Results.
56 judgments found.
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| December 2015 |
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Appellate court declines to disturb magistrate’s fair distribution of matrimonial property; appeal dismissed.
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Family law — Matrimonial property — Division of assets — Appeal by rehearing — Appellate interference with magistrate’s factual and discretionary distribution of matrimonial property.
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21 December 2015 |
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Property acquired during a customary marriage is family property; indirect contributions justify equitable distribution.
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Matrimonial property distribution — Customary marriage — Recognition of direct and indirect contributions (domestic labour and assistance in family enterprises) — Family estate not matrimonial property — Application of constitutional protections (s.22, s.24(1)).
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21 December 2015 |
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The applicant's claims of illegal distress, seizure and eviction dismissed for failure to prove wrongful seizure or illegality.
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Land law
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— Distress for rent — Warrant of distress not essential though advisable — Authority of sheriff/bailiff and notice of distress govern validity
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— Eviction — Sealing premises and handing keys to landlord constitutes eviction and may be ratified by landlord
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Tort — Trespass and conversion — Claimant must prove seizure of non-distrainable items; failure to call material witnesses and absence from inventory undermines claim
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17 December 2015 |
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Reapplying for bail in the trial court while appealing its revocation constitutes abuse of process; application dismissed.
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Criminal procedure — Bail
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— Restoration of bail after revocation — Concurrent application in trial court and pending appeal may constitute abuse of process
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— Change of circumstances — Alleged medical deterioration must be substantiated to justify restoration of bail
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Criminal procedure — Applicability of CP&EC s 3 and s 5 — Not engaged where no error or procedural irregularity on the record is shown
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17 December 2015 |
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Unopposed, measured affidavits of encroachment entitle the plaintiff to relief for trespass and costs.
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Land law — Trespass (tort) — Encroachment established by unopposed affidavits — Relief and costs
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15 December 2015 |
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Assessment of damages for plaintiff bitten by defendant's dogs; court awarded K7,000,000 plus costs.
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Personal injury — assessment of damages — dog-bite injuries — pain and suffering; loss of amenities of life; disfigurement — use of comparative awards to fix quantum.
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14 December 2015 |
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Long delay and failure to pay revaluation fees amounted to repudiation; seller entitled to rescind and claimant’s reliefs denied.
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Contract law — Sale of land — Whether time is of the essence and when notice is required to make time of the essence
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Equity — Specific performance & laches — Readiness and willingness to perform and long delay as bar to equitable relief
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Registered land — Vendor’s lien and overriding interests — Effect of registration on seller’s equitable rights under Registered Land Act
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14 December 2015 |
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High Court dismissed IRC appeal for failing to raise any question of law or jurisdiction under section 65(2) LRA.
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Labour law — Appeal from Industrial Relations Court — s.65(2) Labour Relations Act — appeal limited to questions of law or jurisdiction — High Court will not re-appraise factual findings or admit new issues on appeal — pension fund transfer dispute.
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7 December 2015 |
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Interlocutory injunction refused for lack of a triable claim; leave granted to correct the defendant's corporate name.
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Civil procedure
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— Interlocutory injunction — Application of American Cyanamid principles — Requirement of a good arguable/triable claim
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— Amendment of pleadings — Misnamed defendant — Leave to amend where no prejudice suffered
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Contract law — Alleged delay in disbursement — Need to identify and prove breach under the correct agreement
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4 December 2015 |
| November 2015 |
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Delay in utility connection not a contractual breach where notice of possible delays existed and time was not of the essence.
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Contract law
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— Time for performance — Whether time was of the essence where written notice warned of possible delays
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— Remedies for breach — Reasonable time, causation and foreseeability of consequential losses
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29 November 2015 |
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Whether distinct injuries from one accident must be aggregated under section 9 of the Workers Compensation Act.
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Workers Compensation Act — Aggregation of multiple injuries — Section 9 — Compensation by aggregated percentages not exceeding 100%
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Civil procedure — Appeal and referral under Workers Compensation Act — Role of Commissioner, magistrate and High Court; functus officio status of Commissioner
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Medical assessment — First Schedule entries — Requirement to catalogue and percentage-assess all distinct injuries
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26 November 2015 |
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Applicant’s bank payment unproven; lawful statutory disconnection not trespass or defamation, claim dismissed.
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Tort
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— Trespass to land — Entry by utility under statutory power to disconnect service — Authority and licence to enter
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— Defamation — Justification (truth) as defence where conduct reflects unpaid arrears
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Contract/Payment — Payment via bank does not discharge debtor’s obligation absent agreement or proof of credit to creditor’s account
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26 November 2015 |
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Claimant failed to prove contamination occurred under manufacturer's control; claim dismissed for lack of causation evidence.
