Skip to document content Skip to main menu Skip to search

HC: Criminal Division (Uganda)

The Criminal Division is Responsible for hearing all serious criminal offences referred to it by the Magistrates' Courts. According to the Principal Judge's Circular, except for Commercial Court Judges who must attend to only Commercial Court cases, the rest of the Judges of the High Court who are based in Kampala are members of the Criminal Division irrespective of the other Divisions of the High Court that they belong to.

Each of the above judges is supposed to do, at least, one High Court Criminal Session in a year at Kampala

Physical address
High Court Building at Plot 2, the Square.
Visit website
https://judiciary.go.ug/data/smenu/13/Criminal%20Division.html
9 judgments
Advanced search
All years
Filters
  • Filters
  • Judges
  • Alphabet
Sort by:
9 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
August 2021
Matovu v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 50 of 2021) [2021] UGHCCRD 34 (16 August 2021)
An interlocutory deferral of preliminary objections is not appealable to the High Court; revision, not appeal, is the proper remedy.
Criminal procedure – Appealability – Interlocutory/discretionary orders deferring rulings on preliminary points are not appealable to the High Court under s.216. Remedy – Revision, not appeal, is the appropriate procedure to challenge irregular or illegal interlocutory orders. High Court jurisdiction – Competence to hear appeals limited to final decisions.
 16 August 2021
Uganda v Alibankoha and 8 Others (Criminal Session 23 of 2018) [2021] UGHCCRD 11 (5 August 2021)
Daylight mob-lynching: identification and common intention established five accused guilty of murder, each sentenced to life imprisonment.
Criminal law – Murder – Elements: death, unlawful act, malice aforethought; Identification evidence – reliability in daylight, witness familiarity; Common intention – Section 20 P.C.A. – liability of participants in mob lynching; Alibi – afterthought doctrine; Sentence – life imprisonment in aggravated mob-lynching.
 5 August 2021
Uganda v Musita Byaruhanga and 2 Others (Criminal Session 138 of 2014) [2021] UGHCCRD 10 (5 August 2021)
Court convicted two accused of murder on confessions and circumstantial evidence, but acquitted them of aggravated robbery.
Criminal law – Murder – Elements: death, unlawful killing, malice aforethought, participation. Evidence – Charge and caution statements/confessions – admissibility, voluntariness and corroboration. Criminal law – Common intention (s.20 P.C.A.) – inference from conduct and circumstantial evidence. Criminal law – Aggravated robbery – necessity to prove theft and ownership as essential elements.
 5 August 2021
Kiwanuka and Another v Uganda (Criminal Miscellaneous Application 14 of 2021) [2021] UGHCCRD 104 (4 August 2021)
High Court cannot revise interlocutory magistrate rulings; civil suits do not stay related criminal proceedings.
Criminal procedure – Revision – Sections 48 and 50 CPCA – Revisional jurisdiction limited to final orders; interlocutory rulings not revisable. Prosecutorial discretion – Article 120 Constitution – DPP’s mandate to prefer and amend charges, and control investigations. Criminal & civil proceedings – Concurrent proceedings – Filing civil suit does not automatically stay criminal trial.
 4 August 2021
Kiwanuka and Another v Uganda (Criminal Miscellaneous Application 14 of 2021) [2021] UGHCCRD 110 (4 August 2021)
High Court dismissed revision seeking stay of criminal trial pending civil suits, holding interlocutory rulings non-revisable.
Revision — interlocutory rulings not revisable; Prosecutorial discretion under Article 120 — courts do not pre-emptively interfere with preferring or amending charges; Civil and criminal proceedings may proceed concurrently; Sections 17, 48 and 50 — limits of High Court supervisory/revisional powers.
 4 August 2021
Kiwanuka and Another v Uganda (Criminal Miscellaneous Application 14 of 2021) [2021] UGHCCRD 63 (4 August 2021)
High Court cannot revise interlocutory magistrate rulings; civil suits do not automatically stay related criminal prosecutions.
Criminal procedure – Revision – Revisional jurisdiction limited to final orders; interlocutory magistrates’ rulings are not revisable. Prosecutorial powers – Article 120 DPP may institute and amend charges; absence of charge-and-caution statements or disclosed investigation report not a ground to stay prosecution. Civil and criminal proceedings – Distinct processes; filing civil suit does not automatically stay related criminal trial.
 4 August 2021
Kiwanuka and Another v Uganda (Criminal Miscellaneous Application 14 of 2021) [2021] UGHCCRD 84 (4 August 2021)
Interlocutory magistrate rulings are not revisable; criminal and civil proceedings may proceed concurrently.
Criminal procedure – Revision – Scope of revisional jurisdiction under Sections 48 and 50 CPCA – interlocutory orders not revisable. Constitutional and prosecutorial powers – Article 120 – DPP’s discretion to prefer and amend charges; prosecutorial conduct ordinarily not curtailed pre-trial. Civil and criminal proceedings – concurrent proceedings permissible; filing civil suit does not automatically stay criminal trial. Procedural complaints (lack of charge/caution statements, non‑disclosure of investigation report) to be addressed during trial rather than by pre‑trial revision.
 4 August 2021
Nankindu v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 66 of 2020) [2021] UGHCCRD 61 (4 August 2021)
Interlocutory rulings (e.g., charge-sheet amendment) are not appealable under the Magistrates Courts Act; appeal dismissed.
Criminal procedure – interlocutory orders – amendment of charge sheet – no statutory right of appeal under section 204 of the Magistrates Courts Act; appeals lie only against conviction or acquittal.
 4 August 2021
Nankindu v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 66 of 2020) [2021] UGHCCRD 82 (4 August 2021)
Improper plea-taking (failure to explain mens rea) led to quashing murder conviction and substitution with manslaughter and reduced sentence.
Criminal procedure – plea of guilty – requirement to explain elements of offence (mens rea) before accepting plea; defective indictment particulars – manslaughter versus murder; miscarriage of justice and retrial; sentencing discretion and deduction of remand time.
 4 August 2021