Wakilii

Rex v Mitha (Criminal Appeal No. 221 of 1944)

East African Court of Appeal · [1945] EACA 12 · 1945 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Second appeal from conviction for perjury by High Court of Uganda
Decision
Conviction for perjury upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that under section 78 of the Uganda Evidence Ordinance, the court may presume that recorded evidence was actually given, and has discretion to accept the record as proof or call oral evidence. The position differs from English practice where no such statutory presumption exists. To constitute perjury, the false evidence must be on a material point. The statement denying taking the lorry to Mwanza was material because it bore on whether the appellant had seized the lorry under the hire purchase agreement, a central issue in the civil suit. Appeal dismissed.

Outcome

Conviction for perjury upheld

Facts

The appellant was convicted of perjury committed during his testimony in a civil suit in Kampala District Court. In that suit, he claimed unpaid instalments under a hire purchase agreement for a motor lorry from the defendant, who alleged he had taken the lorry back in full settlement. In an affidavit and during cross-examination, the appellant denied taking the lorry to Mwanza. At his perjury trial, he admitted taking the lorry to Mwanza by boat but claimed he did so under instructions from the defendant's agent, not by seizing it under the agreement. He explained his denial by saying he understood the question to imply seizure and transport as one continuous action. The Magistrate disbelieved this explanation and convicted him on the second count. The High Court upheld the conviction on appeal, and the appellant brought a second appeal to the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa on points of law.

Issues

  1. Whether the record of evidence in a civil suit is sufficient proof of the false statement in a perjury prosecution under section 78 of the Uganda Evidence Ordinance.
  2. Whether the alleged false evidence was on a material point in the underlying civil suit.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Proof of False Statement in Perjury Prosecution — Uganda Evidence Ordinance s.78
Under section 78 of the Uganda Evidence Ordinance, the court may presume that evidence recorded in court proceedings was the evidence actually given, and this presumption provides a sufficient basis for proving the false statement in a perjury prosecution without requiring oral testimony from persons present when the statement was made.
Evidence — Judicial Discretion — Proof by Record or Oral Evidence
The court has discretion under section 4 of the Uganda Evidence Ordinance to either accept the court record as proof of what was said or to call oral evidence from persons present, and this discretion must be exercised judicially having regard to the circumstances of each case.
Criminal Law — Perjury — Materiality of False Statement
To constitute perjury, the alleged false evidence must be on a material point in the proceedings in which it was given, and a statement is material if it is capable of influencing the court's determination of a central issue in the case.
Criminal Law — Perjury — Materiality — Hire Purchase Repossession
In a suit for unpaid hire purchase instalments, evidence as to whether the creditor took possession of the goods is material because if the creditor resumed possession by seizure, he would prima facie not be entitled to recover the unpaid instalments.

Legislation cited (3)

  • Uganda Penal Code s.99(1)
  • Uganda Evidence Ordinance s.78
  • Uganda Evidence Ordinance s.4

Cases cited (1)

  • Archbold

Full judgment

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

Rex v Mitha (Criminal Appeal No. 221 of 1944) [1945] EACA 12 (1 January 1945)
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.