Wakilii

Uganda V Medadi Tindarwesirwe & Anor (Criminal Sessions Case No.87 91)

High Court · [1991] UGHC 10 · 1991 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Evidentiary objection during criminal trial in the High Court
Decision
Application Granted

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that photographs could not be admitted in evidence. The Magistrates Courts Act (Amendment) Statute 1990 repealed Part XV of the MCA 1970, removing the old committal provisions. The new Section 78 of the Trial on Indictments Act required the prosecution to give reasonable written notice to the accused of any additional material fact not forming part of the summary of the case. No such notice had been given. Objection upheld.

Outcome

Application Granted

Facts

The prosecution sought to introduce photographs of the deceased, a dead cow, destroyed houses, and destroyed matooke plantains through PW 5 Sergeant Baryaguma, son of the deceased, who claimed to have taken the photographs on 20 December 1988 at the scene of the crime. The defence objected to their admissibility on the ground that the exhibits had not been tendered during committal proceedings as formerly required by Section 176 of the Magistrates Courts Act 1970. The Resident State Attorney for the prosecution submitted that the new law did not provide for listing of exhibits and witnesses. The photographs had been with the prosecution since May 1991 but no notice had been given to the accused of the intention to introduce them.

Issues

  1. Whether photographs taken at the scene of crime could be admitted in evidence when they had not been tendered during committal proceedings and no notice had been given to the accused as required by the amended law.

Orders

  • Objection to the admissibility of photographs upheld.
  • Photographs excluded from evidence.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Admissibility — Additional Material Facts — Notice Requirement
Where the Magistrates Courts Act (Amendment) Statute 1990 has repealed the committal provisions requiring exhibits to be tendered at committal, the prosecution must give reasonable written notice to the accused of any additional material fact which does not form part of the summary of the case, unless the prosecution first becomes aware of it on the day it is alleged in evidence during trial.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Trial Procedure — Statutory Amendment — Effect on Admissibility
The repeal of Part XV of the Magistrates Courts Act 1970 by Section 9 of the Magistrates Courts Act (Amendment) Statute 1990 removed the requirement to tender exhibits during committal proceedings, but the protection afforded to accused persons was replaced by the notice requirement in the new Section 78 of the Trial on Indictments (Amendment) Statute 1990.
Evidence — Photographs — Admissibility — Notice Not Given
Photographs which have been in the possession of the prosecution for several months but for which no reasonable written notice has been given to the accused under Section 78 of the Trial on Indictments Act are inadmissible in evidence.

Legislation cited (5)

Full judgment

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

Uganda V Medadi Tindarwesirwe & Anor (Criminal Sessions Case No.87_91) [1991] UGHC 10 (6 November 1991)
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.