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Tort
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— Negligence — Manufacturer’s duty to ultimate consumer — Liability only where defect existed while product under manufacturer’s control
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— Causation — Onus on claimant to prove absence of intervening acts; evidence of sealed container critical to infer defect at manufacture
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Civil procedure — Joinder of parties — Proper basis required to join insurer where contractual privity not pleaded
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25 November 2015 |
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Decree nisi granted where petitioner proved respondent's serial adultery; jurisdiction established and costs awarded.
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Family law — Divorce — Jurisdiction (domicile) under s.2 Divorce Act — Adultery as ground for divorce — Undefended petition and unchallenged evidence — Decree nisi and costs awarded.
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16 November 2015 |
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Court corrected its omission and held the respondent entitled to compound interest at the contractual rate, dismissing the applicant's simple-interest request.
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Civil procedure — correction of clerical mistake (Order 20 rule 11) — Interest — contractual rate (2% above prime or maximum permitted) — simple versus compound interest — commercial transactions; compound interest recoverable where contract silent.
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2 November 2015 |
| October 2015 |
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Chief Justice recused from certifying constitutional referral due to perceived bias and ceded authority via inherent jurisdiction.
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Constitutional law — Certification of constitutional matter — Whether Chief Justice may certify where prior judicial involvement creates apprehension of bias — Courts Act s 9(2)–(3)
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Judicial conduct — Recusal and perceived bias — Test for reasonable apprehension of bias and application where judge chaired related inquiry
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Civil/constitutional procedure — Inherent jurisdiction — Use to cede authority to another judge in the interests of justice to prevent denial of remedy
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28 October 2015 |
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26 October 2015 |
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Registration presumption of vehicle ownership was rebutted by uncontradicted transfer evidence, making the purchaser liable in tort.
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Road traffic — Vehicle ownership — Registration raises rebuttable presumption of ownership — Road Traffic Act ss 2, 136(1), 139(1)
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Evidence — Rebutting presumption — Uncontradicted corporate witness testimony and transfer document sufficient; hearsay inadmissible for subsequent sale
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Civil procedure — Third‑party proceedings — Failure to respond to third‑party notice and cost/indemnity consequences — Order 16 Rules of Supreme Court
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13 October 2015 |
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In a Chitengwa marriage, property registered in one name can be jointly held and, absent special circumstances, must be equally divided under constitutional fairness.
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Family law — Matrimonial property
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— Customary marriage — Application of section 24(1)(b)(i) fairness principle to property 'held jointly'
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— Registered title and alleged gift — Registration or gifting does not conclusively negate joint holding under customary law and the Constitution
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Family law — Maintenance and property division — Interaction of section 24(1)(b)(ii) fair maintenance with equal sharing and burden to prove maintenance needs
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7 October 2015 |
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Whether the respondent’s report amounted to laying a charge, giving rise to false imprisonment and defamation, but not malicious prosecution.
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False imprisonment — distinction between reporting a crime and laying a charge; Defamation — false statement, publication and reputational injury; Malicious prosecution — requirement of procuring/procurement, absence of malice and probable cause; Civil burden of proof — balance of probabilities.
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7 October 2015 |
| September 2015 |
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Appeals to the High Court from the Industrial Relations Court are limited to questions of law or jurisdiction; factual appeals are not permitted.
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Labour Relations Act s65 — Appeals from Industrial Relations Court to High Court limited to questions of law or jurisdiction; findings of fact final; factual appeals dismissed.
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4 September 2015 |
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Court imposed 11 years’ imprisonment (consecutive) for massive money laundering and conspiracy despite plea, cooperation and restitution.
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Economic crimes — Money laundering and conspiracy to defraud — Large-scale public fund embezzlement — Weight of guilty plea, cooperation and restitution in mitigation — Consecutive versus concurrent sentences — Sentencing triad: culpability, offender circumstances, public interest.
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4 September 2015 |
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A consent order prescribing an agreed manner of tax payment binds the tax authority; a retrospective lien without statutory basis is unlawful.
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Civil procedure — Consent orders binding and estoppel; Tax law — creation and effect of tax liens (Taxation Act s.107A); Lien requires neglect/refusal to pay and statutory filing; Commissioner’s discretion to accept alternative payment arrangements.
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1 September 2015 |
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High Court may only hear Industrial Relations Court appeals on questions of law or jurisdiction; factual appeals are dismissed.
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Labour Relations Act s65(2) — appeals from Industrial Relations Court limited to questions of law or jurisdiction — factual and evidential findings by Industrial Relations Court final and binding — High Court may not re-examine internal disciplinary procedure or factual determinations.
