contract
— Formation — Whether the applicant’s application to purchase afresh constituted acceptance of the respondent’s terms for forklift and spares
— Restitution — Restitution (refund of down‑payment) where no enforceable contract is proved
— Sale of machinery — Effect of subsequent negotiations and correspondence on initial tender agreement
22 September 1990
Appeal dismissed: married woman's claim to land and crops failed for lack of will and customary inheritance rules, plus respondent's allocation evidence.
Probate law — Land/inheritance
— claim to land tilled by deceased mother
— permanent crops and clan/male inheritance
— village allocation as competing title
20 September 1990
Identification, recent possession and scene evidence upheld conviction for murder with common intention to rob.
Criminal law — Murder — Circumstantial evidence and identification — Recent possession and recovery of victim's property establishing guilt
20 September 1990
Lay identification of a signature was admissible; forgery and theft convictions upheld, conviction reclassified and sentence altered, appeal dismissed.
Appellate practice — Criminal appellate procedure — Substitution of conviction and sentence where record shows correct classification and statutory minima require alteration
Criminal law — Forgery/false document
— conviction on making false document upheld
— Use of duplicate receipt to perpetrate theft
Criminal law — Theft — Distinction between stealing by agent and stealing by servant where property belongs to specified authority
Evidence — Identification — Identification of signature by lay witnesses who know accused
— admissible
— handwriting expert not mandatory
20 September 1990
Appeal dismissed: convictions for theft by servant upheld; failure to produce defence witness justified by repeated adjournments.
Criminal law — Theft by servant — Sufficiency of evidence — Circumstantial evidence and access to funds
17 September 1990
Plaintiff's claim dismissed for breach of written sale agreement; defendant entitled to payment or rescission and costs.
Contract law — Contract/conditional sale — integration of sale agreement and related credit facility as single transaction
14 September 1990
A wife's extrajudicial confession is circumstantial and cannot alone conclusively prove adultery under G.N. No. 279/1963.
Evidence — Further/circumstantial evidence must be aggregated and not relied upon in isolation as conclusive proof
Family law — adultery — evidentiary requirements
5 September 1990
Appellant failed to prove ownership or administrator appointment; procedural error by magistrate did not justify retrial and appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— role of assessors
— Succession/estate administration — requirement of proof of appointment or right to administer before admitting claim to estate property
— writing judgment before consult is irregular but not always fatal if substantive justice achieved
Evidence — Burden of proof
Family law — separation of three years or more evidences marriage breakdown
5 September 1990
August 1990
Competing oral title to unregistered land resolved for respondent; appellant's delayed claim dismissed.
Land law — unregistered land — ownership by oral purchase — Assessment of credibility of village authority witnesses
Civil procedure — excessive delay in bringing claim undermines plaintiff’s case — Effect of long delay on credibility and entitlement to relief
17 August 1990
Prescriptive title cannot defeat a recognized trust for a minor; occupiers failed to prove right or compensation.
Land law — Property law — Prescription — long possession as basis for title — minority and existence of trust interrupt or defeat prescription
Tort — Compensation
— contradictory evidence defeats award
— unexhausted improvements/permanent crops
Trust law — Trusts — land held in trust for minor — trustee lacks beneficial interest to allocate to others
2 August 1990
July 1990
Court restores trial finding of ownership but reduces compensation to proven value of one tree and twelve bamboos (Shs.660).
Land law — Property/title
— boundary and customary inheritance disputes over small forested plateau
— credibility of village witnesses and effect of site inspection
— proof of damages for wrongful cutting of trees and bamboo
— requirement that courts give adequate reasons for monetary awards
30 July 1990
Low purchase price and identification of goods supported conviction for receiving stolen property; appeal dismissed, sentence confirmed.
Appellate practice — Appellate review — Deference to trial court’s findings on credibility and factual inferences
Criminal law — Receiving stolen property — Knowledge and dishonest belief inferred from suspiciously low purchase price
Evidence — Identification of recovered property and credibility of accused’s explanation
18 July 1990
Sentencing courts must ascertain an accused’s ability to pay and call for special reasons before imposing heavy fines; failure justified reduction.
Criminal law — sentencing
17 July 1990
Appellate court affirmed sale and rent award, finding appellant sold the house but failed to give vacant possession.
Civil procedure
— delay and limitation — action within limitation and delay explained by incarceration
— Relief — entitlement to rent arrears until vacant possession is delivered
Evidence — credibility of witnesses, documentary proof (agreement and cheque), and rejection of uncorroborated alibi
Land law — Property law — sale of land/building
13 July 1990
Appellant was denied a fair trial on disputed land-ownership issues; conviction quashed and fines refunded.
