Mbaine & 4 Ors Vs Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 017 of 2013) [2018] UGCA 93 (2 October 2018)

Flynote

Criminal law

Case summary

On theft court held that prosecution did not prove the ingredient beyond reasonable doubt as they did not bring evidence as to the money stolen.On the interpreter, court held that the right is neither automatic nor absolute. For a defendant to understand what is going on in court is an aspect of a fair hearing and it is not an obligation for courts to inquire into the accused’s capacity to understand the language used in court proceedings. Court held that this claim is unattainable as the appellants went through the whole plea process and understood the charges against them thus waiving their right to an interpreter. On pre-trial detention court found that the trial judge did not consider this time while sentencing and thus considered the one year and ten months spent on remand in regard to the five years sentence and issued three years and two months to run concurrently

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