Results.
85 judgments found.
Citation
Sort by Citation ascending
Judgment date
Sort by Judgment date ascending
December 2021
Affray-caused death proved but lack of malice reduced offence to manslaughter; five-year sentence imposed.
Criminal law
— Manslaughter — requirement of malice aforethought
— sentencing — mitigation for first offender and time on remand
— Visual identification — reliability of night identification (motorcycle lamp and moonlight)
31 December 2021
Statutory rape conviction quashed for failure to prove complainant's age; impregnating a schoolgirl conviction upheld.
Criminal law
— Conviction in absentia — Whether court complied with s226(2) Criminal Procedure Act (inquiry into accused's absence) — Criminal Procedure Act s 226(2)
— Statutory rape — proof of age in statutory rape — Requirement to prove victim's age under 18 as an essential ingredient
— impregnating a schoolgirl — ingredient requiring proof that victim was a primary or secondary school student — School admission register and PF3 medical report as corroborative evidence
14 December 2021
Delay from prison transfers and late provision of trial proceedings justified extension to file notice of appeal.
Criminal procedure
— Extension of time to file Notice of Intention to Appeal — sufficiency of cause — s.361(2) Criminal Procedure Act
— unopposed application — Failure to file counter‑affidavit — Effect as indicating application is not factually opposed
14 December 2021
Father convicted of manslaughter after admitting to striking son; murder intent not proved.
Criminal law — Manslaughter
— admissibility and voluntariness of cautioned/confessional statements
— corroboration of hearsay evidence
— determination of malice aforethought
— role of circumstantial and medical evidence in proving culpability
14 December 2021
Imprisonment, transfers and prison officers’ delay justified extension to file notice of intention to appeal.
Criminal procedure — Appeals — extension of time — Incarceration, transfers and prison officers’ delay as sufficient cause
Evidence — Affidavits and counter‑affidavit — Presumption of non‑opposition to factual averments
13 December 2021
November 2021
Convictions quashed where material contradictions, unreliable key witness and non-production of witnesses/exhibits raised reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — sufficiency of evidence
— accused not to be convicted on weakness of defence
— adverse inference for failure to call material witnesses or produce exhibits
— contradictions and unreliable key witness
— medical evidence not binding if overall prosecution case is discredited
30 November 2021
25 November 2021
Court restored a dismissed civil reference where non-appearance was inadvertent due to a court venue shift; no order as to costs.
Civil procedure
— inadvertence as sufficient cause — Discretion on costs (each party to bear own)
— Restoration of dismissed proceedings under Order IX Rule 3 CPC — Non-appearance due to court venue change
24 November 2021
Subordinate court’s conviction quashed where DPP consent and certificate conferring jurisdiction were defective.
Criminal law — Economic offences — jurisdiction
— appellate revisional powers to quash conviction
— DPP’s consent and certificate required for subordinate court trial
— retrial left to DPP
— undated or defective consent/certificate vitiate jurisdiction and render proceedings a nullity
15 November 2021
Court upheld statutory rape conviction, finding the victim credible and medical evidence corroborative.
Criminal law — Statutory rape — proof of age and penetration — Penal Code s 130(4)(a)
Evidence — credibility and corroboration — victim’s unchallenged testimony and medical PF3 corroboration sufficient to prove sexual assault beyond reasonable doubt
12 November 2021
Victim's credible testimony upheld conviction; 30‑year sentence quashed as improperly imposed on an 18‑year‑old.
Criminal law
— medical evidence — delay in examination, absence of injuries, and infirmity of PF3 as conclusive proof
— proof of rape — requirement of clear proof of penetration — Need for particulars and medical corroboration of penetration
— sentencing — Sentencing/age
12 November 2021
Rape conviction quashed for failure to prove penetration; abduction conviction upheld and sentence reduced to seven years.
Criminal law
— Abduction — elements: taking/detention, intent to marry or have sexual intercourse, against victim’s will — s.133 Penal Code
— sexual offences — Proof of penetration — Penal Code s.130(4)(a)
Evidence — victim's testimony in sexual offences — Weight and requirement under s127(7) Evidence Act
11 November 2021
Conviction quashed due to material inconsistencies and prosecution's failure to call the independent seizure witness.
Criminal law — Drug trafficking — Proof beyond reasonable doubt — Effect of contradictions and discrepancies
Criminal procedure — Compliance with s.38(3) CPA and certificate of seizure — Requirement to account for and supply receipts to accused
Evidence — Seizure procedures — Failure to call independent witness — Adverse inference
10 November 2021
High Court grants bail in economic offence, fixing deposit at half the subject-matter value and imposing EOCCA section 36(5) conditions.
