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Citation
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Judgment date
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| November 2025 |
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DLHT decision quashed for lack of jurisdiction where mandatory ward-tribunal mediation certificate was not properly produced as evidence.
* Land disputes – Jurisdiction of District Land and Housing Tribunal – mandatory ward-tribunal certificate of failed mediation (section 13(4) LDCA).
* Evidence – Annexures to pleadings are not evidence; documents must be tendered and admitted as exhibits to constitute proof.
* Procedure – Failure of a tribunal to identify/admit exhibits is a fatal irregularity vitiating proceedings.
* Probate – continuity of estate administration does not preclude reliance on prior mediation certificate where same cause and parties exist.
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10 November 2025 |
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Failure to hear the child and to order a social inquiry required remittal for custody reconsideration in the child's best interests.
* Child custody — Best interests of the child — Court must consider factors in section 39(2), including the child's views.
* Child custody — Social inquiry — Court may and should order social welfare officer's social inquiry report under section 45(1) when circumstances warrant.
* Juvenile procedure — Failure to hear child and absence of social inquiry are material irregularities warranting remittal for fresh determination.
* Costs — No order as to costs in child-related proceedings.
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4 November 2025 |
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Appeal dismissed for being filed beyond the 45-day statutory period, leaving the High Court without jurisdiction.
* Land Disputes Courts Act, s.41(2) – 45-day limitation to appeal from DLHT to High Court – jurisdictional consequence of filing beyond time; * Law of Limitation Act, s.3(1) – remedy for time-barred proceedings is dismissal; * Civil procedure – preliminary objection on competence and capacity of parties; * Failure to comply with court-ordered filing schedule – failure to prosecute.
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4 November 2025 |
| October 2025 |
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Court granted bail pending appeal on health grounds, imposing strict surety and monetary conditions.
Criminal procedure — Bail pending appeal — Discretionary relief for convicted persons — Illness (tuberculosis) as exceptional circumstance — sufficiency of medical certificate versus requirement for warden’s report — stringent surety and monetary conditions to protect administration of justice.
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27 October 2025 |
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Appellant’s inconsistent evidence and failure to produce documents/witnesses led to dismissal; feeder road is the boundary.
* Land law – boundary dispute – whether boundary is feeder road or sisal plants – determination by evidence. * Evidence – civil standard (s.3(2)(b), s.110 Evidence Act) – documentary proof (sale agreements) and witness testimony. * Procedure – failure to produce material document and to call material witnesses may justify adverse inference and affect credibility. * Remedy – appellate court will uphold tribunal findings where respondent proves case on balance of probabilities and appellant fails to rebut evidence.
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27 October 2025 |
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Parties settled a land-execution dispute; Court adopted their deed as a consent order with a binding payment schedule.
* Civil Procedure – Revision – parties may settle pending revision; Court may record deed of settlement as consent order under Order XXIII Rule 3 CPC.
* Execution of decree – effect of interlocutory objection and subsequent consent settlement on execution and finality of claims.
* Consent judgment – enforceability of payment schedule and mutual release of claims.
* Costs – each party to bear own costs under consent settlement.
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24 October 2025 |
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Voluntary confessions corroborated by circumstantial evidence established the accused's guilt for two murders.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence; voluntary confessions (caution and extra‑judicial statements); corroboration by discovery; malice aforethought; alibi notice requirement; mandatory death sentence under section 197 Penal Code.
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24 October 2025 |
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Insufficient identification, unreliable admissions and forensic/cyber gaps rendered the prosecution case unsafe; accused acquitted.
* Criminal law – murder – identity of deceased – decayed body, delayed/contradictory identification, absence of DNA evidence. * Evidence – caution statements – reliability and temporal plausibility of confessions. * Forensic evidence – chain of custody and admissibility of toxicology results. * Cyber-evidence – mobile-phone tracing – necessity of service-provider records to establish communications. * Investigation standards – adequacy of investigation in capital offences; investigative omissions may render prosecution case unsafe.
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24 October 2025 |
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Court recorded consent judgment under Order XXIII Rule 3, partitioning the disputed three‑acre land and ordering demarcation.