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1 September 2015 |
| August 2015 |
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Immediate termination was unfair where the defendant failed to prove fundamental non‑performance by the contractually required reports.
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Contract — Termination for breach — Immediate termination under clause 19.1 — Termination must be founded on breach going to the root of the contract and be fair — Proof by contractually-prescribed weekly/completed field weeding reports
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Evidence — Documentary proof and hearsay — Daily labour statistics and unverified photographs insufficient to establish contractual non‑performance
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Contract law — Implied terms — No general implied duty of good faith in all commercial contracts under Malawian law
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30 August 2015 |
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High Court set aside magistrate’s estate distribution for lack of jurisdiction and appointed the Administrator General to administer the estate.
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Deceased estates — Jurisdiction of subordinate courts limited to 'small estates' (≤ K1,000,000) — Magistrate exceeded jurisdiction by distributing larger estate; jurisdiction can be raised on appeal; Administrator General appointed as receiver of letters of administration under s23.
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28 August 2015 |
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The appellant's theft-by-servant conviction was set aside for unsafe reliance on stock shortages and defective charging.
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Criminal law — theft by servant — stock shortages — circumstantial evidence — exclusive control and access — alternative explanations — illicit enrichment requirement — inadmissible hearsay — defective omnibus charging.
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20 August 2015 |
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Sentencing may proceed while confiscation/penalty applications are postponed, but confiscation (in rem) and pecuniary penalties (in personam) are treated differently and procedural safeguards apply.
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Money laundering — MLA: confiscation order is in rem against tainted property; pecuniary penalty/payment-in-lieu is in personam and punitive; Section 51(2) permits deferral of confiscation/penalty proceedings; sentencing and confiscation largely separate but procedural safeguards required when proceedings are postponed; disclosure order for bank cheque images.
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3 August 2015 |
| July 2015 |
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The respondent unlawfully declared the applicants' strike illegal and withheld pay; those decisions were ultra vires and invalid.
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Labour law — Right to strike — Declaration of illegality — Jurisdiction for declaring illegality vested in Industrial Relations Court or High Court
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Administrative law — Judicial review — Ultra vires act and denial of audi alteram partem — Withholding wages as disciplinary/administrative action requiring hearing
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27 July 2015 |
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Applicant lacked standing to challenge regulator’s re‑opening of licence negotiations due to operational incapacity to compete.
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Administrative law — Judicial review — Standing/sufficient interest — Whether an applicant dependent on another operator’s network has sufficient interest to challenge regulator’s licence decision — Order 53 r 3(7)
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Telecommunications law — Licensing — Individual versus general licence — Whether call‑back/voice telephony requires an individual licence under s 18(3)(a) Communications Act
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23 July 2015 |
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Court refused to strike out the defence, ordering defendants to amend inconsistent pleadings rather than dismissing them.
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Civil procedure — Order 18 r.19 (strike out/amend pleadings) — discretionary power sparingly exercised — triable issues (contributory negligence) preclude striking out; inconsistent/embarrassing pleadings to be amended; Order 2 r.1 curative power.
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13 July 2015 |
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Magistrate court lacked jurisdiction over leased farm land; judgment set aside and land vested in appellant pending High Court proceedings.
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Civil procedure — Jurisdiction — Subordinate magistrate courts — Section 39(2)(a) Courts Act — Land comprising a leased farm — Proceedings void for lack of jurisdiction — Judgment set aside; interim vesting of land in appellant pending High Court determination.
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2 July 2015 |
| June 2015 |
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A two-month delay in seeking to set aside a default judgment was held inordinate; merits did not justify relief.
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Civil procedure — setting aside default judgment — promptness and reasonable time; merits of defence insufficient where delay is inordinate; two-month delay held inexcusable.
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15 June 2015 |
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15 June 2015 |
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Whether assisting police with information constitutes false imprisonment or malicious prosecution where arrest was based on reasonable suspicion.
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Tort
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— False imprisonment — Liability for supplying information or assisting police — Whether assistance equates to laying a charge — Penal Code s 328
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— Malicious prosecution — Elements (initiation by defendant; termination in favour; absence of reasonable and probable cause; malice) — Assistance to police does not itself establish malice or lack of probable cause
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9 June 2015 |
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Whether plaintiffs proved that a negligent overtaking caused a bus to overturn and whether the driver’s conviction was admissible.
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Road traffic — Negligence — Overtaking causing accident — Burden of proof and witness credibility
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Evidence
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— Previous criminal conviction — Admissibility in civil proceedings — Hollingworth rule applies
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— Failure to call material witness and conflicting eyewitness accounts — Inference and weight
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1 June 2015 |
| May 2015 |
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A missing trial record does not bar sentence re-hearing; death sentence inappropriate where material circumstances remain uncertain.
