Results.
128 judgments found.
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| October 2003 |
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Six-year burglary sentence reduced to three years; courts must prove or put prior convictions to defendant before relying on them.
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Criminal law — Sentencing principles for burglary/housebreaking — balancing actus reus, mens rea, offender and victim circumstances — previous convictions must be proved or put to defendant before reliance — simple burglary minimum custodial sentence three years
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2 October 2003 |
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Conviction sustained despite defective plea; sentencing principles for burglary affirmed and inadequate sentence confirmed due to time served.
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Criminal law — Plea procedure — Defective plea curable under section 5 where no failure of justice; Criminal law — Sentencing — burglary/housebreaking; Chizumila six-year starting point and three-year minimum for simple burglary; sentencing factors (actus reus, mens rea, offender’s age, antecedents, remorse, victim vulnerability); confirmation of sentence where already served
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2 October 2003 |
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Sentencing for burglary must account for victim vulnerability and disturbance; excessive concurrent sentences were reduced.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Burglary/housebreaking — Chizumila six-year starting point — Factors: victim vulnerability, disturbance, offender’s age/first offender status, plea — Concurrent sentences; manifestly excessive sentence reduced
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2 October 2003 |
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Whether a six-year burglary sentence was excessive given a young first offender and a simple, non-violent trespass.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Burglary — Sentencing factors: nature of offence, offender’s antecedents, victim’s vulnerability, public interest — Six-year threshold for serious burglary; simple burglary minimum three years
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2 October 2003 |
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Court quantified damages for two children’s deaths and plaintiff’s injuries using multiplier method; unpleaded loss of earnings refused.
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Damages assessment — death of children — loss of expectation of life and loss of dependency for minors — use of half average industrial earnings and multiplier method — unpleaded heads of damage not recoverable — awards for funeral and medical incidentals following default judgment
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1 October 2003 |
| September 2003 |
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Plaintiff awarded aggravated damages and costs for serious, permanently disabling gunshot injuries caused by police misconduct.
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Police shooting — state liability — assessment of damages — aggravated damages for serious bodily injury — uncontested medical evidence — permanent incapacity (50%) due to chronic osteomyelitis
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29 September 2003 |
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Conviction quashed where no prima facie case, critical hearsay was wrongly admitted, and circumstantial proof was insufficient.
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Criminal law — No case to answer under s.254 — inadmissible hearsay — insufficiency of circumstantial evidence to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt — proper approach to accused's explanation (might reasonably be true)
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24 September 2003 |
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Conviction quashed: no prima facie case, inadmissible hearsay, and insufficient circumstantial proof beyond reasonable doubt.
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Criminal law — review of subordinate court conviction — duty to determine prima facie case at close of prosecution — inadmissible hearsay from non-searching witness — circumstantial evidence must exclude other rational inferences beyond reasonable doubt — correct approach to accused's explanation: whether it might reasonably be true
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24 September 2003 |
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Detention beyond 48 hours without charge is unconstitutional; serious charges may justify denying bail while ensuring a speedy trial.
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Constitutional law — section 42(2) — forty‑eight hour rule — detention without charge unlawful; Habeas corpus — remedy for unlawful detention; Bail — discretionary where detention unlawful but serious criminal charge exists; Sickness — non‑terminal illness not necessarily sufficient for bail; Right to speedy trial and public interest considerations
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18 September 2003 |
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Court awarded K172,000 for wrongful death: K60,000 for expectation of life and K112,000 for dependency, minors’ shares held in court.
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Wrongful death — assessment of damages — loss of expectation of life — conventional awards; loss of dependency — multiplicand-and-multiplier method; unemployed deceased — minimum domestic wage as multiplicand; minors’ shares deposited in court
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8 September 2003 |
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Court awarded damages for police assault, unpleaded spectacles expense, and false imprisonment; costs to the plaintiff.
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Civil damages — assault and battery by police; false imprisonment; assessment of damages and quantum; award of unpleaded but proven special damage (spectacles); use of comparable awards and consideration of currency depreciation
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8 September 2003 |
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On review the court increased a manifestly inadequate six‑year armed robbery sentence to 14 years due to aggravating factors.