* Civil procedure – Consent judgment – Recording of deed of settlement under Order XXIII Rule 3 CPC.
* Land law – Boundary dispute – Amicable partition and allocation of a three‑acre parcel; demarcation on the ground and sketch plan annexed.
* Release of claims – Parties bound by settlement; plaintiff waives further claims in respect of the disputed land.
* Costs – Each party to bear their own costs following consent judgment.
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24 October 2025 |
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Applicant's unfair‑termination referral was timely because the statutory deadline fell on a Sunday and extended to the next working day.
* Labour law – Unfair termination – Time limit for referral to CMA – Rule 10(1) Labour Institutions Rules. * Pleadings – CMA Form No.1 treated as plaint and binds parties. * Time computation – Interpretation of Laws Act (s60) and Law of Limitation Act (s19(6)) – excluded days and filing on next working day. * Remedy – Setting aside CMA decision and remittal to CMA to hear on merits.
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22 October 2025 |
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Taking over a partly heard case without recording required reasons breaches procedural fairness and warrants quashing and remittal.
* Civil procedure – change of presiding officer – Order XVIII Rule 15(1) CPC – requirement to record reasons when taking over partly heard matters.
* Procedural fairness – right to be heard – absence of proper record vitiates proceedings and impedes appealability.
* Remedies – quashing of judgment and remittal under section 47(1)(b) of the Land Disputes Courts Act; discretionary costs.
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22 October 2025 |
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Court adopted parties’ deed of settlement as consent judgment, resolving the land ownership dispute and prescribing possession and ownership terms.
Land law – ownership dispute over parcel within five-acre land – parties’ amicable settlement recorded and adopted as consent judgment – application of Order XXIII, Rule 3 Civil Procedure Code – transfer of possession and declaration of ownership effective date – mutual non-suit and costs.
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21 October 2025 |
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Words alone, without display or possession of a weapon or tangible act, do not prove threatening violence under section 89(2)(b).
* Criminal law – Threatening violence – s.89(2)(b) Penal Code – requirement of tangible act or display/possession of weapon to elevate words to criminal threat.
* Evidence – Weight of threats – threats alone insufficient; need corroborating physical indication or conduct.
* Appellate procedure – Second appeal standard – limited interference with concurrent findings absent misapprehension, perverse findings or miscarriage of justice.
* Evaluation of witness contradictions (e.g., time discrepancies) as undermining prosecution case.
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17 October 2025 |
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Second appellate court upheld acquittal where prosecution failed to prove the charge of alarming/breach of the peace.
* Criminal law – Threats and breach of the peace – Distinction between threats by words and conduct amounting to "alarming any person" under s.89(2)(b) Penal Code.
* Appeals – Second appeal – Reluctance to disturb findings of fact by trial and first appellate courts; interference only for miscarriage of justice or clear misapprehension of evidence.
* Criminal procedure – Burden on prosecution to prove the specific charge as laid; charge-defect cannot be overlooked if essential ingredients are unproved.
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17 October 2025 |
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Non-joinder of village council and land authorities rendered the DLHT proceedings and compensation order invalid; decision quashed.
Land law – Joinder of necessary parties – Where land was surveyed and registered while alleged occupiers claim prior occupation, village council and land administration authorities (District Council, Commissioner for Lands, Registrar of Titles) are necessary parties; non-joinder renders proceedings and orders (including compensation) unsafe. Also: award of compensation suo motu and tribunal’s duty to ensure necessary parties are heard.
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15 October 2025 |
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High Court held only the court that issued an ex parte ruling may set it aside; RM Court lacked jurisdiction, revision granted.
Civil procedure – Revision under section 89 CPC – Jurisdiction to set aside ex parte decrees – Order IX Rule 9 CPC; Affidavits – Matovu principle – expungement of impermissible legal argument; Magistrate’s Court Act – supervisory powers of High Court.
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15 October 2025 |
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Prisoner’s transfer and late supply of judgment constituted sufficient cause to extend time to file an appeal.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time under s.361(2) CPA — Good cause — Prisoner transfer and late supply of judgment — Accounting for delay — Substantive justice (Art.107A(2)(e)).
