Lesotho magistrates resolve on new deal for awaiting trial prisoners
Magistrates across Lesotho want a change in the way awaiting trial prisoners are treated. They are particularly concerned about conditions they believe impact negatively on the rule of law, judicial integrity and general confidence in the legal system. Now they have...
‘Hear the voices speaking on behalf of the dead’ – court
At the centre of most murder trials are two people: the attacker and the deceased. During evidence in mitigation of sentence, the court and the public hear something about the person on trial. But when, if ever, is the voice of the deceased person heard? Who speaks...
Kenya’s info woes: court finds minister in ‘constitutional breach’
Ensuring the independence of key communications bodies from political interference is a widespread concern, as a recent Kenyan ruling shows Read judgment IF you thought that the ongoing difficulties in appointing and keeping effective, independent boards for...
Daughters: ‘children of a lesser god’?
This case is the third in our Women’s Month series on how courts deal with matters involving women. The case includes 13 invisible daughters and a fraudulent attempt by the estate administrator to cut out all the other sons and direct family from inheriting. So when...
Out of gas
Nigeria is $9bn in hock to a gas-processing company after it was found to have reneged on the terms of a 20-year agreement. Read judgment Is Nigeria the villain or the victim in what has become a $9bn dispute between that state and a company specially formed for a gas...
High Court judge condemns SCA precedent in horrific rape appeal
The lone woman on a three-person High Court Bench hearing a horrific gang rape appeal, has declared she is not obliged to follow a much-disputed 2011 decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal that would have greatly reduced the sentence. Such a declaration is...
A court order is not ‘a mere suggestion’ – judge
Nambasi V Khan Investments Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 602 of 2018) [2019] UGHCCD 126 (28 June 2019); High Court, Kampala, Uganda Read judgment This case, in Uganda’s high court, followed an earlier matter in which the Assistant Registrar ordered that a truck...
Mentally ill man can’t be returned to Sierra Leone – UK courts
There might be widespread agreement that mental illness should be de-stigmatised, but that does not make it any easier for courts dealing with people who show signs of serious psychological ill-health and who are liable to mistreatment because of their illness. In...
Swazi court refuses bail for suspected human trafficker
With the eyes of the world now more sharply focused on human trafficking, all attempts by African courts to help stamp it out are important and will be reflected in annual international surveys. Though cases involving trafficking charges are still rare, a Swazi judge,...
A challenge for women in Kenya: get this law changed
Our Women’s Month judgment this week comes from Kenya’s Judge William Musyoka. What makes his decision stand out is that he has found and highlighted an anomaly in the law dealing with rape, a particularly traumatic crime that is all too prevalent. He explained that...