court of appeal

Death penalty confirmed by Zambia’s court of appeal days before capital punishment scrapped. What happens now?

Zambia’s court of appeal has dealt with a sensational murder and arson case in a recent decision that highlights two problems. First, the court’s judgment of 16 December 2022 upheld the death penalty imposed on a woman accused of murdering her gym instructor boyfriend by setting him alight. Just days after the appeal court’s decision, however, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema finally abolished the death penalty, leading the justice minister to comment that from now on, no court could impose the death penalty.

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Mirriam Chilosha was convicted of murder and arson for which she was sentenced to death (for murder) and to life imprisonment (for arson) by Zambia’s high court. She had killed her gym instructor boyfriend, Jeremiah Mbawa, by setting him alight. In the process she also set fire to the house belonging to Floriana Lodge, where he was staying.

Uganda's appeal court in new approach to division of marital property on divorce

Uganda’s Court of Appeal has handed down a decision that could prove a turning point on the question of how marital property should be divided on divorce. The judges seem to have rejected what some have seen as a growing tendency in divorce matters, namely granting women half share of a property. Instead, these judges say equality doesn’t automatically mean equity, and that a claim for half of the property must be backed by facts if it is to succeed.

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This new decision, by three judges of Uganda’s Court of Appeal, seems to mark a third phase in efforts to ensure that women are treated equally in society and before the law in that country, particularly at divorce.

Ugandan lawyer, serving time for contempt, loses bid for bail release

A Ugandan lawyer with a reputation for strongly criticising judges and demanding the recusal of those presiding in cases where he is involved, has lost his bid to be freed from prison pending an appeal. The lawyer, Male Mabirizi (pictured), was sentenced to an 18-month jail term for contempt of court by a high court judge whom he repeatedly slandered and pilloried. Though he sought release from prison pending an appeal, he had not yet filed any appeal and so the appeal court judges turned him down.

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There can be few Ugandan court-watchers who haven’t heard of Male Mabirizi. Now his antics, plus a recent decision of the East African Court of Justice against him, have brought Mabirizi even wider attention.

He has a law degree, but has not been admitted to practice. Nevertheless, he appears for himself in one legal action after another, most often unsuccessfully.

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