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Title
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Date
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Judgment |
4 January 2024 |
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Judgment |
14 December 2023 |
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Judgment |
13 December 2023 |
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Judgment |
13 December 2023 |
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Judgment |
12 December 2023 |
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Conviction for heroin trafficking upheld; thirty-year sentence set aside and enhanced to mandatory life imprisonment.
* Criminal law – narcotics trafficking – proof of possession and knowledge (actual and constructive) – dominion and control. * Search and seizure – application of Drug Control and Enforcement Act vs. Criminal Procedure Act – night searches and procedural safeguards. * Evidence – chain of custody and admissibility of physical exhibits – relevance, materiality, competence. * Charges – effect of omitting reference to amending Act – curable defects. * Sentencing – mandatory life imprisonment for trafficking under DCEA; appellate enhancement.
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Judgment |
18 September 2023 |
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Court substituted murder conviction with manslaughter, finding malice aforethought not proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal procedure – committal proceedings – compliance with s.246(2) CPA; Evidence – admissibility of witness and post‑mortem evidence via video conferencing where accused and counsel are present; Assessors – sufficiency of judicial summing up on malice aforethought and local custom; Homicide – proof of malice aforethought beyond reasonable doubt; Appeal – substitution of conviction and sentence from murder to manslaughter.
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Judgment |
12 September 2023 |
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Judgment |
11 September 2023 |
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Judgment |
9 August 2023 |
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Judgment |
1 August 2023 |
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Search conducted without warrant after prior information was unlawful; seized evidence expunged and conviction quashed.
Criminal procedure – search and seizure – emergency exception (s.42(1)(b) CPA) – prior information negates emergency – officers of Drugs Authority subject to CPA search requirements – illegally obtained evidence expunged.
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Judgment |
22 June 2023 |
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Judgment |
6 June 2023 |
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Non‑disclosure of a physical exhibit at committal is fatal unless properly tendered under section 289, rendering conviction unsafe.
* Criminal procedure – committal proceedings – requirement to read and explain Information and substance of evidence – disclosure of physical exhibits – equality of arms. * Admissibility – non-disclosure at committal – resort to section 289(1)/(4) CPA to tender additional evidence. * Evidence – identification in court and non‑objection do not cure committal non‑compliance. * Conviction unsustainable where primary exhibit expunged.
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Judgment |
5 June 2023 |
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Judgment |
5 May 2023 |
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Judgment |
5 May 2023 |
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Oral proof of chain of custody sufficed for non-easily-tampered narcotics; acquittal substituted with conviction against respondent.
* Criminal law – Narcotics – Chain of custody – Oral evidence may suffice where paper trail is weak, especially for items not easily tampered with. * Evidence – No fixed number of witnesses required to prove a fact (s.143 Evidence Act); failure to call witnesses does not automatically warrant adverse inference where their evidence is otherwise covered. * Appellate review – Substitution of acquittal with conviction where trial court misapplied evidential principles.
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Judgment |
28 April 2023 |
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Judgment |
27 April 2023 |
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Judgment |
24 April 2023 |
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Appeal allowed: armed robbery conviction quashed where prosecution failed to prove appellant was armed or threatened the victim.
Criminal law – armed robbery – requirement to prove accused was armed or threatened victim; cautioned statements – statutory timing under s.50(1)(a) Criminal Procedure Act; admissibility of statements of absent witnesses – compliance with s.34B Evidence Act; expungement of improperly admitted statements; appellate re-evaluation where conviction unsafe; reasonable doubt from defence explanation.
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Judgment |
12 April 2023 |
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Appeal allowed: convictions quashed where identification, cautioned statements and identification of recovered property were unreliable.
Criminal law – Visual identification and identification parades – requirement for prior detailed descriptions to police – cautioned statements – voluntariness and compliance with sections 57–58 CPA – identification of recovered property – necessity of peculiar marks for doctrine of recent possession.
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Judgment |
11 April 2023 |
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Failure to list physical narcotic exhibits at committal rendered them inadmissible and convictions unsafe.
Criminal procedure – committal proceedings – Rule 8(2) CECD Rules/section 246(2) CPA – requirement to read and list statements, documents and physical exhibits – failure to list physical exhibits fatal – section 289(1) CPA remedy to call additional evidence – expungement of unlisted narcotic exhibits – sufficiency of remaining evidence to sustain conviction.
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Judgment |
11 April 2023 |
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Proceedings where key witnesses testified in the accused’s absence violated fair trial, nullifying conviction and ordering retrial.
* Criminal procedure – Right to fair trial – Evidence generally to be taken in accused’s presence (s.196 CPA) – Exception where accused absent (s.226(1) CPA) – Improvident use of s.226(1) can vitiate trial. * Criminal procedure – Duty to furnish witness’s statement to accused (s.9(3) CPA) – Mandatory requirement; non-compliance may be curable if no prejudice. * Evidence – Recall of witnesses – refusal to recall witnesses who testified in accused’s absence can infringe fair hearing. * Appellate jurisdiction – Court may invoke revisional powers under s.4(2) AJA where first appellate court failed to address a ground of appeal.
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Judgment |
4 April 2023 |
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Prisoner’s appeal deemed timely under s.363 C.P.A.; High Court wrongly dismissed instead of striking out; matter remitted for merits.
Criminal procedure – Appeal period under s.361(1)(b) C.P.A. – Prisoner appellants – Filing by presenting petition and copies to the officer in charge under s.363 C.P.A. – Time-bar remedy: striking out v. dismissal – Revisional powers under s.4(2) AJA to nullify and remit.
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Judgment |
31 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
31 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
30 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
29 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
29 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
29 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
28 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
28 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
28 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
27 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
27 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
27 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
23 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
22 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
22 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
21 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
13 March 2023 |
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Convictions quashed where lower courts failed to evaluate defence and prosecution failed to prove obtaining money by false pretences.
* Criminal law – Obtaining money by false pretences (s.302 Penal Code) – ingredients: false representation, fraudulent intent, inducement. * Evidence – Duty to evaluate whole evidence including defence; summary is insufficient. * Variance between charge particulars and evidence – fatal where no amendment. * Cautioned/confessional statements – must be relevant and address the charged offence to be probative.
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Judgment |
10 March 2023 |
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Failure to allow the appellants to object to exhibits and cross‑examine a witness vitiated the trial, requiring retrial.
Criminal procedure – right to be heard; denial of opportunity to object to exhibits; denial of right to cross‑examination; procedural irregularity vitiating trial; retrial as remedy; Appellate Jurisdiction Act section 4(2).
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Judgment |
9 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
2 March 2023 |
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Search under WCA lawful; conviction upheld but second-count sentence amended to mandatory 20-year term.
* Wildlife Conservation Act (s106) – authorized officer may search without warrant; * Evidence – procedural requirement to read contents of admitted documents; expunction where unmet; oral evidence may sustain case; * Criminal burden – quality over quantity of witnesses; failure to call witnesses not fatal where remaining evidence credible; * Sentencing – EOCCA s60(2) imposes mandatory minimum 20 years for economic offences committed after amendment; appellate correction of unlawful sentence.
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Judgment |
1 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
1 March 2023 |
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Judgment |
22 February 2023 |
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Judgment |
17 February 2023 |
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Judgment |
30 January 2023 |