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Citation
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Judgment date
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| July 2023 |
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Appellants' defective representative action and mootness defeated challenge to alleged unlawful company transformation.
Company law – Change of company name and amendment of memorandum and articles – lawfully effected by special resolution; Representative actions – Order 1 r.8 CPR – requirements for advertising and identification of persons to be represented; Civil procedure – Particularity of grounds of appeal – Rule 86(1) Court of Appeal Rules; Evidence and trial procedure – party control of calling witnesses and closing case; Mootness – liquidation and sale by central bank renders relief academic and non-justiciable.
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27 July 2023 |
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Appellate court set aside life sentence for aggravated defilement, resentenced to 23 years less 2½ years remand (21½ years).
Criminal law – Sentencing – Aggravated defilement of a 10-year-old – appropriateness of life imprisonment. Criminal procedure – Appeal against sentence – appellate reappraisal and interference when sentence is manifestly excessive or illegal. Constitutional law – Right to credit for time spent on remand (Article 23(8)) – failure to deduct renders sentence illegal. Judicial power – Re-sentencing under section 11 of the Judicature Act.
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20 July 2023 |
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Court granted leave to withdraw settled appeal; appeal to be dismissed and files closed upon filing of consent.
Civil procedure – settlement between parties – court’s power to permit withdrawal of appeal under its rules – effect of withdrawal: dismissal of appeal and closure of files – timeline for filing consent to withdraw.
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20 July 2023 |
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Appellate court reduced sentence after finding remand time not credited, exercising power under section 11 to resentence.
Criminal law – sentence – constitutional requirement to credit time spent on remand (Article 23(8)) – failure to credit renders sentence illegal. Appellate jurisdiction – section 11 Judicature Act – power to resentence and cure sentencing irregularities. Procedure – absence of respondent cross-appeal – appellate court may not enhance sentence on respondent’s application.
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20 July 2023 |
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Plea‑bargain procedures require formal plea, recorded conviction and lawful sentencing; failure vitiates proceedings and warrants retrial.
Criminal law – Plea bargaining – Requirement to formally take plea, record conviction and sentence under Judicature (Plea Bargain) Rules 2016; Irregular sentence differing from plea agreement; Procedural irregularity vitiating trial proceedings; Power of appellate court to quash proceedings and order retrial.
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20 July 2023 |
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Application to set aside dismissal for non-appearance and reinstate a land appeal was allowed; costs in the cause.
Civil procedure – application to set aside dismissal for non-appearance – reinstatement of appeal – respondent’s non-attendance and prior refusal of service – land dispute requiring final determination – costs in the cause.
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19 July 2023 |
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Court granted leave to withdraw the appeal after settlement, ordering dismissal and closure of files upon formal consent.
Civil procedure – settlement – parties notifying court of settlement and producing settlement agreement – leave to withdraw appeal under court rules – dismissal by reason of withdrawal – closure of court files.
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19 July 2023 |
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Circumstantial evidence (last-seen and recent-possession) upheld murder conviction; sentence reduced and remand time deducted.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – last-seen doctrine – recent possession of property – sufficiency of circumstantial proof; Sentencing – excessiveness – substitution of term and deduction of remand period under Article 23(B) of the Constitution; First appellate review of facts and law.
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19 July 2023 |
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Signed plea-bargain agreement and interpreter certification cured colloquy omission; no miscarriage of justice, appeal dismissed.
Criminal procedure – Plea-bargain – Judicature (Plea Bargain) Rules, 2016 – Rules 10 & 12 – requirement to explain charge, consequences and waiver of rights – interpreter certification – signed plea-bargain agreement as evidence of compliance – Section 139(1) Trial on Indictments Act – miscarriage of justice standard.
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19 July 2023 |
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A trial judge may not increase a plea-bargained sentence without formally rejecting the agreement as required by the Rules.
