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Court of Appeal of Uganda

The Court of Appeal is the second highest court in the land.  It came into being following the promulgation of the 1995 Constitution, and the enactment of the Judicature Statute, 1996. Article 134 of the Constitution established the structure of the Court of Appeal.

While presiding over matters , it is duly constituted when it consists of an odd number of not less than three (3) justices of the Court of Appeal. It is this court that constitutes itself into a Constitutional Court in accordance with the Constitution to hear constitutional cases.

The Constitutional Court consists of fifteen (15) justices and handles the matters, issues or cases concerning the interpretation of the Constitution  When presiding over a constitutional matter, there must be a quorum of at least five (5) justices of the court.

Physical address
Twed Towers along Kafu Road, Nakasero,Kampala.
8 judgments
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8 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
October 2016
Mitigation after Kigula must generally consider only factors available at trial; omission to regard first-offender status justified reducing sentence.
Criminal law – Murder – Sentencing after Suzan Kigula – mitigation proceedings – permissible considerations limited to factors available at original trial – appellate interference where trial judge omits important mitigating factor (first offender).
26 October 2016
Appellate court reduced life re‑sentence to 30 years after trial court overlooked material mitigating factors.
Criminal law – Sentencing – Re‑sentencing after Kigula – Appellate interference with sentencing discretion where trial court ignored material mitigating factors – Need for uniformity of sentences in comparable murder cases.
26 October 2016
Appellate court set aside an ambiguous 15‑year sentence for aggravated defilement and re‑sentenced the appellant to 11 years.
Criminal law – Sentencing – Aggravated defilement of a nine‑year‑old – Ambiguous sentence and deduction of remand time – Weight of guilty plea as mitigation – Appellate re‑assessment and reduction of sentence to 11 years.
26 October 2016
Appellate court quashed rape conviction due to material contradictions, unreliable/improper evidence admission and broken chain of custody.
* Criminal law – Rape – Appellate reappraisal of evidence – contradictions and gaps in complainant’s testimony; improper admission of medical report under s.30 Evidence Act; DNA evidence and chain of custody; alleged admissions and need for trial‑within‑a‑trial; defence not properly considered.
26 October 2016
Court confirmed 15-year sentences for aggravated robbery, finding sentencing discretion properly exercised and not manifestly excessive.
Criminal law – Aggravated robbery – Sentence – Appellate interference only where sentence is manifestly excessive, wrong in principle, or where important considerations were ignored – Balancing of mitigating and aggravating factors (first offender, remand period, grievous bodily harm, victim vulnerability).
26 October 2016
Conviction for defilement quashed where child did not testify and identifying evidence was uncorroborated hearsay.
Criminal law – Defilement – Evidence: victim of tender years not called to testify; parental statements admissible on fact of defilement but hearsay as to identity; corroboration required for single identifying child witness in sexual offences; failure to warn of danger of uncorroborated evidence fatal to conviction.
26 October 2016
Criminal law
26 October 2016
By consent the appeal was withdrawn and each party ordered to bear its own costs in both courts.
Civil procedure – Appeal withdrawn by consent – Consent order recorded by court – Costs: each party to bear own costs in appeal and in court below.
6 October 2016