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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 1987 |
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Reported
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Witnesses - When accused has a right to have witnesses who have already testified to be recalled - Requirement that accused be informed about this right - S.214(2)(a) Criminal Procedure Act, 1985. |
1 December 1987 |
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Reported
Criminal law - Pleas - Plea of autrefois convict - Accused convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm - After conviction complainant died - Accused then charged with murder- Whether plea of autrefois convict available. |
1 December 1987 |
| November 1987 |
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Appeal dismissed where lower courts’ findings and a prior judgment supported respondent’s ownership of the disputed land.
Civil procedure – appeal against concurrent findings of trial and district courts; Evidence – credibility and appellant being his own witness; Land disputes – title and effect of prior judgment (Civil Case No.91/72) on ownership.
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23 November 1987 |
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Appeal dismissed where father’s credible, corroborated evidence proved gift of the disputed land to the respondent.
Property — succession/gift — proof of gift of land by parent to child; Credibility — assessment of oral testimony corroborated by documentary evidence and third-party witness; Appellate review — scope to disturb lower courts’ findings of fact and credibility.
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14 November 1987 |
| October 1987 |
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Whether a sale by the respondent's father during marriage without consulting children was valid and the purchaser's title upheld.
Property law – Sale by joint owner during marriage – Presumption of equal beneficial interests in matrimonial property – Validity of sale by spouse without children’s consultation – Evidence required to rebut presumption; Civil procedure – Magistrates’ Courts jurisdiction – proper interpretation of jurisdictional value thresholds; Innocent purchaser – capacity and coercion issues.
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3 October 1987 |
(Appeal from the judgment of Newala District Court in DC Civil Appeal No. 21 of 1985) Civil Practice and Procedure - Jurisdiction — Pecuniary jurisdiction of Primary Court- Whether a Primary Court may entertain a suit for recovery of a debt arising out of a contract between natural persons exceeding the value of TZS. 10 000 000 -section 18(I)(a)(iii) ofthe Magistrates Courts Act 1984. Family Law - Property - Property owned jointly between husband and wife — Death of one spouse - Property devolves on the survivor. e Contract of Sale - Jointly owned property between spouses — Death of one spouse — Whether the survivor, upon whom the property devolves, may dispose of such property |
3 October 1987 |
| September 1987 |
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Conviction under s.312(1)(a) unsustainable where property found in house not shown to be "in the course of a journey".
Criminal law — possession of suspected stolen property — section 312(1)(a) Penal Code — "possession in the course of a journey" required; Criminal Procedure Act 1985 s.25(1) — police may stop, search or detain (any or all) — requirement of simultaneous stop/search/detain rejected; burden of proof — prosecution must prove possession and conveying, thereafter accused must explain on balance of probabilities.
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1 September 1987 |
| August 1987 |
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Appeal allowed: applicant’s consistent evidence established ownership; lower courts misdirected and their judgments set aside.
Land dispute – ownership by purchase and occupation – assessment of witness credibility – inadmissibility or impropriety of relying on extraneous materials not on record – appellate review of concurrent findings.
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29 August 1987 |
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Conviction overturned where identification was unreliable and corroborated alibi was unduly rejected.
Criminal law – Identification evidence – Reliability of visual identification where scene was confused, lighting uncertain and victims failed to name accused in initial report; Defence evidence – Alibi corroboration and requirement that trial court properly assess and not shift burden of proof; Conviction unsafe – Appeal allowed and accused released.
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19 August 1987 |
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Appellant's guilty plea was not equivocal; conviction and four-year sentence for grievous harm were upheld.
* Criminal law – plea of guilty – whether plea equivocal where charge substituted or particulars clarified; plea based on admission of prosecution facts. * Criminal law – substituted charge – particulars of injury versus change of offence. * Sentencing – grievous harm – appropriateness of four-year custodial sentence for vicious, unprovoked attack.
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15 August 1987 |
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Spouse who contributed to jointly acquired property retains beneficial interest despite registration in another name; awarded share in vehicles.
Matrimonial property – joint acquisition by spouses – beneficial interest retained despite registration in company name – registration does not defeat spouse’s contribution; Law of Marriage Act (sections on ownership and rebuttable presumption) – division of motor vehicles on divorce – entitlement to monetary share for contribution.
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10 August 1987 |
| June 1987 |
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Insufficient identification of recovered property renders a conviction for possession of suspected stolen property unsafe.
Criminal law – possession of suspected stolen property – adequacy of identification evidence – necessity of distinguishing marks or reliable identification process – insufficiency of mere possession and weak identification to sustain conviction.
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9 June 1987 |
| May 1987 |
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Appellant's silence at trial left prosecution evidence unchallenged; appeal against false‑pretences conviction dismissed.
Criminal law – Obtaining money by false pretences – Payment for non‑existent land – Accused's failure to call evidence or dispute prosecution case at trial – Unsubstantiated appellate assertions insufficient – Appeal dismissed.
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26 May 1987 |
| March 1987 |
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Appeal dismissed: cashier’s receipts and witness ID proved stealing by servant; defence of acting on instructions rejected; concurrent sentences upheld.
