Wakilii

Angutuko v Uganda (Criminal Revision 39 of 1991)

High Court · [1995] UGHC 57 · 1995 Revision Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal revision application following conviction at Chief Magistrate's Court
Decision
Revision proceedings not entertained; original conviction remains in force

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court declined to exercise revisional jurisdiction where the applicant's father sought to set aside a conviction on grounds of mental illness. Section 341(5) of the Criminal Procedure Code prohibits revision proceedings at the instance of a party who could have appealed but did not. Mental illness at trial would have been a proper ground for appeal, not revision.

Outcome

Revision proceedings not entertained; original conviction remains in force

Facts

The applicant was convicted by the Chief Magistrate of Arua on his own plea of guilty to theft of a bicycle contrary to sections 252 and 255 of the Penal Code Act. As a first offender he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. Subsequently the applicant's father wrote to the Chief Magistrate asserting that his son was mentally sick at the time of the theft and requested his release, attaching Medical Form 111. The Chief Magistrate forwarded the file to the High Court for necessary action. The father sought a revision order to set aside the conviction.

Issues

  1. Whether the High Court can entertain revision proceedings at the instance of a party where an appeal lies but was not lodged.

Orders

  • Revision application declined.
  • File returned to Chief Magistrate Arua for retention.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Law & Procedure — Revision — Statutory Bar on Revision Where Right of Appeal Exists
Where an appeal lies from a finding, sentence or order and no appeal is brought, no proceeding by way of revision shall be entertained at the instance of the party who could have appealed.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Revision — Mental Illness as Ground for Appeal Not Revision
If an accused was convicted when mentally sick and consequently incapable of making his defence, that constitutes a proper ground for appeal under the ordinary appellate procedure, not a ground for invoking revisional jurisdiction.

Legislation cited (10)

  • Criminal Procedure Code s.339
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.340
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.341
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.341(5)
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.342
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.343
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.344
  • Penal Code Act s.252
  • Penal Code Act s.255
  • Magistrate's Court Act 1970 s.111

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Angutuko v Uganda (Criminal Revision 39 of 1991) [1995] UGHC 57 (28 February 1995)
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.