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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2008 |
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Ex parte land possession order upheld; letters of administration confer locus standi; appeal dismissed with costs.
Land law – possession and demolition orders; Administration of estates – letters of administration establish locus standi; Civil procedure – ex parte proceedings lawful where defendant evades service and fails to file defence; Jurisdiction – admission of probate documents does not convert matter into probate jurisdiction; Professional conduct – allegation that counsel acted as witness unfounded.
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12 December 2008 |
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A credible child’s testimony corroborated by mother and medical evidence suffices to uphold a rape conviction; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – Rape – Evidence of child witness – Corroboration – Medical evidence (PF.3) – Admissibility and reliance on caution statement – No mandatory requirement for sperm comparison/DNA to sustain conviction.
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2 December 2008 |
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Insufficient and inconsistent eyewitness evidence defeated the dangerous-driving conviction; failure to produce insurance proof upheld the insurance offence conviction.
Road Traffic Act – causing death by dangerous driving – requirement of sufficient and consistent eyewitness and documentary evidence; Motor Vehicle Insurance – driving without third-party insurance – duty to produce proof of valid cover; appellate review of factual sufficiency where material inconsistencies exist.
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1 December 2008 |
| November 2008 |
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Eyewitness identification and recovered exhibits upheld; appeal against armed robbery conviction dismissed.
Criminal law – Armed robbery – Identification evidence – Contemporaneous and corroborated eyewitness identification; Admission of exhibits – recovery and tendering of mobile phone, firearm and ammunition; Identification parade – not required where in-scene identification and corroborative evidence are reliable; Appeal – conviction and sentence upheld where prosecution proved case beyond reasonable doubt.
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24 November 2008 |
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Appeal against rape conviction dismissed where victim's testimony and PF.3 corroboration sufficed despite absence of medical or local leader witnesses.
* Criminal law – Sexual offences – Rape of a child – Evidence of age – medical witness not always required where testimony and medical form corroborate facts.
* Evidence – corroboration – discovery of the victim by a third party and PF.3 may corroborate victim's account.
* Procedure – prosecution not obliged to call every possible witness if case is otherwise proved.
* Caution statement – denial in caution statement may be outweighed by direct and corroborative evidence.
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4 November 2008 |
| October 2008 |
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Convictions quashed where visual identification was unsafe, identification parade absent and procedural irregularity occurred.
Criminal law – Armed robbery; visual identification – identification parade necessary where witnesses first see accused during a frightening one-off incident; alibi – weight may be given even if raised at defence; evidentiary procedure – admission of documentary exhibit without ruling on objection constitutes procedural irregularity; appellate review – benefit of doubt and quashing of unsafe convictions.
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9 October 2008 |
| September 2008 |
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Applicant’s claim to recover clan land was time‑barred; respondents’ long continuous occupation showed permanent allocation.
* Land law – clan land – whether allocation was permanent or temporary; * Possession – continuous and uninterrupted occupation and cultivation as evidence of ownership; * Limitation – application of item 22, Part I, schedule to the Law of Limitation Act (Cap. 89 R.E.2002) – twelve‑year bar to recovery of land; * Procedural – appeal dismissed where claim prescribed.
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10 September 2008 |
| August 2008 |
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Tribunal's acceptance of affidavit-only ex parte proof was ultra vires; proceedings nullified and judgment void, appeal allowed with costs.
* Civil procedure – Land Disputes Courts Regulations – Ex parte proof – Where a duly served respondent is absent and has not given good cause, tribunal should hear and determine matter by oral evidence (Reg. 11(1)(c)); affidavit-only ex parte proof is ultra vires. * Evidence – Validity of written agreements – requirement for proper witnessing and attestation to establish enforceability. * Capacity/procedure – necessity to prove legal authority to act for estates before determination. * Relief – Fundamental procedural irregularity renders tribunal proceedings void; appellate nullification with costs and liberty to institute fresh proceedings.
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15 August 2008 |
| July 2008 |
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Conviction based on recent possession and weak identification was unsafe; appeal allowed, conviction quashed and appellant released.
* Criminal law – Doctrine of recent possession – conditions for invocation – prosecution must identify stolen goods as those charged and prove recentness. * Criminal law – Identification of stolen property – need for description/distinguishing features and trial record note. * Criminal law – Burglary – requirement to prove breaking occurred at night. * Evidence – Hearsay has no place for proving primary facts; prosecution bears burden beyond reasonable doubt.
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28 July 2008 |
| January 2008 |
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Appellate court found the respondent’s acquittal erroneous where child victims’ evidence was corroborated by medical and parental examinations.
* Criminal law – Sexual offences – Rape of minors – Evidence of children of tender years – voir dire omission reduces such evidence to unsworn evidence requiring corroboration. * Corroboration – PF3/medical findings and parental examinations corroborating victims’ accounts. * Appellate review – Reasonableness of trial court’s assessment of credibility and sufficiency of evidence.
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1 January 2008 |
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Failure to consider prior judicial determinations on the same land rendered the Tribunal's decision a miscarriage of justice.
Civil procedure – prior judgments/res judicata – duty of tribunal to inquire into previous determinations of same land; Procedural fairness – right to be heard and proper evidence-taking at locus; Customary land – necessity to consider clan ownership and consent.
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1 January 2008 |
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Tribunal erred by failing to consider prior court proceedings over the land; decision quashed and retrial ordered.
Land law – jurisdiction and res judicata – failure of Land Tribunal to consider prior judgments on same land – omission amounts to miscarriage of justice – appeal allowed and matter remitted for retrial.
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1 January 2008 |
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An imprudent purchaser cannot retain estate property bought from a vendor without title; caveat emptor applies.
Land — sale by person without title — illegal sale of estate property; purchaser’s remedies and limitations — caveat emptor; entitlement to vacant possession where vendor lacked authority; liability for restitution — vendor’s independent act; admissibility issue raised regarding photocopied sale agreement (s.66 Evidence Act).
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1 January 2008 |
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A land tribunal cannot award unclaimed employment terminal benefits; its eviction order in favor of the receiver was upheld.
Land law – possession and eviction – receiver/liquidator’s entitlement to premises; jurisdiction – limitations of District Land and Housing Tribunal to adjudicate employment terminal benefits; courts will not grant relief not pleaded or claimed; prior determination of employment benefits in other fora.
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1 January 2008 |