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10 October 2025 |
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Appellant failed to prove ownership on the balance of probabilities; tribunal's finding upheld and appeal dismissed.
Land law – Burden and standard of proof in land disputes; evaluation of evidence on first appeal; adverse effect of post-occupation documentary confirmation; credibility and weight of evidence; procedural objections to exhibit admission.
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9 October 2025 |
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Revision cannot substitute for an unexhausted right of appeal; applicant must pursue appeal, not revision.
Criminal procedure – Revision v. Appeal – Revision not an alternative to appeal; exceptional circumstances required (e.g., appeal process blocked by judicial process) – Right to appeal under section 380 preserved – Denial of extension of time does not automatically block appeal.
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7 October 2025 |
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6 October 2025 |
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An appeal was struck out because most appellants were not parties to the impugned first appellate judgment, rendering the appeal incompetent.
* Probate appeal — competence — requirement that parties in the impugned judgment correspond with parties in the appeal record; electronic case management links first appellate and High Court records. * Civil procedure — preliminary objection — mismatch of parties renders appeal incompetent and subject to being struck out. * Limitation — not determined where competence disposes the matter.
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6 October 2025 |
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Court grants bail in economic crime prosecution subject to strict statutory conditions, substantial deposits and surety requirements.
Bail — Economic and Organized Crime Control Act s36(5)&(6) — offences bailable but subject to statutory conditions — sharing principle for multiple accused — surrender of travel documents, reporting, surety and substantial monetary security requirements.
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3 October 2025 |
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Convictions quashed where prosecution failed to prove unlawful entry, weapons possession and trophy identification beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – wildlife offences; sufficiency of particulars and statutory exceptions; proof of location — reliability of GPS/electronic evidence; chain of custody of exhibits — requirement to call exhibit keeper; identification of bushmeat — need for scientific analysis (DNA) to satisfy proof beyond reasonable doubt.
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3 October 2025 |
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Review cannot substitute for appeal; factual mitigation complaints that are not errors on the face of record must be appealed.
Criminal procedure — Review under s.416(2) CPA — Review limited to errors apparent on the face of the record causing miscarriage of justice — Review not a substitute for appeal — Court cannot sit as appellate court over its own decision — Failure to file ordered submissions amounts to failure to prosecute.
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3 October 2025 |
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Change of tribunal chairpersons without reasons or consultation vitiated proceedings, prompting nullification and remittal.
Civil procedure — Change of presiding officer — Order XVIII r.15 CPC — duty to record reasons and consult parties — succession irregularity vitiates proceedings — Land Disputes Courts Act s.47(1)(b) revisionary power.
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1 October 2025 |
| September 2025 |
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A defective jurat and on‑its‑face contradictions in the affidavit warranted striking out the application with costs.
* Oath and Statutory Declarations Act, s.10 – jurat must follow mandatory form in the Schedule; non‑compliance renders affidavit defective.
* Affidavit veracity – material contradictions on the face of an affidavit may be treated as untrue without additional evidence.
* Civil procedure – preliminary objection – defective affidavit/jurat justifies striking out the application.
* Chamber application – requirement that chamber summons be accompanied by a valid affidavit.
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29 September 2025 |
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Court lawfully extended time to apply for judicial review and dismissed preliminary objection that the application was time‑barred.
Judicial review — extension of time to file substantive application; preliminary objection — time bar; functus officio; Law of Limitation s.14(1); Order XLIII r.2 CPC — withdrawal with leave to refile; distinction from MSK Refineries authority.
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26 September 2025 |
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Appellate court held prosecution proved victim's age, penetration and identity; appeal dismissed and conviction upheld.
Criminal law – statutory rape – proof of age by parent and victim in absence of birth certificate; proof of penetration via medical evidence (loss of hymen); identification by known victim; appellate re-evaluation of evidence; prosecution’s duty to prove beyond reasonable doubt.
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24 September 2025 |
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Claims for declaratory relief and valuation‑based compensation filed in 2025 were time‑barred; suit dismissed with costs.
