Wakilii

Areet Sam v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 212 of 2019)

Court of Appeal · [2020] UGCA 35 · 2020 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for bail pending appeal before a single Justice of the Court of Appeal
Decision
Bail pending appeal granted on conditions

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

On an application for bail pending appeal by a convict serving 39 years for murder, the single Justice applied the Arvind Patel guidelines. Although the offence involved personal violence, the applicant was a first offender, of advanced age (61 years), his appeal was not frivolous and had a reasonable possibility of success, and there was a high likelihood of substantial delay because the 1998 record of proceedings was missing and could not be traced. The sureties were found substantial and the applicant had a fixed place of abode. These factors weighed strongly in the applicant's favour. The application was granted and bail allowed on conditions, with the Registrar directed to trace the missing proceedings.

Outcome

Bail pending appeal granted on conditions

Facts

The applicant was indicted, tried and convicted of murder before the High Court at Soroti and sentenced to death. Following appeals and a Supreme Court-ordered retrial, he was again sentenced to death. As a beneficiary of the Susan Kigula decision, he was resentenced in 2014 and the death sentence was substituted with 39 years' imprisonment, exclusive of pre-conviction remand. He appealed against sentence (Criminal Appeal No. 746 of 2014), which remained pending and could not be concluded because the record of proceedings of the 1998 file could not be found, rendering the record of appeal incomplete. The appeal had been partly heard in April 2019 and adjourned sine die to enable the court trace the missing proceedings before Justice Arach Amoko. The applicant, aged 61, applied for bail pending appeal, asserting he was a first offender of good character with a fixed place of abode and three sureties, that his appeal was not frivolous, and that there was a likelihood of substantial delay.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant established the conditions warranting the grant of bail pending the determination of his appeal against sentence.
  2. Whether the applicant proved exceptional circumstances justifying his release on bail pending appeal.

Orders

  • Application allowed and applicant granted bail pending determination of Criminal Appeal No. 746 of 2014.
  • Applicant to deposit cash bail of UGX 1,000,000 with the Registrar.
  • Applicant to report to the Registrar every month at 9:00 am beginning 22 January 2020 for extension of bail until the appeal is disposed of.
  • Each surety to bind themselves by a non-cash bond of UGX 5,000,000.
  • Breach of any condition renders the bail liable to automatic cancellation.
  • Registrar directed to follow up on the missing lower court proceedings and ensure the appeal is fixed for hearing at the next convenient Criminal Session.

Rules and key headnotes

Bail Pending Appeal — Discretion and Guiding Criteria
The power to grant bail pending appeal is discretionary and must be exercised judiciously; the court must be satisfied that the applicant will comply with bail conditions and be available to attend the appeal.
Bail Pending Appeal — Arvind Patel Guidelines
In considering bail pending appeal the court weighs the applicant's character, whether he is a first offender, whether the offence involved personal violence, whether the appeal is not frivolous and has a reasonable possibility of success, the possibility of substantial delay, and compliance with prior bail conditions; it is not necessary to prove all conditions, as a combination of two or more may suffice and each case turns on its own facts.
Bail Pending Appeal — Assessing Reasonable Possibility of Success
A court may assess the possibility of success of an appeal by perusing the record of proceedings, the judgment appealed from and the memorandum of appeal; where part of the appeal has already been partly heard, the appeal may be found not frivolous and to have a reasonable possibility of success.
Bail Pending Appeal — Substantial Delay and Missing Record
Where the record of proceedings is missing and cannot be traced, rendering the record of appeal incomplete under the Court of Appeal Rules, there is a high possibility of substantial delay in determining the appeal, a factor that weighs in favour of granting bail pending appeal.
Bail Pending Appeal — Exceptional Circumstances and Advanced Age
An applicant for bail pending appeal must prove exceptional circumstances; under section 15(3) of the Trial on Indictments Act advanced age is an exceptional circumstance, and a person of or above 50 years is considered to be of advanced age.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (7)

  • Arvind Patel v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 1 of 2003)
  • Fredrick Rwabuhoro v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 151 of 2018)
  • Walubiri Godfrey v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 44 of 2012)
  • David Jamwa v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 9 of 2018)
  • Singh Lamba VR (1958) E.A 337
  • John Kashaka Muhanguzi v Uganda (Criminal Reference No. 797 of 2014)
  • Suzan Kigula Case in 2014

Full judgment

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Areet Sam v Uganda (Criminal Application No. 212 of 2019) [2020] UGCA 35 (22 January 2020)
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.