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Homicide sentence re-hearing — Missing or destroyed trial record — Court may proceed to re-sentence; s.260 CP&EC permits receiving external evidence to inform sentence — Cannot challenge conviction on re-hearing — Death sentence inappropriate where material circumstances uncertain — Youth, first offender status and time served as mitigating factors.
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31 May 2015 |
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Court varied property award to recognise non-financial contributions, upheld instalment payment for village house, and maintained children’s maintenance order.
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Family law — Divorce and ancillary orders — Fair distribution of matrimonial property — recognition of non-financial contributions; maintenance orders — assessment by reference to payer’s means and children’s best interests; instalment payments justified where payer lacks means; appellate review limited without fresh evidence.
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20 May 2015 |
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8 May 2015 |
| April 2015 |
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Leave for judicial review refused because statutory High Court review is an adequate alternative remedy, interpreted compatibly with the right to counsel.
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Judicial review — Wednesbury unreasonableness — alleged bias — statutory review/supervision under CP & EC and Courts Act — constitutional right to legal representation — interpretation of statutory exclusion of hearing rights.
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30 April 2015 |
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On resentencing after mandatory death invalidation, the applicant's post‑conviction rehabilitation justified a 20‑year term.
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Homicide — sentence rehearing after mandatory death invalidation — admissibility of expert declaration — relevance of post‑conviction rehabilitation on resentencing — mitigating factors and 'rarest of the rare' death‑penalty threshold.
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23 April 2015 |
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Trial held in prison without Chief Justice direction is a nullity; confessions obtained by compulsion must be excluded.
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Constitutional law — appeal or review under section 42(2)(e) — statutory expansion of rights; Criminal procedure — venue — trials in prison precincts without Chief Justice direction violate public hearing right; Evidence — confessions — section 176 CPE Code admits only relevant and admissible confessions; confessions obtained by compulsion/torture (sections 19(3), 42(2)(c)) must be excluded; procedural requirement that courts determine voluntariness as preliminary factual matter; date in charge generally not essential.
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21 April 2015 |
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Court finds the accused malingering, admits psychiatric reports, and determines the accused is mentally fit to stand trial.
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Criminal procedure — Fitness to stand trial — Court is the trier of fitness; psychiatric experts render opinion — Section 133 CP&EC — Malingering and presumption of mental capacity.
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16 April 2015 |
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14 April 2015 |
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Court referred constitutional challenge to rule banning probate proceedings in district registries to Chief Justice for certification.
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Constitutional law — Rule 2(2) Courts (High Court) (Procedure in District Registries) Rules — probate jurisdiction — district registries barred from issuing originating probate process; issues raised: access to justice (s.41(2)), effective remedy (s.41(3)), right to development (s.30), equality (s.20), High Court jurisdiction (s.108(1)), and consistency with Deceased Estates Act read with s.10(2) Constitution — referral to Chief Justice for certification under Courts Act.
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9 April 2015 |
| March 2015 |
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Appeal affirmed on conviction for defilement; ten‑year sentence reduced to eight years for first offender of advanced age.
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Criminal law
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— Sexual offences — Defilement of girl under 16 — Corroboration of unsworn child evidence — Proof beyond reasonable doubt
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— Sentencing — First offender and advanced age — Reduction of sentence — Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code s 340(1)
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29 March 2015 |
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Whether a trustee can validly encumber trust land without co‑trustee consent and whether originating summons is appropriate.
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Registered Land Act ss 60(1) & 96(1)(a) — trustee’s power to create charges; validity of surety charge without co‑trustee consent; rectification of land register for mistake or fraud; appropriateness of originating summons where core facts and credibility are contested.
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26 March 2015 |
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Court granted instalment payments, stressing full disclosure and cautious exercise of discretion in judgment-debt applications.
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Payment of judgment-debt by instalments; discretion; full, frank and honest disclosure; balancing creditor's right to immediate recovery and debtor's inability; trading debts; statutory interest 5% p.a.
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24 March 2015 |
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Whether legality of a strike and related wage deductions are amenable to judicial review or fall within private employment law.
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Administrative law — Judicial review — Amenability of decisions on strike legality and wage deductions to judicial review
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Labour law — Industrial relations — Jurisdiction to declare a strike illegal and appropriate forum (High Court vs Industrial Relations Court)
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Civil procedure — Leave to apply for judicial review — Discharge of leave only where substantive application will clearly fail
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2 March 2015 |
| February 2015 |
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27 February 2015 |