Wakilii

Rex v Arari (Cr. App. 5-1931.)

East African Court of Appeal · [1932] EACA 22 · 1932 Appeal Allowed — Accused Discharged AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction under Immigration Restriction Ordinance
Decision
Accused discharged and fine refunded

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Where the prosecution fails to prove its case by admissible sworn evidence, the accused is entitled to be forthwith discharged under section 196A of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Court held that there was no admissible evidence that the prohibited immigrants had in fact landed, and the magistrate should have dismissed the case at the conclusion of the prosecution case without calling the accused to enter a defence.

Outcome

Accused discharged and fine refunded

Facts

The appellant was the captain of a Japanese steamer. The Crown alleged that five prohibited immigrants were allowed by the appellant to land from his ship. The would-be immigrants allegedly had insufficient money to make the necessary deposit under section 5A of the Immigration Restriction Ordinance. Two of the immigrants were aged five and two years respectively. The appellant was convicted under section 19 of the Immigration Restriction Ordinance. At trial, the appellant stated he was sick and told the purser who let the immigrants go.

Issues

  1. Whether the prosecution proved its case by admissible sworn evidence.
  2. Whether the accused should have been discharged at the close of the prosecution case for lack of evidence.

Orders

  • Appeal allowed.
  • Accused discharged.
  • Fine to be refunded to the accused.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Procedure — Discharge at Close of Prosecution Case — Failure to Prove Case
Where the prosecution fails to prove its case by admissible sworn evidence, the accused is entitled to be forthwith discharged under section 196A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Evidence — Admissibility — Proof of Essential Elements
There must be admissible evidence proving each essential element of the offence charged. In a prosecution for allowing prohibited immigrants to land, there must be admissible evidence that the persons in question actually landed.
Criminal Procedure — Defence — Accused Should Not Be Called Where No Case to Answer
Where there is no admissible evidence to support the prosecution case, the accused should not be called to enter upon his defence and should be discharged at the close of the prosecution case.

Legislation cited (4)

  • Immigration Restriction Ordinance s.19
  • Immigration Restriction Ordinance s.5A
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.196A
  • Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Ordinance 1930

Full judgment

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

Rex v Arari (Cr. App. 5-1931.) [1932] EACA 22 (1 January 1932)
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.