Criminal law — Bail conditions
— deposit equal to half the value of subject matter where accused is sole defendant (principle of sharing)
— property valuation/title deed requirements. Applicable provisions: EOCCA ss.29(4)(d), 36(1) and 36(5)
— regional residence and travel restrictions
— two sureties
Criminal law — Bail entitlement — statutory and constitutional right — unopposed application granted
Criminal procedure — Bail pending trial — High Court jurisdiction — subordinate court lacks jurisdiction
9 November 2021
Prisoner’s transfers and prison-prepared defective notice amounted to good cause for extension of time to file appeal.
Application for extension of time under s.11(1) AJA; defective notice prepared by prison authorities; prisoner transfers as sufficient cause; discretionary and flexible exercise of court's power.
8 November 2021
Convictions quashed where defective charge, irregular alteration, flawed search/seizure, and procedural breaches caused a mistrial.
Criminal law — Charge drafting — Duty of prosecution and trial court to amend defective charge
Criminal procedure
— Search and seizure — Compliance with s.38(3) CPA and certificate of seizure
— trial in absence — Application of s 226 and effect of convicting accused who absconded
8 November 2021
Incarceration and reliance on prison authorities amounted to good cause to extend time to file an appeal.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time — incarcerated appellant's reliance on prison authorities to file notice — discretion of High Court exercised in favour of extension
8 November 2021
Caution statement found involuntary and identification unreliable; prosecution failed to prove sexual offences beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — identification evidence by a child — Non-production of material witnesses
— acquittal where prosecution fails to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt
— Re-evaluation of evidence at first appellate stage
Criminal law — sexual offences — Rape and unnatural offence
— Admissibility of cautioned statement
— voluntariness and delay in recording
1 November 2021
October 2021
Accused convicted of murder on reliable confessions corroborated by forensic and circumstantial evidence, sentenced to death.
Criminal law — Murder — reliance on extra‑judicial and cautioned confessions
— alibi unsupported by witnesses
— circumstantial and forensic evidence
— malice aforethought established
— voluntariness and corroboration
28 October 2021
Night‑time visual identification must be watertight; unexplained failure to call arresting officers undermines prosecution.
Criminal law — Murder — Visual identification — requirement that identification evidence be watertight to eliminate mistaken identity (Waziri Amani principle)
Criminal procedure — Duty to call investigating officers — failure may raise reasonable doubt — Adverse inference and weakening of prosecution case
27 October 2021
Dying declaration, admission and caution statement corroborated to prove the accused's murder and malice; death sentence imposed.
Criminal law — Murder
— Dying declaration — Corroboration by extra-judicial admission and handwriting expert
— malice aforethought — Inference of malice aforethought
Evidence — Confession — Retracted confession — Weight and reliability where retracted but no claim of torture — Admissibility and probative value
26 October 2021
September 2021
Prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case; retracted caution and mere suspicion could not sustain conviction.
Criminal law
— Cautioned/confessional statements — voluntariness, need for corroboration — Failure to call Justice of the Peace undermines extra‑judicial statement
— hearsay — insufficiency to sustain conviction — Unreliable statements and mere suspicion insufficient for conviction
— sufficiency of evidence — Prima facie case at pre‑defence stage — Section 293(1) Criminal Procedure Act
30 September 2021
A defective guilty plea and unproved exhibits render trial proceedings a nullity, warranting quashing and retrial.
Criminal procedure
— Guilty plea — imperfect or ambiguous plea — may render conviction unsafe and proceedings a nullity
— remedy — quashing of defective proceedings and ordering trial de novo
— Restitution/forfeiture — instrumentalities not proved cannot be forfeited or lawfully ordered restored
29 September 2021
Court quashed convictions and sentences after finding identification, uncorroborated confessions and recent-possession evidence insufficient.
Criminal law
— confession and cautioned statements — corroboration required for retracted confessions
— identification and recent possession — Requirements for recovery, possession and positive identification
Criminal procedure — Conviction and sentence — Failure to enter conviction and specify offence/section invalidates judgment
29 September 2021
High Court upheld house as matrimonial property, rejected appellant’s challenge to appellate evidence and dismissed the appeal.