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Criminal law — Armed robbery — Sentencing — Starting point ten years — Mitigation: guilty plea and first offender limited — Aggravation: injured victims and multiple offenders — Manifestly inadequate sentence enhanced to 14 years
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1 September 2003 |
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Court awards K70,000 to the plaintiff for pain, suffering, disfigurement and loss of amenities from a serious leg wound.
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Personal injury — assessment of damages — pain and suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement — use of comparable awards and currency depreciation — no award for loss of earnings where medical evidence shows capacity for manual work
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1 September 2003 |
| August 2003 |
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Assessment of damages for partial finger amputation: proven medical costs, K28,800 loss of earning capacity, K50,000 non-pecuniary award.
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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
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31 August 2003 |
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High Court: contempt was criminal and involved dishonesty/moral turpitude; seats vacated by operation of law; each party bears own costs.
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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)
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26 August 2003 |
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Conviction based solely on another accused’s unadopted confession is invalid; prosecution must show adoption or independent evidence.
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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
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12 August 2003 |
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Conviction based on visual identification without Turnbull directions and a flawed identification parade is unsafe.
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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
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3 August 2003 |
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Conviction based mainly on visual identification without proper parade or Turnbull directions is unsafe and set aside.
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Criminal law — Robbery — Visual identification — Identification parade — Duty to prove parade properly conducted — R v Turnbull directions required — Appellate review of magistrate's findings
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3 August 2003 |
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Prosecutors may charge s311 and the substantive offence together; courts should defer to prosecutorial discretion and manage overlap at sentencing.
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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
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3 August 2003 |
| July 2003 |
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Plaintiffs awarded damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities; loss of earning capacity denied for lack of evidence.
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Tort — Negligence — Assessment of damages after default judgment — Non-pecuniary loss (pain, suffering, loss of amenities) — Quantification by reference to comparable cases — Loss of earning capacity requires evidential proof
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31 July 2003 |
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Plaintiff awarded K20,000 for non‑serious cut wounds and pain; no proven pregnancy injury; costs to plaintiff.
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Personal injury — assessment of general damages for multiple cut wounds and pain — injuries not serious — no proven effect on pregnancy — comparable awards — quantum K20,000 — costs to plaintiff
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31 July 2003 |
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The plaintiff entitled to pension benefits after employer failed to remit contributions; interim award and tax deduction ordered.
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Employment law — pension contributions — employer’s failure to remit employee pension deductions — contractual right to pension benefits — assessment of damages — interim award and tax assessment
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31 July 2003 |
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A three-year hard labour sentence for minor theft was manifestly excessive given the guilty plea, youth, and lack of similar prior convictions.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Manifestly excessive sentence for simple theft; guilty plea; youth and first-offender leniency; role of prior, dissimilar convictions; community service/suspended sentence alternatives
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23 July 2003 |
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A three-year custodial sentence for theft of a K7,000 phone was manifestly excessive; guilty plea, youth and one prior conviction warranted release.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Manifestly excessive sentence on review for theft of low-value property — Aggravated offence not charged — Role of prior convictions and requirement to verify records — Mitigation for guilty plea, youth and first offenders — Alternatives to immediate imprisonment
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23 July 2003 |
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Court confirmed a three-year custodial sentence for ordinary burglary, outlining sentencing principles and the Chizumila starting point.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Burglary/housebreaking — sentencing factors (actus reus, mens rea, planning, violence, multiple offenders, victim vulnerability) — Chizumila six-year starting point — simple burglary minimum three years — custodial sentences generally appropriate
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23 July 2003 |
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Employees cannot obtain an interlocutory injunction to restrain a debenture holder’s appointment of a receiver on default.
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Company law; security and debentures — appointment of receiver by debenture holder on default — employees lack standing to restrain appointment — American Cyanamid principles — effect of pending judicial review of shareholder’s privatization decision on debenture holder’s rights
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14 July 2003 |
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Convictions based on weak night-time identification without Turnbull warning were unsafe; alibi unrefuted.
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Criminal law — Armed robbery — Identification evidence — Visual identification at night — Failure to apply Turnbull warning — Unreliable identification renders conviction unsafe — Alibi unrefuted
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9 July 2003 |
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A resigned director cannot continue as managing director or occupy company offices; injunction and possession ordered.
