Wakilii

Turyamureeba and Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 644 of 2015; Criminal Appeal 650 of 2015; Criminal Appeal 651 of 2015; Criminal Appeal 652 of 2015)

Court of Appeal · [2023] UGCA 223 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from High Court conviction and sentence for aggravated robbery
Decision
Appeal dismissed; convictions and sentences upheld and appellants to continue serving their sentences

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 convictions for aggravated robbery. Although the trial court failed to record the swearing-in of assessors and did not consistently record their presence, the Court held, applying s.139 of the Trial on Indictments Act, that such omissions do not warrant reversal unless they occasion a failure of justice. Since assessors play only an advisory role, no objection was raised at trial by represented appellants, and no prejudice or miscarriage of justice was shown, the omissions were curable. Grounds three to six were treated as abandoned because appellant's counsel filed no arguments on them. The appeal failed and was dismissed; appellants continue serving their sentences.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; convictions and sentences upheld and appellants to continue serving their sentences

Facts

On 8 November 2010 at about 10:00 p.m near Katuna border in Kabale District, PW1 Bwabuhe Michael, a money changer carrying UGX 200,000,000, and PW2 Ruhangarinda Prime, carrying UGX 11,800,000, were accosted near their home by two men, one armed with a gun and another with a panga. When PW1 tried to run, the gunman fired one shot and PW1 fell; the other robber struck PW2 on the head with a panga. The robbers took all the money. On 18 November 2010, police acting on a tip-off arrested Tushabe Davis (A4), who implicated Musimenta Isaac (A2) as supplier of the gun, Turyamureeba Levi (A1) as the mastermind, and Byakatonda Lawrence (A3) as a participant. All were arrested and tried. They were convicted of aggravated robbery, sentenced to terms of imprisonment, and ordered to compensate the victims UGX 771,400,000, each contributing UGX 42,850,000.

Issues

  1. Whether the trial was rendered a nullity because the assessors were not sworn in at the commencement of the trial.
  2. Whether the trial was rendered a nullity because assessors did not attend some stages of the trial without proper remedy under the Trial on Indictments Act.
  3. Whether the omissions relating to the assessors occasioned a miscarriage of justice warranting reversal of the conviction.

Orders

  • Grounds one and two of the appeal dismissed.
  • The appeal failed and is dismissed.
  • The four appellants shall continue to serve their sentences as ordered by the court below.

Rules and key headnotes

Trial Procedure — Assessors — Requirement to Take Oath under Trial on Indictments Act s.67
Each assessor must, as a matter of law, take an oath at the commencement of a trial before participating; failure to swear or to record the swearing of assessors is a legal irregularity, not a mere procedural technicality.
Trial Procedure — Assessors — Presence During Trial and Remedy for Absence under Trial on Indictments Act ss.69 & 70
A trial may proceed with at least one assessor, but where all assessors are absent the trial judge must stay proceedings, adjourn until they are available, and if they still fail to appear, order a new trial with a fresh set of assessors.
Appeals — Reversibility of Findings — Failure of Justice under Trial on Indictments Act s.139
No finding, sentence or order of the High Court shall be reversed on appeal for any error, omission, irregularity or misdirection unless it has in fact occasioned a failure of justice, and the court must consider whether the objection could and should have been raised earlier.
Trial Procedure — Assessors — Advisory Role and Absence of Prejudice
The role of assessors is merely advisory and not binding on the trial judge; where the defence is represented by counsel and no objection is raised at trial, failure to record the particulars or swearing-in of assessors does not cause a miscarriage of justice.
Appeals — Grounds of Appeal — Abandonment for Failure to Submit Legal Arguments
Where an appellant files no legal arguments in support of certain grounds of appeal, the court treats those grounds as abandoned and cannot make a finding on them, since a memorandum of appeal must be supported by legal argument for the court to exercise its reappraisal powers.

Legislation cited (20)

Cases cited (8)

  • Alenyo Marks v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 8 of 2007)
  • Akao Jimmy alias Baby and 4 Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 55, 62 & 67 of 2016)
  • Wamala and 2 Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 109 of 2016)
  • Rev Father Santos Wapokra v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 204 of 2012)
  • Kifamunte Henry v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1997)
  • Chepteka Samuel v Mangusho Shadrick (Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2016)
  • R (Hallam) v Secretary of State for Justice; R (Nealon) v Secretary of State for Justice [2019] UKSC 2
  • Byaruhanga Fodori v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 24 of 1999)

Full judgment

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

Turyamureeba and Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 644 of 2015; Criminal Appeal 650 of 2015; Criminal Appeal 651 of 2015; Criminal Appeal 652 of 2015) [2023] UGCA 223 (15 August 202
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.