Evidence — Secondary evidence at appellate stage
— Refusal to admit additional secondary documents
— such evidence should be produced at trial
Family law — Maintenance — assessment and effect of minor appellate misdirections on orders
Family law — Matrimonial property
— burden to rebut spouse’s evidence
— Whether disputed house is matrimonial asset and subject to sale and division
Family law — Presumption of marriage from cohabitation — entitlement to decree of divorce
27 September 2021
Accused acquitted where prosecution failed to establish a prima facie murder case; caution statement inadmissible.
Criminal law — Murder — Prima facie case — Whether prosecution evidence sufficient to require accused to enter defence under s.293(1) CPA
21 September 2021
The applicant's statutory rape conviction was quashed because the prosecution failed to prove the victim's age.
Criminal law — Statutory rape
— insufficiency of evidence results in quashed conviction
— proof of age as essential element
20 September 2021
An appellate court cannot grant execution-type relief in an appeal; the appellant's admissions established liability for TShs 343,000.
Civil procedure
— Appeals — limits on relief — appellate court cannot grant execution-type relief or unpleaded relief in an appeal
— Evidence — admissions in cross-examination as binding on liability
— second appeal — deference to concurrent findings of fact and admissions
6 September 2021
Court dismissed Government Proceedings Act objections: 90‑day notice and AG joinder not required in criminal application.
Criminal procedure
— Joinder — Whether Attorney General or Solicitor General must be joined in criminal proceedings, and the DPP as appropriate party to appear
— preliminary objection — Applicability of Government Proceedings Act 90‑day notice to criminal applications
3 September 2021
August 2021
Appellate court upheld conviction where victim testimony and authenticated electronic evidence proved demand for sexual favours beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Corruption/sexual favour — Demand of sexual favours by person in authority
— corroboration by electronic evidence and oral testimony
— Proof beyond reasonable doubt
Criminal law — Defence of fabrication/consensual relationship — effect on reasonable doubt when defence admissions corroborate prosecution
Evidence — Electronic evidence — Forensic examination and authentication — admissibility and corroborative value
31 August 2021
Whether appellants maliciously prosecuted the respondent, proper quantification of damages, and joint liability of employer and employee.
Evidence — Documentary exhibits — proper tender and admission required
Tort
— Malicious prosecution — Elements: prosecution, favourable termination, absence of reasonable and probable cause, and malice
— Vicarious liability — Employer’s liability for employee’s torts committed in course of employment
27 August 2021
A trial court’s failure to consider the defence evidence renders its judgment invalid and requires a fresh judgment by another magistrate.
Criminal law — Criminal appeals — Setting aside conviction where trial court omitted consideration of defence case — Fresh judgment to be composed by different magistrate
Criminal procedure — Judgment writing
24 August 2021
High Court granted bail under EOCCA, applied principle of sharing, and fixed Tshs 5,797,500 per accused with specified conditions.
Criminal law — Bail — High Court jurisdiction where subject matter value is Tshs. 10,000,000 or more — Sections 36(1) and 36(5) EOCCA
24 August 2021
Appeal dismissed; divorce, maintenance and matrimonial property division upheld where appellant failed to rebut evidence.
Family law — Divorce — customary marriage — Breakdown of marriage — Ward conciliation certificate and failure to reconcile
Family law — Matrimonial property
— Afterthought grounds not entertained on appeal
— presumption of joint ownership of assets acquired during marriage
24 August 2021
Night search without court approval rendered evidence inadmissible; conviction and sentence quashed.
Criminal procedure
— Burden of proof — benefit of doubt where prosecution’s evidence is uncertain regarding legality of search
— Evidence — illegally obtained evidence — exclusion and effect on prosecution’s ability to prove case beyond reasonable doubt
— Search and seizure — night search without court leave
23 August 2021
Conviction quashed where alleged giraffe meat was improperly admitted and destroyed, leaving prosecution case unproven.
Criminal procedure — DPP's consent and certificate conferring jurisdiction — Plea entered before conferment of jurisdiction renders proceedings a nullity
Evidence — admissibility and chain of custody — expunging improperly tendered exhibits
Wildlife offences — Unlawful possession of government trophies — Identification of exhibits and chain of custody
23 August 2021
Rape conviction quashed where complainant's evidence unreliable and prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law
— Evidence — adverse inference for failure to call available witnesses
— Rape — Credibility of complainant
— medical evidence — medical proof of penetration not decisive alone
23 August 2021
Appellate court quashed acquittal for improper admission of a cautioned statement and ordered a retrial.
