Criminal

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1961

Principle established: An appellate court has no statutory power to increase a sentence when the appellant has not appealed against sentence.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: A judicial officer may be charged with misappropriation of public funds under the Anti-Corruption Act for actions taken in their official capacity.

Uganda · 2024

Principle established: An appellate court reviews whether a trial judge erred in sentencing for murder, particularly regarding the duration of imprisonment and the circumstances of the offence.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: A magistrate acts correctly in law by discharging an accused rather than acquitting and discharging him when criminal proceedings are terminated without a final determination on the merits.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: A magistrate acts correctly in point of law by ordering a discharge rather than an acquittal where the disposition does not bar the prosecution from reinstituting charges.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2014

Principle established: In criminal cases involving the handling of project funds, the prosecution must establish the specific legal obligation of the accused to deal with the property in a particular manner.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: The rule requiring criminal prosecution of a felony prior to maintaining a civil action for the same wrong does not apply where the civil defendant is an innocent third party.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A magistrate must consider the whole of the evidence before refusing to commit an accused for trial, and any person aggrieved may appeal questions of law.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A magistrate cannot refuse to commit an accused for trial without considering the whole of the evidence, and any person may lay an information for a public offence absent limiting statutory provisions.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2021

Principle established: Judicial review may be sought to quash decisions or orders of a lower court where there is a jurisdictional error, procedural impropriety, or a breach of fundamental rights.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A judge is not bound to put manslaughter to assessors where the evidence does not support it, and the mere withdrawal of affection does not constitute legal provocation.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2020

Principle established: A trial judge is not bound to put manslaughter to assessors absent evidence legally amounting to provocation, and a partner withdrawing affection does not constitute legal provocation.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A judge need not direct assessors on manslaughter where there is no evidence to support it, and the withdrawal of romantic affection does not amount to provocation in law.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A trial judge need not leave manslaughter to assessors absent evidence supporting it, and the withdrawal of affection does not constitute legal provocation.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2013

Principle established: A convict seeking to pay a court-ordered fine after the expiration of the deadline may apply for an extension of time to pay the remaining balance.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2013

Principle established: An applicant convicted of dishonest appropriation of donor funds under the Anti-Corruption Act may apply for bail pending the hearing and determination of their appeal.

Uganda · 2024

Principle established: Bail pending appeal may be granted if the appeal is not frivolous, has a reasonable possibility of success, and the applicant provides substantial sureties.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1957-60

Principle established: A presiding election officer with a duty to maintain order at a polling station may use necessary force without committing assault to remove a person who refuses to behave.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: An appellate court should only interfere with a trial court's sentencing discretion where the trial court exercised that discretion on a wrong principle.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: General words in a later statute do not repeal or derogate from earlier specific statutory provisions without a clear indication of a particular legislative intention to do so.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: General statutory language in later legislation will not impliedly repeal or derogate from an earlier specific enactment absent a clear intention to do so.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: General words in later legislation do not impliedly repeal earlier specific statutory provisions unless an intention to alter the special law is clearly indicated.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1960

Principle established: The Summary Jurisdiction Act applies in Sierra Leone, but a prosecution cannot be dismissed as time-barred without proof on the record of when the complaint was made.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A magistrate acquiring jurisdiction to try an indictable charge summarily under section 18 of the Summary Conviction Offences Act must show on the record consideration of circumstances and expediency.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: To acquire summary jurisdiction under section 18 of the Summary Conviction Offences Act without a preliminary inquiry, the record must reflect that the magistrate considered it expedient having regard to the circumstances.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: An appellate court will disturb a trial court's sentence only if it is evident that the sentencing discretion was exercised on a wrong principle.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1961

Principle established: Selling a single copy of a newspaper does not constitute dispersing it under the Newspapers Ordinance, but selling one copy while possessing others for sale amounts to an attempt to disperse.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Selling an isolated copy of a newspaper does not constitute dispersing or assisting in dispersing a newspaper under the Newspapers Ordinance.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2019

Principle established: The court examined grounds of appeal involving the failure to record a summing-up, misdirection on self-defence and provocation, and the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence for murder.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2018

Principle established: The court examined grounds of appeal involving the failure to record a summing-up, misdirection on self-defence and provocation, and the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence for murder.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2019

Principle established: The court examined grounds of appeal involving the failure to record a summing-up, misdirection on self-defence and provocation, and the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence for murder.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: A person convicted of receiving stolen goods may apply for bail pending appeal, although costs are generally not awarded in such criminal applications.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: An application for bail pending appeal may be considered by the Court of Appeal following a conviction for receiving stolen goods, often supported by medical or legal grounds.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: The absence of a recorded summing-up is not fatal to a conviction where the evidence clearly supports a unanimous verdict and raises no difficult issues.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1965

Principle established: The failure to record a judge's summing-up does not vitiate a conviction where the jury returned a unanimous verdict clearly supported by the evidence and raising no complex issues.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1976

Principle established: The wrongful admission of prejudicial evidence will lead to the quashing of a conviction unless the appellate court is certain the jury would inevitably have reached the same verdict without it.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1976

Principle established: The wrongful admission of prejudicial evidence will lead to the quashing of a conviction unless the appellate court is certain the jury would inevitably have reached the same verdict without it.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2012

Principle established: An application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court may be scrutinized for irregularities in the record of proceedings, such as inconsistent dates on the notice of appeal.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2014

Principle established: Appellate courts must comply with mandatory procedural rules regarding the abandonment of notices of appeal before acting on such an assumption in their rulings.

Malawi · 2024

Principle established: The court may grant the temporary release of a passport for international travel on condition of surrendering significant security to ensure the applicant's return.