Wakilii

Suleiman and Another v Reginam (Criminal Appeals Nos. 851 and 852 of 1954)

East African Court of Appeal · [1955] EACA 326 · 1955 Appeal Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Second appeal from High Court of Zanzibar which had partially allowed first appeals from convictions by Resident Magistrate
Decision
First accused's convictions on fraudulent false accounting counts set aside; convictions on theft counts affirmed. Second accused's convictions on receiving stolen property reinstated for May and July transactions.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that where a High Court reverses a subordinate court's judgment, it is always a question of law whether sufficient grounds existed for reversal. An appellate court cannot accept an explanation dependent on facts expressly denied by the accused at trial. For fraudulent false accounting, if goods were never received into a store, there can be no omission to enter material particulars because no material particular exists to be entered. An appellate court must not merely feel doubt but must find that the trial court ought to have felt doubt before reversing factual findings based on sufficient evidence.

Outcome

First accused's convictions on fraudulent false accounting counts set aside; convictions on theft counts affirmed. Second accused's convictions on receiving stolen property reinstated for May and July transactions.

Facts

The first accused was a clerk in the Zanzibar police quartermaster's office responsible for preparing purchase orders and maintaining the Store Ledger Inventory recording goods received into and issued from the police store at Ziwani. He was charged with stealing petrol and kerosene on six occasions between January and July 1952, and with fraudulently omitting to enter receipt of these goods in the ledger. The second accused, a petrol dealer, was charged with receiving the stolen property. The Crown's case was that the goods had been stolen before reaching the store and were never actually received there, though the first accused falsely certified receipt on purchase orders. The trial magistrate convicted the first accused on all counts and the second accused on four counts. The High Court allowed both appeals in part, setting aside convictions relating to the May and July transactions. Both the Crown and first accused appealed to the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa.

Issues

  1. Whether a second appeal lies on questions of fact or only on questions of law.
  2. Whether it is a question of law when a first appellate court reverses a trial court's findings.
  3. Whether an appellate court may act on an explanation of facts expressly denied by the accused at trial.
  4. Whether an appellate court may reverse a trial court's findings merely because it feels doubt about the matter.
  5. Whether omission to enter material particulars in a ledger constitutes fraudulent false accounting under Penal Decree s.315(c) when the goods were never received into the store.

Orders

  • Appeal of first accused allowed on Counts 2, 5, 8 and 11.
  • Convictions and sentences on Counts 2, 5, 8 and 11 set aside.
  • Appeal of first accused dismissed as to convictions for theft on Counts 1, 4, 7 and 10.
  • Crown's appeal allowed in part.
  • Order of High Court quashing convictions of both accused on Counts 13, 15, 16 and 18 set aside.
  • Crown's appeal abandoned as to Counts 14, 17, 6 and 9.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Appeals — Competency of Second Appeal — Questions of Law versus Fact
A second appeal lies only on grounds of law. Where a High Court has reversed a judgment of a subordinate court, it is always a question of law whether there existed sufficient reasons for such reversal. The position is different where the High Court has dismissed the first appeal.
Appellate Review — Explanations Inconsistent with Accused's Denials at Trial
It is not open to an appellate court to accept or act upon an explanation dependent upon facts of which the existence was expressly denied by the accused at their trial.
Appellate Review — Standard for Reversing Trial Court Findings of Fact
For an appellate court to allow an appeal, it is not sufficient to say that the matter is complicated and the appellate court feels some doubt about it. The appellate court must go further and say that the matter is so complicated and uncertain that the court of trial ought to have felt some doubt about it. Where findings of a trial court are based on sufficient evidence, an appellate court is not entitled to set them aside merely because it finds the matter complicated or feels some doubt.
Fraudulent False Accounting — Omission to Enter Material Particulars — Penal Decree s.315(c)
In a charge of fraudulent false accounting under Penal Decree s.315(c), if an event has not occurred it cannot be an omission to enter any material particulars if no entry in regard thereto is made, there being no material particular to be entered. Where goods were stolen before reaching a store and were never received there, an accused cannot be convicted of omitting to enter their receipt in a store ledger.
Appellate Review — Misdirection as Question of Law
It is a question of law whether a first appellate court has misdirected itself on the evidence.

Legislation cited (3)

  • Penal Decree s.267
  • Penal Decree s.315(c)
  • Penal Decree s.308(1)

Cases cited (7)

  • R v Bentley [1953]
  • Fielding v R (26 C.A.R. 211)
  • Bailey v R (18 C.A.R. 42)
  • Southern v R (22 C.A.R. 6)
  • R v Tomlin [1954] 2 QB 274
  • Stanley Musinga and Others v R (18 E.A.C.A. 211)
  • Robinson v R (37 C.A.R. 95)

Full judgment

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

Suleiman and Another v Reginam (Criminal Appeals Nos. 851 and 852 of 1954) [1955] EACA 326 (1 January 1955)
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.