Wakilii

Uganda v Tibemanzi Deus (Criminal Revision No. HCT-00-CR-CV-CO-02-2006) (Criminal Revision No. HCT-00-CR-CV-CO-02-2006)

High Court · [2006] UGHC 47 · 2006 Conviction Quashed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal revision initiated by the High Court to review a Magistrate's conviction and sentence
Decision
Conviction quashed and sentence set aside. Accused has no record of previous conviction.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The High Court quashed a conviction for being idle and disorderly under section 167(d) of the Penal Code Act. The Court held that photographing the President without permission does not constitute conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. A breach of the peace requires conduct such as causing unnecessary disturbance through riotous assembly, affray, provoking fights, or going armed in public to alarm the public. The conviction was bad in law.

Outcome

Conviction quashed and sentence set aside. Accused has no record of previous conviction.

Facts

On 2 January 2006, Tibemanzi Deus attended a presidential campaign rally in Kabale District and photographed the President. Authorities arrested him and handed him to police. Two days later, he was charged before a Magistrate's court with being idle and disorderly contrary to section 167(d) of the Penal Code Act, the particulars alleging he photographed the President without permission in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace. He pleaded guilty, was convicted on his own plea, and sentenced to one month's imprisonment. The case came to the High Court's attention through a newspaper report, and the court called for the record and obtained the Director of Public Prosecutions' opinion on the propriety of the conviction.

Issues

  1. Whether the facts disclosed the offence of being idle and disorderly under section 167(d) of the Penal Code Act.
  2. Whether photographing the President without permission constitutes conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.

Orders

  • Conviction quashed.
  • Sentence of one month's imprisonment set aside.
  • Deputy Registrar (Crime) instructed to send a copy of this order to the accused through the lower court.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Law & Procedure — Idle and Disorderly Conduct — Breach of the Peace — Meaning and Scope
A breach of the peace under section 167(d) of the Penal Code Act requires conduct that causes unnecessary disturbance of the peace, such as engaging in riotous or unlawful assembly, riot, affray, sending challenges or provoking fights, or going armed in public with unusual weapons without lawful excuse in a manner that alarms the public.
Statutory Interpretation — Penal Statutes — Elements of Offence — Facts Must Disclose All Elements
For a conviction under section 167(d) of the Penal Code Act to be lawful, the facts narrated and put to the accused must disclose conduct that is publicly done and is likely to cause a breach of the peace as defined in law.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Idle and Disorderly Conduct — Photographing a Public Official — Not an Offence
Photographing the President without permission does not constitute conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace and therefore does not amount to the offence of being idle and disorderly under section 167(d) of the Penal Code Act.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Penal Code Act Cap.120 s.167(d)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Uganda v Tibemanzi Deus (Criminal Revision No. HCT-00-CR-CV-CO-02-2006) (Criminal Revision No. HCT-00-CR-CV-CO-02-2006) [2006] UGHC 47 (1 November 2006)
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.