Limitation law — declaratory decrees fall under item 24, Part I, First Schedule to the Law of Limitation Act (six‑year limitation); tort/trespass claims carry a three‑year limit; valuation reports for compensation valid two years under Valuation and Valuers Registration Act s.52(2); preliminary objections raising pure points of law affect jurisdiction and must be determined first; pleadings determine applicable reliefs and limitation.
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22 September 2025 |
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Apparent illegality in service of summons justified extension of time to apply to set aside a summary judgment.
Civil procedure – extension of time under Law of Limitation s.14(1) and CPC s.103 (formerly s.93); requirements for service on corporate defendants (Order V, Order XXXV); proof of service (acknowledgement, stamp, affidavit/return); illegality apparent on face of record as sufficient cause for extension of time.
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18 September 2025 |
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Tribunal’s ex parte judgment and execution set aside for defective service, denial of hearing, and conflicting execution orders.
Land law — Service of summons — Affidavit of service defects and improper attestation — Substituted service required where personal service impossible — Ex parte proceedings and right to be heard — Execution conflicting with decree and pleadings — Revisionary powers to quash proceedings.
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17 September 2025 |
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High Court grants bail in economic crime case subject to EOCCA s36(5) monetary security and strict reporting conditions.
* Criminal procedure – Bail pending trial – High Court jurisdiction under EOCCA s29(4)(d) where District Court lacks jurisdiction
* Bail as constitutional right – Article 13(6)(b) – offences bailable under s151 CPA
* EOCCA s36(5) – monetary conditions for bail: deposit of half the value and bond for the remainder
* Conditions for release – sureties, identity and residence verification, surrender of passports, reporting obligations, restriction of movement
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15 September 2025 |
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Court entered judgment on admission where respondent admitted valuation and agreed to pay 15 plaintiffs per WSD.
Civil procedure – Judgment on admission – Order XII r 4 CPC – Pleadings admitting valuation and quantified compensation – Court may enter judgment on admitted items; enforcement and vacatur to permit mining operations.
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12 September 2025 |
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Appellant’s convictions quashed due to broken chain of custody and an improperly procured disposition order for the government trophy.
* Criminal law – proof beyond reasonable doubt – need for clear, consistent evidence linking accused to seized items.
* Evidence – chain of custody – requirement to establish continuous, documented custody or acceptable oral account.
* Wildlife law – disposal/disposition of government trophies – accused’s presence and being heard before magistrate required.
* Procedure – improperly procured disposition orders may be expunged and vitiate related convictions.
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12 September 2025 |
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Defective chain of custody and an improperly procured disposition order undermined prosecution's proof, leading to quashed wildlife convictions.
Criminal law – Wildlife Conservation Act offences; proof beyond reasonable doubt; chain of custody and provenance of exhibits; admissibility and legality of disposition orders; effect of irregularly procured exhibits on conviction.
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12 September 2025 |
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Res judicata cannot be decided as a preliminary point where identity of parties or subject matter is factually contested.
* Land law – preliminary objections – res judicata – requirement of identity of parties, subject matter and reliefs – not a pure point of law where facts (acreage, boundaries, capacity) are disputed; evidence required. * Civil procedure – preliminary objection concept (Mukisa principle) – cannot be used where factual determination or judicial discretion is necessary. * Revisionary powers – High Court quashes Tribunal’s premature ruling and remits record for proper determination.
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11 September 2025 |
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Court nullified DLHT's unsolicited injunctive and demolition orders for exceeding jurisdiction and preserved the status quo.
* Land law – Revision of DLHT decisions – limits on revisional jurisdiction over interlocutory orders when such orders dispose of rights. * Jurisdiction – Tribunal issuing orders not pleaded; orders against non-parties (Commissioner for Lands and Registrar of Titles) exceed jurisdiction. * Government Proceedings Act s.6(5) – authority to sue or be sued and limits on orders against state officers. * Remedies – nullification of unauthorized injunctive/demolition orders; preservation of status quo; remit for merits determination.
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11 September 2025 |
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A joint venture's unilateral removal of jointly produced property justified an award of general damages to the aggrieved party.