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Company law — resignation of director — effect of written resignation — Managing Director must be a director; corporate groups — legal test for group/subsidiary relationship; tenancy at will and wrongful occupation of company premises; injunctions to restrain former director from holding himself out and interfering with management; mesne profits assessed where market rental not adduced; corporate veil not lifted where no impropriety shown.
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8 July 2003 |
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A former director who resigns cannot remain Managing Director or occupy company offices; injunction, delivery up and mesne profits ordered.
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Company law — corporate personality and group companies — definition of group company and requirement of shareholding/control; resignation of director — effect of written resignation and inability to remain as managing director after vacating directorship; tenancy at will — wrongful occupation and mesne profits; injunction to restrain former director from holding himself out or interfering with company management; remedies for minority shareholder — oppression claim not established
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7 July 2003 |
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Whether the plaintiff proved monetary and tort claims and how to equitably divide jointly acquired family assets.
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Family law — division of matrimonial property — proof of income and entitlement to monetary claims; tortious conduct claims in domestic context; property purchased for children — trust; vehicle valuation and distribution; dismissal of unsubstantiated counter-claims
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2 July 2003 |
| June 2003 |
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The court set aside leave for judicial review of a government procurement award as non-justiciable commercial decision.
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Administrative law — Judicial review — Procurement and tender awards — Public body discretion in considering financial and technical proposals — Non-justiciability and polycentric decisions — Leave for judicial review set aside as unarguable
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9 June 2003 |
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Court reduced a 3.5-year burglary sentence to two years, stressing sentencing factors and limited weight of a single prior conviction.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Breaking into a building and committing a felony (s.311) — Sentencing must consider nature and circumstances of offence, offender, victim and public interest — Factors affecting actus reus and mens rea relevant — Single prior conviction of limited weight — Review and reduction of manifestly inappropriate sentence
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5 June 2003 |
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Court confirms three-year burglary sentence, imposes one month for theft, outlining burglary sentencing principles.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Burglary/housebreaking — six-year starting point for threshold burglary; simple burglary minimum three-year custodial sentence; victim vulnerability and offender’s youth/first-offence plea as sentencing considerations; obligation to sentence on each count
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5 June 2003 |
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Garnishee proceedings cannot attach government funds under s.10 of the Civil Procedure Act; garnishee orders discharged.
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Garnishee proceedings — government funds — section 10 Civil Procedure Act prohibits injunctions/specific performance against government — Orders 49 and 77 RSC and Crown Proceedings Act 1947 inapplicable to Malawi — High Court precedent binding.
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3 June 2003 |
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Leave for judicial review of an employment suspension was set aside as the suspension was a private employment matter and alternative remedies existed.
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Judicial review — employment suspension — whether suspension is administrative action — alternative remedy in Industrial Relations Court — abuse of process; Delay and extension of time for leave to apply for judicial review; Scope of public power in employment decisions
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1 June 2003 |
| May 2003 |
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Assessment after default judgment: plaintiff awarded K75,000 for permanent hand disability and loss of amenities.
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["Personal injury — assessment of general damages under a default judgment","Default judgment — assessment may proceed in absence of defendant if properly served","Permanent disability — medical incapacity assessed at 45% equating to loss of hand","Damages — reliance on comparable awards and consideration of currency devaluation","Costs awarded to plaintiff — to be taxed if not agreed"]
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31 May 2003 |
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Failure to read an amended charge and obtain a plea vitiates conviction for that amended offence; original theft conviction remains.
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Criminal procedure — Amendment of charge — s151 Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code — amended charge must be noted, read and accused called to plead — failure to plead to amended offence vitiates conviction — original unaltered theft conviction unaffected
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28 May 2003 |
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A qualified or brief guilty plea that denies an essential element undermines a housebreaking conviction; theft conviction confirmed.
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Criminal law — guilty plea requirements — magistrate must put each element to accused; qualification can undermine plea — housebreaking/burglary requires breaking and entry — sentencing principles for burglary; starting points and minimum custodial sentences
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28 May 2003 |
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Appeal against conviction dismissed; medical reports inadmissible for non‑compliance with s.180, but oral evidence upheld convictions; sentences reduced and ordered concurrent.
