Rujumba v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 710 of 2015)
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Holding
The Court of Appeal held that the appeal was incompetent. The appellant pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to life imprisonment on each count on 7 August 2014, but his notice of appeal was not lodged until 31 December 2015 — well beyond the fourteen days required by section 28(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code Act — and no extension of time was sought. Further, as the appeal was against sentence alone following a guilty plea, leave of the court was required under section 132(1)(b) of the Trial on Indictments Act, and none was obtained. In view of these lapses the appeal was illegal and incompetent and was struck out.
Facts
The appellant pleaded guilty in the High Court at Hoima to murder (contrary to sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act) and aggravated robbery (contrary to sections 285 and 286), and on 7 August 2014 was sentenced to life imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. The trial judge informed him that he could appeal against the sentence. The appellant's notice of appeal, thumb-printed by himself, was filed in the registry on 31 December 2015 — about one year and four months after sentencing — and was never endorsed by the Registrar. He did not apply for an extension of time. His single ground of appeal was that the sentence was harsh and excessive, and he sought substitution of a ten-year term. The respondent raised preliminary points of law: that the notice was filed out of time contrary to section 28(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code Act, and that no leave to appeal against sentence alone had been sought under section 132 of the Trial on Indictments Act. Appellant's counsel did not respond to these points.
Issues
- Whether the appeal was competently before the court where the notice of appeal was lodged outside the fourteen-day limit in section 28(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code Act without an extension of time.
- Whether an appeal against sentence alone, following a plea of guilty, could be entertained without leave of the Court of Appeal under section 132(1)(b) of the Trial on Indictments Act.
Orders
- The appeal is declared illegal and incompetent.
- The appeal is struck out.
Key headnotes
Legislation cited (8)
- Penal Code Act s.188
- Penal Code Act s.189
- Penal Code Act s.285
- Penal Code Act s.286
- Criminal Procedure Code Act s.28(1)
- Trial on Indictments Act s.132(1)(a)
- Trial on Indictments Act s.132(1)(b)
- Constitution of the Republic of Uganda