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Jamwa v Uganda (Miscellaneous Application 9 of 2018)

Supreme Court · [2018] UGSC 76 · 2018 Application Granted ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by notice of motion to a single Justice of the Supreme Court for bail pending appeal
Decision
Bail pending appeal granted on stated terms and conditions.

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Holding

Bail pending appeal is a discretionary remedy under rule 6(2)(a) of the Supreme Court Rules, not a right, to be exercised judiciously on the facts of each case. Applying the Arvind Patel criteria, the single Justice found the applicant was a first offender convicted of a non-violent offence, his appeal was not frivolous (notably the coram point raised against the Court of Appeal judgment), he had complied with earlier bail conditions, and serious heart disease created a real risk he might not survive to have his appeal heard. The criteria being met, the application was granted on terms similar to those imposed by the Court of Appeal.

Facts

The applicant, formerly Managing Director of the NSSF, was indicted in the High Court under the Anti-Corruption Act 2009 on two counts arising from the sale of bonds: abuse of office (s.11) and causing financial loss (s.20). He was convicted of causing financial loss and acquitted of abuse of office, and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and barred from public office for 10 years. Both he and the State appealed to the Court of Appeal, which consolidated the appeals; it dismissed his appeal and, on the State's appeal, convicted him of abuse of office, sentencing him to 4 years to run concurrently. He lodged a notice and memorandum of appeal to the Supreme Court (Criminal Appeal No. 2 of 2018) and applied for bail pending appeal, relying on his first-offender status, the non-violent nature of the offence, an arguable appeal including a challenge to the coram that delivered the Court of Appeal judgment, the risk of substantial delay, his compliance with earlier bail, and serious ill-health.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant satisfied the established discretionary criteria for the grant of bail pending the determination of his criminal appeal to the Supreme Court.

Orders

  • Application for bail pending appeal granted on similar orders to those of the Court of Appeal.
  • Applicant to pay cash bail of shs 10,000,000/=.
  • Applicant to surrender his passport to the Registrar of the Court, on condition he shall not apply for a new passport upon its expiry in October 2018.
  • Applicant to report to the Registrar on the last working day of every month, beginning 31st May 2018 at 9.00am, until disposal of his appeal.
  • The sureties are bound in the sum of shs 500,000,000/= each, not cash.
  • The Certificate of Title of Mrs. Catherine Bulinda Jamwa for land comprised in Kyadondo Block 255 Plot 1334 Munyonyo to be deposited in Court as additional security.

Key headnotes

Criminal Procedure — Bail Pending Appeal — Discretionary Nature
Bail pending appeal is not a right but a discretionary remedy under rule 6(2)(a) of the Supreme Court Rules, to be exercised judiciously and determined on the merits and circumstances of each case.
Criminal Procedure — Bail Pending Appeal — Presumption of Innocence
A convicted appellant is no longer wholly shielded by the presumption of innocence and has an incentive to abscond, so the conditions for bail pending appeal are applied more stringently than at the pre-trial stage.
Criminal Procedure — Bail Pending Appeal — Applicable Criteria
In an application for bail pending appeal the court considers the applicant's character, whether the applicant is a first offender, whether the offence involved personal violence, whether the appeal is non-frivolous with a reasonable possibility of success, the possibility of substantial delay in determining the appeal, and compliance with earlier bail conditions; a combination of two or more of these criteria may suffice.
Criminal Procedure — Bail Pending Appeal — Possibility of Success
The possibility of success of an appeal is assessed only by perusing the relevant record of proceedings, the judgment appealed from, and the memorandum of appeal, without the court delving into the merits of the issues reserved for the full bench.
Criminal Procedure — Bail Pending Appeal — Ill-Health of Applicant
Serious ill-health creating a high risk that the applicant may not survive in custody to have the appeal heard, thereby rendering the appeal nugatory, is a factor that warrants the grant of bail pending appeal.

Legislation cited (6)

  • Supreme Court Rules r.6(2)(a)
  • Supreme Court Rules r.42
  • Supreme Court Rules r.43
  • Anti-Corruption Act 2009 s.11
  • Anti-Corruption Act 2009 s.20
  • Registration of Titles Act

Cases cited (4)

  • Arvind Patel v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 1 of 2003)
  • Imere Deo v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 2 of 2015)
  • Busulwa Bulasio v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 6 of 2015)
  • Kato Kajubi v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 2 of 2016)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.