Wakilii

Rex v Hasmani (Cr. App. No. 8-1938)

East African Court of Appeal · [1938] EACA 49 · 1938 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction on twenty-five counts of forgery, uttering, obtaining money by false pretences and attempts to obtain money by false pretences
Decision
Appellant's conviction on all twenty-five counts upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal against conviction on twenty-five counts of fraud-related offences. The Court held that depositions of absent witnesses were properly admitted where a police officer gave sworn evidence of their absence at the time of trial. A confession made to police under section 25 of the Evidence Act should have been excluded when tendered to prove prior inconsistent statements. A document signed per procuration by a person without authority, referring to non-existent goods, constitutes forgery under the Penal Code even where signed per pro.

Outcome

Appellant's conviction on all twenty-five counts upheld

Facts

The appellant was convicted on twenty-five counts including forgery, uttering, obtaining money by false pretences and attempts to obtain money by false pretences. He signed insurance policies per procuration on behalf of an insurance company, purporting to act under his father's power of attorney which contained no power of substitution. The policies were false in material particulars and referred to non-existent goods which the appellant knew to be non-existent. At trial, depositions of two prosecution witnesses were read after a police officer testified they had left the Territory. The appellant alleged these witnesses had returned before trial and one was present in court, but this was not raised during the trial. A written confession to police was admitted to prove prior inconsistent statements. The appellant claimed he was merely a pawn of dishonest bank managers.

Issues

  1. Whether depositions of absent witnesses were properly admitted under section 265 of the Criminal Procedure Code where the witnesses had allegedly returned to the Territory before trial.
  2. Whether a written confession made to the police should be admitted in evidence for the purpose of proving prior inconsistent statements.
  3. Whether a document signed per procuration by a person without authority to sign constitutes forgery within the meaning of Chapter XXXIV of the Penal Code.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Conviction on all 25 counts upheld.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Procedure — Depositions of Absent Witnesses — Requirements for Admission
No consent by the defence can dispense with the requirement under section 265 of the Criminal Procedure Code that the judge be satisfied by oath of a credible witness that witnesses are absent from the Territory before allowing their depositions to be read, and the relevant time for determining absence is the time during trial when it is proposed to call the witnesses.
Evidence — Confessions to Police — Admissibility for Proving Prior Inconsistent Statements
A confession made to the police under section 25 of the Evidence Act should not be admitted in evidence for the purpose of proving that the accused had on a previous occasion made a statement inconsistent with his defence.
Forgery — Documents Signed Per Procuration — Lack of Authority
A document signed by a person per procuration may constitute forgery within the meaning of Chapter XXXIV of the Penal Code if the person signing had no authority to sign such document, even where the signature is in per pro form.
Forgery — False Insurance Policies — Non-Existent Goods
Where a person signs an insurance policy per procuration referring to non-existent goods which he knows to be non-existent, the document constitutes a forgery even if signed under a power of attorney, as no authority can extend to executing a policy in respect of goods known to be non-existent.

Legislation cited (4)

  • Indian Evidence Act s.25
  • Criminal Procedure Code (Tanganyika) s.265
  • Penal Code (Tanganyika) Chapter XXXIV
  • Forgery Act 1861 s.24

Cases cited (2)

  • Morrison v London County & Westminster Bank Ltd [1914] 3 KB 356
  • Rex v White (1 Den 208)

Full judgment

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

Rex v Hasmani (Cr. App. No. 8-1938) [1938] EACA 49 (1 January 1938)
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.