Charles Mlande versus The Republic

Charles Mlande versus The Republic; Criminal Appeal No.270 of 2013 Court of Appeal of Tanzania at Dar es Salaam (unreported)

• Criminal Procedure

• Charge- a defective charge based in wrong and /or non-existent provisions of law –Effect

• Evidence

• Voire dire- omission to conduct voire dire-Effect

Held:-

(i) An accursed is said to receive no fair trial in court when the charge is defective based in wrong and/or non-existent provision of law. Defective charge duly prejudices an accused as he might not be aware of the nature of the offence he is being charged with.

(ii) Where there is a complete omission by the trial court to correctly and properly address itself on sections 127 (1) and 127(2) of the Evidence Act governing the competency of a child of tender years, the resulting testimony is to be discounted.