Tanzania Case Law

ALEX SAWAKA JUDGMENT edited

Court

TANZLII

Appellant's age was not properly determined; trial court failed to conduct inquiry as required by law. Evidence of PW5 and PW6 expunged for lack of oath. Remaining evidence sufficient to sustain conviction, but sentencing contravened child law. Appellant was a first offender under 18; custodial sentence unlawful. Conviction stands, sentence set aside, appellant ordered released.

Source excerpt

• Rape
• Unnatural offense
• Impregnating a school girl
• Proof of age
• Oath and affirmation
• Juvenile sentencing

Read case analysis

kadumbagula et magunga c republique unie de tanzanie requete n 0312017 2024 afchpr 11 4 juin 2024

Court

TANZLII

The Court found that the second applicant's right to legal assistance was violated as he was indigent and charged with a serious offence, that the imposition of life imprisonment on a juvenile without considering his age and the availability of a lighter penalty violated international standards, and that corporal punishment as an alternative sentence is incompatible with the African Charter. The application of a lighter penalty should have been considered under Article 15(1) ICCPR. The first applicant's claim was dismissed as untimely.

Source excerpt

• Right to fair trial
• Right to legal assistance
• Retroactive application of lighter penalty
• Juvenile sentencing
• Prohibition of inhuman or degrading punishment
• Exhaustion of domestic remedies

Read case analysis

20140820 TZHC Mwanza

Court

TZHC

The conviction was unsafe due to unreliable visual identification, improper application of the doctrine of recent possession, lack of proper chain of custody for exhibits, and failure to consider the appellant's age as a juvenile. The prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Source excerpt

• Visual identification
• Recent possession
• Chain of custody
• Juvenile sentencing
• Identification parade
• Confession evidence

Read case analysis

vumilia daud temi vs republic 2013 tzca 443 10 june 2013

Court

TZCA

The conviction was quashed because the identification evidence was unreliable, the stolen property was not conclusively identified, the cautioned statement was unlawfully admitted, and the sentence imposed was unlawful as the appellant was a juvenile.

Source excerpt

• Armed robbery
• Identification evidence
• Juvenile sentencing
• Admissibility of evidence

Read case analysis

japhari twalibu milanzi vs republic 2011 tzca 107 30 september 2011

Court

TZCA

The extra judicial confession was inadmissible due to non-compliance with Chief Justice's Instructions, but the doctrine of recent possession was properly invoked based on unrefuted evidence of the appellant's possession of the deceased's bicycle shortly after the murder, supporting the conviction.

Source excerpt

• Murder
• Doctrine of recent possession
• Admissibility of confessions
• Juvenile sentencing

Read case analysis

japhet thadei msigwa vs republic 2011 tzca 108 1 july 2011

Court

TZCA

The extra judicial confession was inadmissible due to non-compliance with Chief Justice's Instructions, but the doctrine of recent possession was properly invoked based on evidence of the appellant's unexplained possession of the deceased's bicycle shortly after the murder, supporting the conviction.

Source excerpt

• Murder
• Doctrine of recent possession
• Admissibility of extra judicial statements
• Juvenile sentencing

Read case analysis

20101108 TZCA Dar es Salaam

Court

TZCA

The Court of Appeal upheld a murder conviction, found common intention was wrongly applied, and replaced an unlawful death sentence with detention during the President's pleasure.

• Murder
• Common intention
• Hearsay evidence
• Confession
• Juvenile sentencing
• Common-intention

Read case analysis

20091026 TZCA Tabora

Court

TZCA

The conviction was unsafe as the circumstantial evidence was inconclusive and compatible with innocence; common intention was not established; the appellant was entitled to the benefit of doubt.

Source excerpt

• Murder
• Circumstantial evidence
• Common intention
• Juvenile sentencing

Read case analysis

19941005 TZHC Dar es Salaam

Court

TZHC

The High Court upheld a robbery-with-violence conviction but set aside the 15-year sentence because the appellant was a juvenile and should have been dealt with under the Children and Young Persons Ordinance.

• Robbery with violence
• Juvenile sentencing
• Identification evidence
• Robbery-with-violence
• Juvenile-sentencing
• Identification-evidence

Read case analysis

19821202 TZHC Tabora1

Court

TZHC

The High Court dismissed the first two appellants’ convictions for breaking into a building and committing a felony, but allowed the third appellant’s appeal.

• Breaking into building
• Felony
• Penal code section 296(1)
• Appeal
• Juvenile sentencing
• Criminal-law

Read case analysis