Wakilii

Philip v Rex (Criminal Appeal No. 274 of 1951)

East African Court of Appeal · [1952] EACA 231 · 1952 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction in the High Court of Uganda
Decision
Conviction under section 220 upheld; fine of Sh. 1,000 or three months' imprisonment in default confirmed.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that criminal negligence under section 220 of the Uganda Penal Code requires culpable negligence more serious than that required for civil liability, but need not reach the high degree required for manslaughter. The appellant, who was not an authorized person, gave an order to switch on electrical current knowing workers were on poles, without taking proper precautions to ascertain the exact area being energized or the location of workers. This negligence was sufficient to sustain a conviction under section 220.

Outcome

Conviction under section 220 upheld; fine of Sh. 1,000 or three months' imprisonment in default confirmed.

Facts

The appellant was an employee of an electrical supply company who was not an authorized person to switch on electrical current. On 24 September 1951, he gave an order to switch on current in a low voltage section in Kampala around 5 p.m., knowing that a gang of workers were working on poles in Queen's Road. The appellant forgot or did not know that the feed back running along Nakasera Road was connected to Queen's Road by transverse wires through a sanitary lane. A linesman, Wandere s/o Otyela, was working on a pole at the Queen's Road end of the sanitary lane when the current was switched on, and he was killed. The appellant had time to check the exact area being energized and the location of workers, as consumers had been told current would be off until 6 p.m. He did not refresh his memory by consulting plans or make inquiries about workers' exact locations before giving the fatal order. His superior, Williams, was the person responsible for switching on current.

Issues

  1. Whether the appellant's negligence was of a sufficiently serious character to render him criminally liable under section 220 of the Uganda Penal Code.
  2. What degree of negligence is required to sustain a conviction under section 220 as distinct from manslaughter.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Negligence — Standard Required for Section 220 Penal Code — Distinction from Civil Negligence and Manslaughter
To sustain a conviction under section 220 of the Uganda Penal Code for a rash and negligent act endangering human life, the prosecution must prove culpable negligence more serious than that required to fix civil liability, but need not prove the high degree of negligence required for manslaughter.
Criminal Negligence — Duty of Care Under Section 196 Penal Code — Control of Dangerous Instruments
A person who has in his charge or under his control anything of such a nature that in the absence of care or precaution in its use the life or safety of any person may be endangered has a duty to use reasonable care and take reasonable precautions to avoid such danger, and failure to do so may constitute criminal negligence under section 220.
Criminal Code — Meaning of 'Reasonable Care' and 'Reasonable Skill' in Sections 195 and 196
The expressions 'reasonable skill' and 'reasonable care' in sections 195 and 196 of the Penal Code, which form part of a Criminal Code, must be assigned the meaning attached to them in English criminal law, requiring a more serious character of negligence than that required for civil liability.
Criminal Negligence — No Inconsistency in Acquitting of Manslaughter While Convicting Under Section 220
Where death has occurred by reason of negligence and there are alternative charges of manslaughter and misdemeanour under section 220, there is no inconsistency in acquitting of manslaughter and convicting of the misdemeanour, as the degrees of negligence required differ.

Legislation cited (5)

  • Uganda Penal Code s.220
  • Uganda Penal Code s.221
  • Uganda Penal Code s.182
  • Uganda Penal Code s.195
  • Uganda Penal Code s.196

Cases cited (2)

  • Atia slo Mepa v Rex (Criminal Appeal No. 67 of 1949)
  • Dabholkar v The King [1948] AC 221

Full judgment

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

Philip v Rex (Criminal Appeal No. 274 of 1951) [1952] EACA 231 (1 January 1952)
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.