Plea bargaining – validity and effect – parties’ agreement binding on prosecution and accused – court regulator but not party to redefine agreed sentence. Sentencing – trial judge enhancing sentence outside plea bargain – illegality and remedy. Plea Bargain Rules 2016 – requirement to reject agreement with reasons where it may occasion miscarriage of justice. Appellate review – first appeal duty to review evidence and correct illegal sentences; power under section 11 Judicature Act to substitute sentence.
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19 July 2023 |
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An appellate court may enhance the appellant's sentence to life imprisonment where a child was brutally maimed and proper notice was given.
Criminal law – Kidnap with intent to murder – sentencing – enhancement of sentence on appeal – requirement of notice or warning to appellant – aggravating factors: abduction, mutilation and lifelong disability of a child – life imprisonment justified.
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19 July 2023 |
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18 July 2023 |
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Appeals dismissed: JSC has jurisdiction to discipline judicial officers; disciplinary proceedings are not criminal and standards and remedies were appropriate.
Judicial Service Commission – disciplinary jurisdiction – JSC competent to investigate and discipline judicial officers for breaches of the Code; administrative/quasi‑judicial proceedings not criminal trials – standard of proof different from criminal standard; appellate reappraisal – High Court as first instance in appeals from JSC; failure to produce court files is a defence obligation; prior JSC records may justify repeat‑offender finding; dismissal not manifestly harsh.
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14 July 2023 |
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The appeal against the conviction and sentence for aggravated defilement was dismissed, affirming a 24-year sentence.
Criminal law – aggravated defilement – evaluation of evidence – summing up to assessors – sentencing discretion.
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14 July 2023 |
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The Court upheld a 40-year sentence for aggravated defilement, emphasizing consistency and the need for deterrence.
Criminal Law - Aggravated Defilement - Sentence Appropriateness - Sentencing considerations in cases involving HIV positive defendants.
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6 July 2023 |
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The appeal against a life sentence for attempted murder resulted in a 15 years and 1-month imprisonment sentence.
Criminal law – Sentencing – Life imprisonment for attempted murder – Appeal against sentence – Consideration of mitigating factors – Appellate review for excessiveness.
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6 July 2023 |
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The appellate court upheld an 18-year sentence for aggravated robbery as neither illegal nor excessive.
Criminal Law – Aggravated robbery – Sentencing discretion – Consideration of mitigating factors
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6 July 2023 |
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The court reduced a 30-year aggravated defilement sentence to 16 years due to excessive focus on aggravating factors.
Criminal Law – Appeal against sentence – aggravated defilement – excessive sentence – mitigating factors – consistency in sentencing.
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6 July 2023 |
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Appellate court reduced a 28-year murder sentence to 13 years, emphasizing credit for an early guilty plea and remand time.
Criminal law — Sentencing for murder — guilty plea — extent of reduction for early plea — restorative justice/blood compensation — requirement of evidence to prove customary reparations — remand credit — appellate substitution of sentence.
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3 July 2023 |
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Convictions based on uncorroborated hearsay and an untested co‑accused’s caution statement were quashed for insufficiency of evidence.
Criminal law — Evidence — Hearsay and inadmissible charge and caution statements — A co-accused's caution statement is admissible against its maker only; cannot be used as circumstantial evidence against other accused unless maker testifies. Criminal law — Alibi — Burden on prosecution to demolish alibi with admissible evidence. Criminal procedure — Conviction unsafe where case rests on uncorroborated hearsay.
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3 July 2023 |
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Sentence of 30 years for aggravated robbery upheld as not harsh or excessive by Court of Appeal.
Criminal Law – Sentencing – Appeal against sentence – Aggravated robbery – Principles guiding appellate review of sentences.
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1 July 2023 |
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Temporary injunction granted to restrain respondents from dealing with disputed land pending appeal to prevent nugatory execution.
Land — temporary injunction to preserve status quo pending appeal; stay of execution — prima facie case/likelihood of success; irreparable injury (loss of livelihood); balance of convenience; extraction of decree and registry dealings risk rendering appeal nugatory.
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1 July 2023 |
