Principle Archive

Not every mistake or error in a judgment results in reversal; only substantial errors that occasion a miscarriage of justice warrant appellate interference. An error as…

Where an accused person strikes the deceased on the head with an iron rod, a deadly weapon, and death results, the accused must be taken to…

For a conviction of murder to stand, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused caused the death of the deceased by an unlawful…

Where the accused was the aggressor throughout the incident, the defence of self-defence is not available to him.

The defence of provocation is not available to an accused person who was himself the aggressor. Where the evidence shows that the accused provoked the quarrel…

Courts of law do not deal with hypothetical matters. Submissions based on hypothetical matters not founded on any evidence before the court or inferences drawn from…

The Supreme Court will not interfere with concurrent findings of fact by two lower courts unless such findings are shown to be perverse, not supported by…

The words "accidental slip" mean a clerical mistake in a judgment or order; such error must be an error in expressing the manifest intention of the…

Where an error alleged by a point originates in the Court of Appeal as part of its decision, the appellant has a constitutional right to raise…

Arguments are to be canvassed on the basis of issues formulated, not on the grounds of appeal; while resolution of an issue may determine an appeal,…

An appellate court errs when it attributes grounds of appeal from one party to another and rejects the proper grounds. A decision based on wrongly attributed…

Proof beyond reasonable doubt is not attained by the number of witnesses fielded by the prosecution; it depends on the quality of the evidence. The testimony…