Criminal law
— Evidence — Cautioned statement — voluntariness inquiry required before admission
— Wildlife offences — unlawful possession of government trophy — valuation certificate and expert evidence
Criminal procedure
— first appeal — appellate re-evaluation of evidence
— Retrial — ordered where original trial was illegal or defective (Fatehali Manji principle)
20 August 2021
Absence of a counter‑affidavit indicates an unopposed application; court granted seven‑day extension to file notice of appeal.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time to file Notice of Intention to Appeal — Effect of absence of counter‑affidavit — Section 361(2) Criminal Procedure Act
19 August 2021
A subsequent suit re-litigating matters already finally decided between the same parties is barred by res judicata; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— requirements: same parties/title, same substantial issue, final decision by competent court — remedy for absence/ex parte judgment is application to set aside, not fresh suit
— Res judicata — applicability where earlier suit between same parties decided same subject matter
18 August 2021
Conviction quashed where witness contradictions and illegal police search made the prosecution evidence unsafe.
Criminal law — Credibility and contradictions — Whether contradictions in prosecution witnesses vitiate conviction — Duty to resolve inconsistencies (see Mohamed Said Matula v R)
Criminal procedure — Search and seizure — seizure irregular where certificate signed by persons who did not witness opening and procedures moved from scene to police station — Illegally obtained search evidence to be excluded (s.42 CPA)
18 August 2021
Custodial transfers and non-supply of judgment justified extension of time to file a notice and appeal.
Criminal procedure — Extension of time — non-supply of judgment, prisoner transfers and custodial restraint as sufficient grounds — unopposed application
17 August 2021
Expungement of an exhibit does not defeat a civil claim if remaining evidence proves it on the balance of probabilities.
Civil procedure
— admissibility and expungement of exhibits — expungement does not automatically defeat civil proof where balance of probabilities is met
— Assessors — change in coram during pre-hearing dates not necessarily irregular
— second appeal — concurrent findings of fact
— standard of proof in civil cases — balance of probabilities
16 August 2021
Conviction quashed: prosecution failed to prove rape beyond reasonable doubt due to unreliable witness evidence and questionable confessions.
Criminal law — Rape
— competence of child witnesses
— forensic/medical evidence insufficient without scientific linkage
— Proof beyond reasonable doubt
— victim credibility and inconsistencies
— voluntariness and admissibility of confession
16 August 2021
Appeal dismissed—conviction for stealing upheld on corroborated witness evidence and appellant's own admissions.
Criminal law — Hearsay issues
— Accused’s testimony and admissions may be weighed against him
— Appellate review of witness credibility
— statements heard from accused during interrogation
Criminal law — Theft
— Possession at arrest not essential where other credible evidence proves stealing
— Sufficiency of evidence and corroboration
16 August 2021
Appellants' gang rape convictions quashed due to investigator's absence and material doubts in prosecution evidence.
Criminal law
— Adverse inference — prosecution’s failure to call investigating officer (Aziz Abdalla)
— Credibility and identification — delay in reporting and night identification
— gang rape — proof beyond reasonable doubt
— Trial misdirection — improper burden allocation and speculation
16 August 2021
Prisoner’s transfers and lack of access to judgment found to be good cause for extension of time to lodge appeal.
Criminal procedure — Appeals — extension of time — section 361(2) CPA
13 August 2021
Court ordered accused returned to originating prison to facilitate police investigation, rather than direct handover to police custody.
Criminal procedure — Arrest and custody — Court’s power to facilitate police investigation of complaints by an accused
Prison law — Prisoners’ rights — Police access to prisoners for investigation — Observance of prison regulations and procedures
13 August 2021
A charge founded on a non‑existent statutory provision renders a guilty plea equivocal and conviction unsustainable.
Criminal law
— Charge and conviction — conviction of uncharged offence prejudicial — Quashing of conviction and setting aside sentence
— Defective charge — citation of wrong/non-existent Penal Code provision vitiates trial and renders conviction unfair — Plea of guilty rendered equivocal
13 August 2021
Juvenile proceedings without the mandatory social welfare officer are void; Law of the Child Act applies to children under eighteen regardless of birth year.
Civil procedure — remedy — nullification and retrial before properly constituted Juvenile Court
Criminal procedure — Juvenile procedure — mandatory presence of social welfare officer
Family law
— Child law — Law of the Child Act applicability — proceedings concerning a child under 18 apply regardless of birth year — not time-barred
— Maintenance — awards
11 August 2021