Civil procedure – joint ventures – distinction between tenancy and joint project – entitlement to damages for unilateral removal of jointly produced property – evaluation of concurrent findings by appellate courts.
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10 September 2025 |
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Technical defects in party description and affidavit content are curable; application allowed to be amended accordingly.
Civil procedure – Preliminary objections – Misjoinder and description of parties – Amendment of pleadings to cure defects – Affidavit evidence – Legal arguments and extraneous matters in affidavits – Expunging offending paragraphs.
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9 September 2025 |
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Time‑barred overdraft claims dismissed where separate annual contracts lacked specific written acknowledgement.
Limitation of actions – Part I Item 7 (six‑year limitation) – annual/distinct contracts – section 27 acknowledgement – requirement of specific, contemporaneous acknowledgement to postpone accrual – aggregation of time‑barred and live claims and appropriate remedy (dismissal of barred claims).
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8 September 2025 |
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Appeal against conviction for unlawful entry and weapon possession in a game reserve dismissed for lack of merit.
Criminal law – unlawful entry into game reserve – possession of weapons in protected area – sufficiency of prosecution evidence – accused's right to call defence witness – appellate review of trial proceedings
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8 September 2025 |
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Family land disputes—allocation by parent—burden of proof—oral evidence sufficient for ownership; long occupation alone does not confer title.
Land law – proof of ownership – family land – allocation of land by parent – documentary versus oral evidence – requirement for administration of estate – long possession versus ownership. |
8 September 2025 |
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An extension of time was refused where the applicant neither accounted for each day of delay nor demonstrated illegality on the record.
Extension of time – principles for extension – accounting for each day of delay – sufficiency of claims of illegality – point of law apparent on the record.
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4 September 2025 |
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An appeal by the prosecution was dismissed as filed out of time due to lack of evidence proving late receipt of judgment.
Criminal procedure – Appeal – Time limits for filing appeals by DPP – Computation of limitation period – Proof of date of receipt of judgment – Electronic Case Management System (e-CMS) and accessibility of court documents.
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4 September 2025 |
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A suit should not be struck out for non-joinder where the issue requires evidence and is not apparent on the pleadings.
Civil procedure – preliminary objection – non-joinder of necessary party – whether determination requires evidence – no suit to be defeated for non-joinder – exercise of discretion in awarding costs.
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3 September 2025 |
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The court dismissed the appeal, upholding convictions for unlawful entry and possession in a game reserve, finding no procedural irregularities.
Criminal law – Unlawful entry into game reserve – Unlawful possession of weapon – Right to call defence witnesses – Proof beyond reasonable doubt – Evaluation of evidence on first appeal.
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3 September 2025 |
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The appellant's late appeal against a tribunal execution order was dismissed for being filed out of time.
Land law — Appeals from District Land and Housing Tribunal — Time limit under s.41(2) Land Disputes Courts Act — Jurisdictional effect of late filing; Execution orders and appropriate remedy (appeal vs revision) — Compliance with Order XXXIX Rule 1(1) CPC (drawn order requirement) — Failure to prosecute for non-compliance with filing schedule.
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2 September 2025 |
| August 2025 |
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A borrower unsuccessfully challenged enforcement of a microfinance loan contract, alleging licensing and interest regulation violations.
Civil procedure – Second appeal – Findings of fact – Microfinance – Enforcement of loan contract – Licensing and interest regulation – Applicability of board resolution requirement – Appeal out of time – Sanctity of contract.
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29 August 2025 |
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Court upheld armed robbery convictions, finding caution statements and circumstantial evidence sufficient despite no eyewitness identification.
Criminal law – armed robbery – sufficiency of circumstantial evidence – admissibility of caution statements and requirement of inquiry – corroboration of confessions – minimum statutory sentence – consideration of defence by trial court.
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29 August 2025 |
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An appeal against conviction for unlawful possession of weapons and government trophies in a national park was dismissed.
Criminal law – Appeal – Contradictory evidence – Clerical errors in trial record – Lawful seizure and disposal of exhibits – Proof beyond reasonable doubt – Unlawful possession of weapons and government trophies in a national park.
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29 August 2025 |