Results.
21 judgments found.
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| December 2020 |
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A gratuitous government payment based on individual merit does not constitute discrimination under Article 23.
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Constitutional interpretation — Article 23(3) — discrimination — whether list of grounds exhaustive — purposive construction balanced with textual limits — contextual test for reading unenumerated grounds — gratuitous government payments not covered if not pursuant to law or public function.
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23 December 2020 |
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Leave to appeal dismissed as incompetent due to defective summons; stay of execution rendered otiose.
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Procedure — Leave to appeal — Renewal of an application refused by Court of Appeal — Competence of summons and endorsement — Requirement to set out grounds under Section 13 Court of Appeal Act — Defective summons cannot be cured by affidavit — Stay of execution rendered otiose.
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23 December 2020 |
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Attested contracts and union representation exclude employees from Ministerial Orders absent lawful recategorisation; unpleaded relief impermissible.
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Labour law — Minimum Wages and Conditions Act — applicability of Ministerial Orders to non‑listed job titles — effect of attested individual contracts and union representation — recategorisation into protected categories — limits on granting unpleaded relief — evidential burden for transport allowance (three‑kilometre rule).
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23 December 2020 |
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Cogent circumstantial evidence and a recovered blood‑stained knife upheld conviction; the applicant's 'interested witness' claim was an afterthought.
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Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Corroboration by recovery of weapon — Witness with interest; afterthought — Dishonest portions of testimony do not necessarily vitiate remaining evidence.
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22 December 2020 |
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Appeal dismissed: identification evidence and coincidences upheld; single-witness ID and weak alibi insufficient to overturn convictions.
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Criminal law — Identification evidence — reliability of visual identification after short observation in daylight; single identifying witness — sufficiency where honest mistake excluded; alibi — prosecutorial duty to investigate and court’s rejection of weak alibi; identification parade — requirements for fairness; use of odd coincidences as supporting evidence.
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22 December 2020 |
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A beneficiary’s written demand that the supplier failed to deliver properly triggered payment under an advance payment guarantee; the bank need not investigate.
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Banking law — Demand (advance payment) guarantee — Interpretation of demand — 'Pay first, argue later' principle; URDG Articles 16 & 20 — Whether beneficiary’s written declaration of failure to deliver satisfied a guarantee requiring misuse of funds — Proof of claimed interest — Reliefs not pleaded or established.
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15 December 2020 |
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A beneficiary's written demand of supplier's failure to deliver satisfied an advance payment guarantee, obliging the bank to pay without investigation.
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Demand guarantees — interpretation of beneficiary's demand; guarantor's duty to pay on compliant written demand; 'pay first, argue later' principle; requirement to prove claimed interest; refund and damages orders unsustainable where demand valid.
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15 December 2020 |
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Applicant's motion to restore a voluntarily abandoned appeal was dismissed; Rule 33(1) mandates finality absent fraud, mistake or manifest injustice.
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Civil procedure — Restoration of dismissed appeal — Abandonment under Rule 33(1) Supreme Court Rules — Finality of abandoned appeals — Inherent jurisdiction to reopen judgments — Article 118(2)(e) Constitution — Mistake, fraud or manifest injustice as threshold for reopening — Fresh evidence admissibility.
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15 December 2020 |
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Assault used to obtain a handbag satisfied aggravated robbery despite non‑recovery of items; unchallenged testimony and inconsistent defences upheld conviction.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Elements: violence used to obtain or retain property — Proof where accused last seen in possession — Non-recovery of weapon/property not fatal — Importance of cross-examination on material particulars.
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8 December 2020 |
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Poor identification was corroborated by recovery of stolen property and appellant’s conduct, so conviction for aggravated robbery was upheld.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Identification evidence and need for identification parade — Suspect witnesses/accomplices found in possession of stolen property — Corroboration by recovery of stolen property and ‘odd coincidences’ — Alibi — Failure to lift fingerprints.
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8 December 2020 |
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Applicant failed to show a point of law of public importance; Supreme Court refused leave to appeal.
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Criminal law — appeal — leave to appeal to Supreme Court under s.13 Court of Appeal Act — point of law of public importance — appellate evaluation where trial judgment defective but evidence on record — application of Muyunda Muziba — substitution of conviction — sentencing reasons.
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8 December 2020 |
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Circumstantial evidence and joint-enterprise principles upheld a murder conviction despite partial impeachment of eyewitness testimony.
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Criminal law — murder — circumstantial evidence — joint enterprise/principal liability — credibility assessment of witnesses — when portions of recanted testimony may still be relied upon — reduction to manslaughter not warranted.
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8 December 2020 |
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Circumstantial evidence and joint enterprise principles upheld the appellant's murder conviction despite witness inconsistencies.
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Criminal law — circumstantial evidence — joint enterprise liability — murder by suffocation — witness credibility and partial corroboration — refusal to reduce to manslaughter.
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8 December 2020 |
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A 25‑year manslaughter sentence was manifestly excessive; guilty plea and first‑offender status justified reduction to seven years.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Manslaughter — Plea of guilty and first-offender status as strong mitigating factors — Error in principle where judge fails to state consideration of mitigation — Appellate interference where sentence is manifestly excessive — Appropriate substitute sentence for manslaughter.
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8 December 2020 |
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Appellate court reduced a manifestly excessive manslaughter sentence after the trial judge failed to consider key mitigating factors.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Manslaughter — Excessive sentence — Appellate interference where trial judge fails to state consideration of mitigation — Plea of guilty and first‑offender status as strong mitigating factors — Sentencing range vis‑à‑vis extenuated murder — Public interest in gender‑based violence deterrence.
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8 December 2020 |
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Court upheld striking off Attorney General and counsel as wrongly joined, rendering remaining motions incompetent.
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Civil procedure — Misjoinder and striking off parties — Attorney General not a substitute for a company in liquidation — Counsel/firm cannot be joined as a party merely for representing a company — Motions rendered incompetent where no opposing parties remain.
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7 December 2020 |
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An appeal dismissed for lack of mandatory leave is final; relaunching without prior leave is incompetent.
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Civil procedure — Competency of motions — Rule 48(4) Supreme Court Rules — Requirement for leave to file out of time — Finality of Supreme Court judgments — Appeal dismissed for lack of leave cannot be restored — Inherent jurisdiction not available to remedy counsel’s negligence.
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4 December 2020 |
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Absence of leave to appeal deprives appellate jurisdiction and appeals dismissed for technicality cannot be restored.
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Civil procedure — Appeals — Absence of leave to appeal deprives appellate court of jurisdiction; appeals dismissed on technicality cannot be restored; remedy against negligent counsel.
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4 December 2020 |
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An unserved ‘unless’ dismissal order is ineffective; appeal restored where delay excused and no prejudice shown.
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Civil procedure — restoration of appeal — Rule 71 — ‘unless orders’ — effect of non‑service of dismissal order — discretion to restore where no prejudice shown.
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4 December 2020 |
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An 'unless order' not communicated to the affected party is deprived of effect; appeal restored despite delay.
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Civil procedure — restoration of appeal — Rule 71 Supreme Court Rules — 'unless order' — non-service/deprived of effect — inordinate delay excused where order not communicated — no prejudice to respondent — restoration allowed.
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4 December 2020 |
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Appeal against refusal of special leave to review dismissal dismissed; notice served on counsel on record decisive.
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Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution via “unless order” — service of hearing notices on advocates on record — change of advocate and notice requirements — review on fresh evidence (Order 37/34 principles) — appellate restraint on findings of fact — defective record of appeal and discretionary non-dismissal.
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4 December 2020 |