High Court of Malawi - 2003 August

6 judgments
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Results. 6 judgments found.

6 judgments
August 2003
Assessment of damages for partial finger amputation: proven medical costs, K28,800 loss of earning capacity, K50,000 non-pecuniary award.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages — medical expenses must be proved — loss of earning capacity assessed by multiplicand and multiplier — non-pecuniary damages guided by comparative awards
31 August 2003
High Court: contempt was criminal and involved dishonesty/moral turpitude; seats vacated by operation of law; each party bears own costs.
  • Constitutional law — Jurisdiction of High Court to review parliamentary decisions (s108); Contempt of court — civil v criminal; Criminal contempt as crime involving dishonesty and moral turpitude; Operation of sections 51 and 63 — vacancy of parliamentary seats; Limitations on political rights (s44)
26 August 2003
Conviction based solely on another accused’s unadopted confession is invalid; prosecution must show adoption or independent evidence.
  • Evidence — Confessions — Admissibility of one accused’s confession against co-accused — section 176(2) Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code — requirement of adoption or independent evidence — no case to answer where prosecution relies solely on another’s unadopted confession
12 August 2003
Conviction based on visual identification without Turnbull directions and a flawed identification parade is unsafe.
  • Criminal law — Robbery — Visual identification evidence — Identification parade obligations and proper conduct — Duty to call parade officer — R v Turnbull directions — Appellate review of factual findings where identity is central
3 August 2003
Conviction based mainly on visual identification without proper parade or Turnbull directions is unsafe and set aside.
  • Criminal law — Robbery — Visual identification — Identification parade — Duty to prove parade properly conducted — R v Turnbull directions required — Appellate review of magistrate's findings
3 August 2003
Prosecutors may charge s311 and the substantive offence together; courts should defer to prosecutorial discretion and manage overlap at sentencing.
  • Criminal law — breaking into a building and committing a felony (s311) — charging the substantive offence (theft) in same indictment — prosecutor's discretion — de minimis principle — court's limited power to interfere — sentencing concurrency
3 August 2003