Wakilii

Rex v Nyakililo (Cr. App. No. 89 of 1938.)

East African Court of Appeal · [1938] EACA 116 · 1938 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction for murder by High Court of Uganda
Decision
Conviction for murder upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal held that a certificate of an accused's statement at preliminary inquiry may be admitted if it complies substantially with section 217(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code, even if not in the exact statutory wording. Where the statement contains something favourable to the defence, it should not be excluded due to the magistrate's failure to comply strictly with the certification provisions. The appeal against the murder conviction was dismissed.

Outcome

Conviction for murder upheld

Facts

The accused was convicted of murder by the High Court of Uganda. At the preliminary inquiry, the accused made a statement which was certified by the magistrate in these terms: 'Certified a true and accurate account of the accused's statement and that it was read over to him and found correct by him.' This differed from the exact wording required by section 217(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code which requires certification that the statement was taken in the magistrate's presence and hearing and contains accurately the whole statement made by the accused. The prosecution did not put the statement in evidence due to doubts about proper certification. The trial judge indicated he would welcome the Court of Appeal's opinion on the certification point, though it was not material to the conviction.

Issues

  1. Whether a certificate of an accused's statement at preliminary inquiry that does not use the exact statutory wording but complies substantially with section 217(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code renders the statement admissible.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Criminal Procedure — Preliminary Inquiry — Certification of Accused's Statement — Substantial Compliance
A certificate of an accused's statement at preliminary inquiry may be admitted in evidence if it complies substantially with the provisions of section 217(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code, even if the exact statutory wording is not used.
Evidence — Criminal Procedure — Preliminary Inquiry — Statement Favourable to Defence — Exclusion
Where a statement made by an accused at preliminary inquiry contains something favourable to the defence, it should not be excluded by reason of the magistrate's failure to comply strictly with the certification provisions of section 217(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Criminal Procedure Code (Uganda) s.217(4)

Full judgment

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Rex v Nyakililo (Cr. App. No. 89 of 1938.) [1938] EACA 116 (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.