Criminal procedure — fair trial
— appellate fact-finding by scene visit and reliance on unsworn interviews improper
— civil ownership dispute should be determined in civil court
— denial of opportunity to tender decisive civil judgment and call witness
4 July 1990
Conviction for infanticide cannot rest on suspicion absent proof that the accused gave birth and caused the infant's death.
Criminal law — Infanticide
— burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt
— evidential sufficiency
— Proof of motherhood and causation
— role of medical/blood tests
— suspicion insufficient for conviction
4 July 1990
June 1990
An appellate court must not overturn primary-court credibility findings without reasons; photocopy evidence error alone does not mandate reversal.
Civil procedure
— Appeal
— Evidence — improper admission of photocopy not fatal if independent evidence suffices
— Ownership disputes on unregistered land — balance of probabilities
25 June 1990
Single warning shot that accidentally killed another can negate malice and establish reasonable doubt leading to acquittal.
Criminal law
— Murder — inference of malice aforethought — Whether malice can be inferred where accused fired one warning shot which accidentally killed another
— Self‑defence — requirement of reasonable apprehension of death or grievous harm when using lethal force — Effect of defensive belief or accident in negating intent to kill
25 June 1990
Convictions based on doubtful night identification and unverified shoeprint evidence quashed for lack of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law
— forensic evidence — boot impressions
— identification evidence — reliability of visual identification made in darkness
— Standard of proof — beyond reasonable doubt — Misdirection by applying balance of probabilities instead of beyond reasonable doubt
23 June 1990
A credible explanation for delay (prison transfers) does not compel extension where the proposed appeal lacks prospects of success.
Criminal procedure
— Extension of time to appeal depends also on the prospects of success — weak prospects or strong evidence for conviction justify refusal
— extension of time to file an appeal — transfer between prisons accepted as a valid explanation for delay
23 June 1990
Night-time identification without detailed description and lack of proof linking recovered meat or possession rendered the convictions unsafe.
Criminal law — identification evidence — reliability and requirement of detailed description
Criminal law — proof of stolen property
— need to link recovered items to the stolen property
— possession as corroborative evidence of theft
— unsafe convictions and quashing where evidence is insufficient
23 June 1990
Conviction for public-service theft upheld; seven-year sentence reduced to five years for failure to refer excess-minimum term.
Criminal law — stealing by public servant — Evidence of shortages in official receipt books — Credibility of accused’s defence — Sentencing
23 June 1990
An appellate court may not convict based on unsworn site‑visit evidence; malice and ownership must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Civil procedure — Appeals — where additional evidence is necessary, it should be heard in court or the trial court ordered to record it and remit the record
Criminal law — Malicious damage — essential elements include unlawfulness and lack of permission
Criminal procedure — appellate scene visits — evidence obtained on site (unsworn statements) cannot be adopted to convict without being given on oath and subject to cross‑examination
22 June 1990
Acquittal where night-time visual identification was unreliable and prosecution failed to prove manslaughter.
Criminal law
— Evidence — witness credibility and inconsistencies — Effect on proof beyond reasonable doubt
— identification evidence — Reliability of visual identification at night — Mistaken identity
22 June 1990
Appeals allowed: conviction for trespass quashed due to bona fide title dispute; murder conviction quashed as shooting was justifiable under the circumstances.
Criminal law — Ownership dispute and criminal prosecutions
— bona fide claim of right
— disputed title should be resolved civilly before criminal conviction for offences tied to possession
Criminal law — Self‑defence/defence of property
— appellate recognition of reasonable apprehension and justification
— use of lethal force by armed guard protecting a restricted armoury after intruder ignored orders and warning shot
Evidence — role of surmise and conjecture: prosecution cannot rely on conjecture, and defence may advance reasonable inferences supporting justification
8 June 1990
Court raised minimum burglary sentences, quashed unsupported convictions, and set aside an unlawful conviction for destroying evidence.
Criminal law
— Destroying evidence — requisite knowledge that the material may be required in judicial proceedings — Section 109 Penal Code
— Minimum Sentences Act — requirement of evidence to establish value exceeding Shs.5,000 before imposing statutory minimum — Minimum Sentences Act s.5(d)
— sufficiency of prosecution evidence — Participation and knowledge required for burglary/theft convictions
7 June 1990