Wakilii

Rex v Chepsiror (Criminal Appeal No. 111 of 1940)

East African Court of Appeal · [1940] EACA 22 · 1940 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction for murder by H.M. Supreme Court of Kenya
Decision
Conviction for murder upheld; appellant remains convicted

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

A written statement by a dying person recorded extra-judicially by a magistrate is admissible in evidence under section 32 of the Evidence Ordinance when proved by calling the magistrate who recorded it as a witness. The magistrate may either speak to the words used by the deceased, refreshing his memory with the writing, or speak to the writing itself as an accurate reproduction of what the deceased said. The conviction for murder was upheld.

Outcome

Conviction for murder upheld; appellant remains convicted

Facts

The accused was charged with murder contrary to section 186 of the Penal Code. A District Officer and Second Class Magistrate at Eldoret visited the deceased in hospital and recorded a statement. Before taking the statement, he informed the deceased that he was in the presence of a magistrate and warned him to speak the truth. After recording the statement, he read it over to the deceased, but the deceased did not sign it. The prosecution sought to admit this written record in evidence at trial. The trial court convicted the accused, who then appealed.

Issues

  1. Whether a written statement by a dying person recorded extra-judicially by a magistrate is admissible in evidence when proved by calling the magistrate who recorded it as a witness.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Dying Declarations — Admissibility of Extra-Judicial Statements Recorded by Magistrate
A written statement by a dying person recorded extra-judicially by a magistrate is admissible in evidence under section 32 of the Evidence Ordinance when proved by calling the magistrate who recorded it as a witness, even though the statement was not signed by the dying person and was not taken down in the presence of the accused as a formal deposition.
Evidence — Dying Declarations — Proof of Extra-Judicial Statements
When a magistrate records a dying declaration extra-judicially, the magistrate must be called as a witness to prove the statement. The magistrate may either speak to the words used by the deceased, refreshing his memory with the writing made at the time, or speak to the writing itself as being an accurate reproduction of what the deceased said in his presence.
Criminal Procedure — Depositions — Distinction Between Formal and Extra-Judicial Statements
Section 228 of the Criminal Procedure Code applies only to depositions duly recorded in the presence of the accused, which under section 80 of the Evidence Act prove themselves without the magistrate being called. It has no bearing on extra-judicial statements by dying persons, which must be proved by calling the magistrate who recorded them.

Legislation cited (4)

  • Penal Code s.186
  • Evidence Ordinance s.32
  • Criminal Procedure Code s.228
  • Evidence Act s.80

Cases cited (3)

  • R v Tranter and Reason (1 Strang 499)
  • R v Gay (7 C. & P. 230)
  • R v Trowter (1 East P.C. 356)

Full judgment

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

Rex v Chepsiror (Criminal Appeal No. 111 of 1940) [1940] EACA 22 (1 January 1940)
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.