Wakilii

Rex v Kadzanja and Another (Cr. App. Nos. 144 and 145-1935.)

East African Court of Appeal · [1936] EACA 34 · 1936 Conviction Quashed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeals from convictions following joint trial on separate informations
Decision
Convictions set aside and appellants ordered to be tried according to law

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Where separate informations were filed against two persons in respect of the same murder but both were tried together, the proceedings were a nullity. Following Crane v Director of Public Prosecutions and R v Dennis and Parker, the Court held that under s.128a of the Nyasaland Criminal Procedure Code, the words 'charged and tried' must be read together. Convictions set aside and re-trial ordered.

Outcome

Convictions set aside and appellants ordered to be tried according to law

Facts

Three separate informations were filed against three persons in respect of the same murder. All three were tried together. Two of the accused (Saulos Ndima and Kadzanja) were convicted, while the third person was acquitted. Both convicted persons appealed. The Court raised the question of whether the trial was valid, given that separate informations had been filed but a joint trial conducted.

Issues

  1. Whether a joint trial of two persons charged in separate informations for the same offence was valid under the Criminal Procedure Code (Nyasaland) s.128a.

Orders

  • Convictions set aside.
  • Appellants to be tried according to law.
  • Whether there should be two separate trials or a joint trial on one information is a matter for the Crown.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Procedure — Joint Trial — Separate Informations — Validity
Where separate informations are filed against two or more persons in respect of the same offence but all are tried together, the proceedings are a nullity and the convictions must be set aside.
Criminal Procedure — Statutory Interpretation — Section 128a Criminal Procedure Code
In the phrase 'such persons may be charged and tried together or separately' in s.128a of the Criminal Procedure Code, the words 'charged and tried' must be read together, meaning that persons must be both charged together and tried together, or charged separately and tried separately.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Criminal Procedure Code (Nyasaland) s.128a

Cases cited (4)

  • Crane v Director of Public Prosecutions [1921] 1 AC 299
  • R v Dennis and Parker [1924] 1 KB 867
  • R v Kristofa Male s/o Nikodemu Kyononeka [1934] EACA 151
  • R v McDonnell (1934) 20 Cr App R 163

Full judgment

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

Rex v Kadzanja and Another (Cr. App. Nos. 144 and 145-1935.) [1936] EACA 34 (1 January 1936)
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.