* Criminal law – theft by servant – evidence comprised eyewitness testimony and documentary receipts linking cashier to unbanked receipts – defence of acting under superior’s instructions rejected as afterthought.
* Criminal procedure – sentencing – misconstruction of Minimum Sentences Act by aggregating total amount stolen rather than assessing each count; appellate court upheld concurrent five-year terms as appropriate.
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14 March 1987 |
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Appellate court quashed theft convictions where withdrawals appeared to be the appellant's own funds and pleas were unsupported.
Criminal law — Plea of guilty — Plea must be unequivocal and supported by facts; Theft — elements require appropriation of another's property; appellate review — power to quash convictions where facts contradict criminality.
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13 March 1987 |
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Convictions upheld where a familiar witness's detailed identification and possession of stolen property were reliable and consistent.
* Criminal law – Identification evidence – adequacy and reliability – single witness identification where witness had prior acquaintance, time to observe and gave detailed contemporaneous description.
* Criminal law – Alibi – assessment of credibility and whether alibi raises reasonable doubt.
* Criminal law – Possession of stolen property – unexplained or inconsistently explained possession as corroborative evidence of guilt.
* Evidence – Safeguards in convictions based principally on identification evidence (need for detailed description, opportunity to observe, corroboration).
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12 March 1987 |
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Conviction based on speculative inferences and improper evaluation of evidence is unsafe and quashed.
Criminal law – evaluation of evidence – speculative findings and improper inferences – unsafe conviction – requirement that circumstantial evidence adequately link accused to offence.
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5 March 1987 |
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Conviction on single-witness identification made under poor lighting and without corroboration is unsafe and was quashed.
Criminal law – identification evidence; single-witness identification; reliability where lighting and auditory conditions unfavourable; need for corroboration; risk of mistaken identity; conviction unsafe — quash.
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1 March 1987 |
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Circumstantial evidence and admissions upheld burglary and stealing convictions; appeal against conviction and sentence dismissed.
* Criminal law – Burglary and stealing – sufficiency of circumstantial evidence – trail and discovery of stolen maize and sacks in accused’s premises. * Identification of stolen property – gunny bag differences and witness identification. * Inference from conduct – disposal of incriminating evidence as indicium of guilt. * Intoxication – evidence of drinking does not necessarily negate criminal intent. * Appellate review – deference to trial magistrate’s credibility findings.
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1 March 1987 |
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Trial court’s misdescription of the charge breached the applicant’s right to defend, but facts upheld conviction for false pretences.
Criminal law – Charge misdescription and substitution – Natural justice and right to defend – Obtaining money by false pretences (s.302 Penal Code) – Identification parade and witness corroboration – Conviction despite trial judge’s error.
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1 March 1987 |
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Magistrate lacked jurisdiction to try a scheduled economic offence; conviction quashed and sentence set aside.
* Economic and Organized Crime Control Act – scheduled offences – jurisdiction – offences listed in the First Schedule are economic crimes triable only by the High Court sitting as an Economic Crimes Court – magistrate must refer under s.11(2)(a).
* Criminal procedure – substitution of charge – magistrate’s lack of jurisdiction renders proceedings a nullity.
* Evidence – identification of property – prosecution must properly identify seized property as that stolen; mere similarity insufficient.
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1 March 1987 |
| February 1987 |
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Convictions and concurrent sentences for burglary and theft upheld based on identification and recent-possession/guilty-consciousness evidence.
* Criminal law – Burglary and theft – Identification evidence – Distinctive marks on recovered items sufficient for identification.
* Criminal law – Recent possession doctrine – Possession approximately one month after theft coupled with guilty consciousness may sustain inference of guilt.
* Sentencing – Previous similar conviction properly considered where not disputed – concurrent sentences affirmed.
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26 February 1987 |
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Applicant's appeal against conviction and five‑year minimum sentence for theft by public servant dismissed; circumstantial evidence upheld.
* Criminal law – Theft by public servant – Whether receipt and storage of property by a storekeeper established guilt – Circumstantial and witness evidence sufficiency.
* Evidence – Credibility assessment of multiple colleagues' testimony versus accused's denial; absence of ledger and absence of reported theft.
* Sentencing – Application of Minimum Sentences Act; five‑year minimum sentence for offence valued at Shs 50,000.
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26 February 1987 |
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Appeal allowed where prosecution failed to prove appellant’s responsibility for large misappropriation; conviction and five‑year sentence set aside.
Criminal law – Evidence and proof beyond reasonable doubt – Liability for loss of purchased agricultural produce – Responsibility for purchase, storage and transport – insufficiency of audit and witness evidence to prove accused’s responsibility; irregular small expenditure insufficient to sustain conviction for larger misappropriation.
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25 February 1987 |
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Appellant’s conviction based on hearsay and contradictory police testimony was unsafe and therefore quashed.
Criminal law – theft of goods in transit – conviction based on hearsay evidence – credibility and contradictions among police witnesses – insufficiency of evidence renders conviction unsafe – appellate quashes conviction and sets aside sentence.
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24 February 1987 |