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Criminal law — unlawful wounding and malicious damage — admissions and victim oral testimony as proof; Evidence — expert/medical reports, admissibility under s.180 Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code — service requirement; Appellate review — deference to trial court on credibility; Sentencing — reduction and ordering concurrent sentences where offences committed in quick succession
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27 May 2003 |
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Conviction for robbery and conspiracy set aside where accomplice evidence and alleged police admissions lacked proper support and warnings.
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Criminal law — appeal on facts — sufficiency of evidence for robbery and conspiracy; circumstantial evidence; accomplice testimony — duty to warn; admissibility and weight of alleged admissions and silence at police without caution; sentencing — concurrent versus consecutive sentences
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25 May 2003 |
| April 2003 |
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Ex parte injunction set aside for suppression of material facts where sale under Registered Land Act rendered damages adequate remedy.
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Ex parte injunction — duty of full disclosure; Registered Land Act — statutory notice and power of sale; completed sale — damages, not injunction; interlocutory relief inappropriate where adequate remedy in damages
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27 April 2003 |
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Failure to serve amended pleadings after amending the writ does not automatically justify dismissal for want of prosecution.
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Civil procedure — Amendment of writ — Effect of amended writ in substituting original writ; Order 20 r.9 — time for amendment but no automatic requirement to serve amended pleadings; failure to serve renders amendment ineffective, not ground for automatic dismissal for want of prosecution; dismissal under Order 19 not warranted on these facts
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27 April 2003 |
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Detention beyond 48 hours without charge breaches the Constitution; applicants released on bail after balancing interest of justice.
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Constitutional law — right to be brought before an independent court within 48 hours — breach of s.42(2)(b) — administrative excuses insufficient — continuous breach — remedy: release; Bail law — capital offences: exceptional circumstances and interest of justice balancing
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23 April 2003 |
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Assessment of damages for police assault, short false imprisonment, limited defamation and malicious prosecution after uncontested evidence.
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Police misconduct — assault and battery by officers; false imprisonment for short period; limited-publication defamation; malicious prosecution; assessment of quantum on uncontested evidence after defendant defaulted
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16 April 2003 |
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Five-year sentence for breaking into a building confirmed; non-recovery of stolen property is an aggravating factor.
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Criminal law — Breaking into a building — Sentencing guideline: three-year starting point — Non-recovery of stolen property as aggravating factor — Confirmation of five-year custodial sentence
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16 April 2003 |
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Court confirmed convictions and concurrent sentences for housebreaking, burglary and theft, upholding recent possession doctrine.
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Criminal law — burglary, housebreaking and theft — conviction based on recent possession — confirmation of magistrate’s concurrent sentences — five‑year burglary sentence not manifestly excessive — sentencing factors: partial recovery, joint enterprise, premeditation, multiple victims
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16 April 2003 |
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Plaintiff awarded K65,000 for pain and suffering after default judgment; no award for loss of amenities.
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Assessment of damages — default judgment — personal injuries (fractured arm, dislocated ankle) — pain and suffering award — no proof of loss of amenities — comparison with prior awards and adjustment for currency depreciation
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15 April 2003 |
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Convictions for assault and malicious damage upheld; sentencing reduced to an order resulting in the defendant’s immediate release.
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Criminal law — assault occasioning actual bodily harm — self‑defence and excessive force; Criminal damage — s.344 ‘willfully’ includes intention or recklessness; appellate review of findings of fact; sentencing discretion and substitution resulting in immediate release
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14 April 2003 |
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Convictions for assault and malicious damage upheld; sentence set aside and replaced by a community order with immediate release.
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Criminal law — assault occasioning actual bodily harm — self‑defence and excessive force; Criminal damage — 'willfully' includes recklessness; appellate review of findings of fact; sentencing — substitution with community order and immediate release
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14 April 2003 |
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High Court enhanced burglary sentences by two years, applying a six-year starting point and noting significant aggravating factors.
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Criminal law — Burglary sentencing: guideline starting point six years; aggravating factors (multiple offenders, no plea, prior convictions) justify sentence enhancement; disparity in sentences may be justified by antecedents
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11 April 2003 |