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Rwanda decisions
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The Court of Appeal held that Murorunkwere Claudine’s prison term could not be reduced below 15 years, but it lowered the fine to RWF 5,000,000.
The Court of Appeal held that Nsengiyumva Frank’s 15-year sentence could not be further reduced, because it was already the statutory minimum after mitigation.
The Court of Appeal held that the second appeal was inadmissible because the appellants had lost in both lower courts on the same legal grounds.
The appeal lacked merit as the confession made by the accused during investigation, corroborated by the victim's testimony, was sufficient to uphold the conviction for defilement. The DNA evidence did not exonerate the accused since he was not charged with impregnating the victim but with defilement. However, considering mitigating circumstances and the need for sentencing consistency, the sentence was reduced from 20 years to 14 years' imprisonment.
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The Court found that the COVID-19 quarantine in Rusizi prison constituted an exceptional and unforeseen circumstance beyond the appellant's control, which justified the late filing of the appeal. Therefore, the appeal should have been admitted by the High Court, and the previous decision rejecting the appeal for lateness was set aside.
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The Court of Appeal allowed review for injustice, modified the lower judgment, and ordered Green House Rwanda Ltd to pay PRO WATER RWANDA Plc for greenhouse works.
The High Court erred in classifying the offence as 'defilement followed by cohabitation', which carries a life sentence, instead of 'defilement' alone, which carries a lesser penalty. Since the prosecution did not appeal the classification, the appellate court corrected the error and applied mitigating circumstances, reducing the sentence to ten years to ensure consistent justice for similar cases.
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The Court of Appeal dismissed Miracle Center Church’s request to correct a prior judgment, finding no clerical error in the respondent’s name.
The evidence, including the victim's testimony, corroborating witness statements, and medical report, sufficiently established that Ntamugabumwe Simon committed the offence of defilement. The accused failed to rebut this evidence or substantiate claims of family disputes. The appellate court upheld the conviction and sentence as the evidentiary standard was met.
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The Court of Appeal held that no appeal or tierce opposition lies against a judgment revised for injustice, and dismissed the appeal.
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