emmanuel charles leonard vs republic 2016 tzca 215 29 april 2016

emmanuel charles leonard vs republic 2016 tzca 215 29 april 2016

The failure to administer oaths or affirmations to all witnesses, including the accused, rendered the entire proceedings a nullity as per section 198(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act. The notice of appeal was also defective, but the court exercised its revisionary powers to nullify the proceedings and order a retrial to prevent perpetuation of the irregularity.

Citation
emmanuel charles leonard vs republic 2016 tzca 215 29 april 2016
Parties
Appellant: Emmanuel Charles @ Leonard; Respondent: The Republic
Court
TZCA
Jurisdiction
Tanzania
Judgment Date
29 April 2016
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal / Appeal From Conviction and Sentence After Trial
Outcome
proceedings nullified and retrial ordered
Legal Topics
Murder, Admissibility of Evidence, Oath and Affirmation of Witnesses, Procedural Irregularity, Nullity of Proceedings
Source Language
English
Criminal Law Criminal Procedure Murder Admissibility of Evidence Oath and Affirmation of Witnesses Procedural Irregularity Nullity of Proceedings

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Parties

Emmanuel Charles @ Leonard

Appellant

The Republic

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Criminal Appeal / Appeal From Conviction and Sentence After Trial

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether failure to administer oath or affirmation to witnesses renders the proceedings a nullity
  2. 2 Whether a defective notice of appeal renders the appeal incompetent

Ratio Decidendi

The failure to administer oaths or affirmations to all witnesses, including the accused, rendered the entire proceedings a nullity as per section 198(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act. The notice of appeal was also defective, but the court exercised its revisionary powers to nullify the proceedings and order a retrial to prevent perpetuation of the irregularity.

Court Disposition

proceedings nullified and retrial ordered

Orders

  • Entire proceedings of the High Court nullified under section 4(3) of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, Chapter 141
  • New trial to be conducted before another Judge and a new set of assessors