Evidence

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2023

Principle established: Findings of fact by a trial judge, particularly regarding the source of funds for property acquisition and the credibility of witnesses, will generally be upheld unless shown to be clearly erroneous.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1951

Principle established: In malicious prosecution, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving absence of reasonable and probable cause, and malice is necessarily inferred when the prosecutor knowingly suborns perjured evidence.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: In malicious prosecution, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving absence of reasonable and probable cause, and malice is necessarily inferred when the prosecutor knowingly suborns perjured evidence.

Ghana · 2025

Principle established: New evidence will not be allowed on appeal unless the court is satisfied that, with due diligence, the evidence was not available to the party during the original trial.

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 — 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 — Court of Appeal · 2021

Principle established: An appellate court may allow the introduction of new evidence if it is relevant, credible, and could not have been reasonably obtained during the original proceedings.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: In a negligence claim against a manufacturer, the burden of proof is not discharged if the evidence shows the injury was equally consistent with causes other than the defendant's negligence.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A vendor of real property who subsequently remains in occupation as a tenant of the purchaser is estopped from disputing the validity of the sale.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A vendor who sells property and remains in possession as a paying tenant of the buyer is estopped from denying the validity of the conveyance.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A statutory declaration of title is not registrable as an instrument under the Registration of Instruments Act and cannot be admitted where the law requires an oath, affirmation, or affidavit.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1964

Principle established: A statutory declaration cannot be used as evidence where the law otherwise requires an oath, affirmation, or affidavit.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: Under the doctrine of res judicata, parties are estopped from litigating not only points decided previously but every point properly belonging to the subject of litigation which could have been brought forward.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1934

Principle established: A lost will may be proved by parol evidence alone, but the court must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of its due execution, existence, and contents.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: A lost will may be proved by parol evidence alone, but the court must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt as to its due execution, existence, and precise contents.

United Kingdom · 1946

Principle established: A promise intended to be binding and acted upon is enforceable even without consideration, preventing the promisor from acting inconsistently with that promise.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A declaratory judgment on land ownership may be granted for a portion of claimed land and should incorporate a survey plan, which is admissible even if not specifically pleaded.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1967

Principle established: Where the official decree book cannot be traced on appeal, secondary parol evidence of an administrative boundary decision is admissible in local court proceedings.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: Secondary parol evidence of a district boundary decision is admissible in local courts where the primary decree book cannot be traced upon inquiry by the appellate court.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: The burden of proof in criminal cases rests solely on the prosecution, and any shifting of the burden to the accused to establish innocence vitiates a conviction.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: Judicial notice may be taken of the mental state of a pregnant woman threatened with violence, and medical evidence is highly desirable in divorce suits based on cruelty.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: A conviction cannot stand where it is founded solely on an accused person's statement that simultaneously incriminates the accused and denies guilt.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: A criminal conviction must be set aside where it is based on a statement by the accused that equally incriminates and exculpates him.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: A claim for recovery of land may be defeated by the doctrine of adverse possession if the claimant's action is found to be statute-barred under limitation laws.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1966

Principle established: Recovery of possession of land may be granted under a claim for further and better relief in a title action, and a prior trespass judgment where ownership was not in controversy does not estop.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A judgment in a trespass action where ownership was not in controversy cannot sustain a plea of res judicata against a subsequent action for declaration of title to the land.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2016

Principle established: The right to cross-examine a deponent on their affidavit is an incidental of the rule of natural justice, allowing parties to test the evidence presented in support of an application.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1975

Principle established: Where evidence in a larceny trial is conflicting and complex, the trial judge must provide adequate guidance in summing up, failure of which renders a guilty verdict unsafe.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1975

Principle established: A conviction for larceny will be quashed where the trial judge fails to guide the jury on conflicting and complex evidence during the summing up.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Adultery in divorce proceedings requires strict proof beyond reasonable doubt, and prior condonation of cruelty is revived and cancelled by subsequent acts of cruelty.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Adultery must be proved beyond reasonable doubt under the criminal standard of proof, and condonation of marital cruelty is cancelled by subsequent acts of cruelty.

Kenya · 2024

Principle established: Leave to adduce additional evidence in the Supreme Court is governed by specific statutory and rule-based criteria to ensure the evidence is necessary for a just determination.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1970

Principle established: Adultery in divorce proceedings requires strict proof above the ordinary civil standard, and the presumption of legitimacy is rebuttable by evidence of long separation between the spouses.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1970-71

Principle established: In a divorce suit, adultery requires strict proof beyond the standard usually applicable in civil proceedings, and the presumption of a child's legitimacy is rebutted by proof of prolonged separation.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: An insurer that conducts the legal defence of an insured without repudiating liability is estopped from subsequently denying its obligation to indemnify.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1973

Principle established: An insurer that assumes and conducts the defence of an insured without repudiating the claim is estopped from subsequently denying its liability to indemnify the insured.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Criminal negligence grounding a conviction for manslaughter requires a gross disregard for human life and safety amounting to a crime against the state.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Criminal negligence sufficient to support a conviction for manslaughter requires conduct going beyond mere civil compensation and showing a reckless disregard for the life and safety of others.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1964

Principle established: Criminal negligence supporting manslaughter requires a gross disregard for the safety of others amounting to a crime against the state.