Results.
52 judgments found.
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| January 2017 |
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Assessment awarded MK6.7 million for personal injury: pain and suffering, loss of amenities, and earning capacity; future care not proven.
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Personal injury — assessment of damages — pain and suffering and disfigurement — loss of amenities — loss of earning capacity (Smith v Manchester award) — admissibility of unpleaded injuries at assessment — proof of future nursing care and medical expenses.
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31 January 2017 |
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31 January 2017 |
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31 January 2017 |
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Plaintiff failed to prove the first defendant's negligence; evidence was insufficient and unreliable.
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Road traffic negligence; burden and standard of proof (balance of probabilities); evidentiary weight of hearsay versus eyewitness and police sketch; contributory negligence and intoxication of pedestrian; absence of neutral onlookers.
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31 January 2017 |
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27 January 2017 |
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Dispute over bank's sale instructions constitutes a commercial matter and must be transferred to the Commercial Division within 30 days.
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Civil Procedure
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Commercial Matters — Whether dispute over bank's instruction to sell property amounts to a commercial matter — Courts (Amendment) Act 2016 s 2
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Commercial Division Jurisdiction — Transfer of commercial matters to Commercial Division — Courts Act s 6A
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Interim Relief — Interlocutory Injunction — Continuance contingent on transfer and prosecution of main action
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27 January 2017 |
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Insurer liable in tort where its vehicle struck a pedestrian on the dirt verge and defendant failed to challenge the plaintiff's evidence.
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Tort — Negligence — Motor vehicle striking pedestrian on dirt verge — Vehicle encroachment on pedestrian area establishes negligence absent justification
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Civil Procedure — Non-appearance at trial — Unchallenged evidence accepted and judgment entered — Non-joinder of driver/owner where defendant does not object
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25 January 2017 |
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25 January 2017 |
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24 January 2017 |
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Magistrate erred in granting ex parte discharge and property release without complying with section 247; orders set aside.
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Criminal Law
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Procedure — Discharge for want of prosecution — Requirements of s 247(1) and (2) Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code
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Trial management — Change of venue and prosecutorial delay — Effect on fairness of trial
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24 January 2017 |
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Interlocutory injunction for spousal access dismissed as abuse of process amid related guardianship proceedings.
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Family law — interlocutory injunction — right to consortium — abuse of court process — full and frank disclosure — related custody/guardianship proceedings and court-ordered medical assessment.
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24 January 2017 |
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19 January 2017 |
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19 January 2017 |
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18 January 2017 |
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18 January 2017 |
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Court admonished the applicant’s counsel for misleading filings and discharged the interim stay preventing arrests.
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Judicial review — Procedure — Ex parte leave and interim stay — Validity of stay where initiating documents bear misleading endorsements
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Professional conduct — Legal practitioners — Misleading the court — Admonition under section 21(1)(b) of the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act
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Civil procedure — Service and representation — Consequences of irregular filing for interlocutory relief
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18 January 2017 |
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17 January 2017 |
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Court dismissed the plaintiff’s action for want of prosecution due to inordinate delay despite defendants' alleged non‑response.
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Civil Procedure
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Dismissal for Want of Prosecution — Delay and Inaction — Whether prolonged inactivity justifies dismissal
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Excuses for Delay — Non‑response by Opposing Party — Whether opponent’s silence absolves duty to prosecute
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13 January 2017 |
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13 January 2017 |
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Conviction upheld on reliable identification and corroborated confession; sentence reduced from 12 to 8 years IHL.
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Criminal Law — Identification Evidence — Eye‑witness identification: illumination, proximity and duration as reliability factors
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Criminal Procedure — Alibi — Burden and proof: prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt but alibi may be rejected where contradicted and confession corroborated
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Sentencing — Robbery Simpliciter — Manifestly excessive custodial sentence; application of Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidelines (starting point five years)
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13 January 2017 |
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13 January 2017 |
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Court awarded MK6,300,000 in a tort claim for pain, suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement; costs to be assessed.
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Tort — Personal injury — Assessment of damages — Quantum for pain, suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement — Use of comparable awards and inflation
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11 January 2017 |
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11 January 2017 |
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Court allowed a photocopy of a medical report where the original was unavailable and no prejudice to the defendant existed.
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Tort — Evidence — Production of original documents — Admissibility of copies where original cannot be produced and no prejudice to opposing party
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Civil Procedure — Trial Directions — Court discretion to relax original-document rule in the interest of justice
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Evidence — Documentary Evidence — Requirement for certified true copy versus practical impossibility of production
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11 January 2017 |
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11 January 2017 |
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10 January 2017 |
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Section 184(1)(c) is unconstitutionally vague and permits arbitrary, discriminatory arrests, violating multiple fundamental rights.
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Constitutional law — Criminal law — Vagrancy offence (s.184(1)(c) Penal Code) — Vagueness and arbitrariness — Presumption of innocence and due process — Limitation clause (s.44) — Remedy: declaration of invalidity; legislative and executive measures.
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10 January 2017 |
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Dispute over assignment and recovery of financing proceeds is a commercial matter requiring transfer to the Commercial Division.
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Commercial Law — Jurisdiction — Classification as commercial matter and mandatory transfer to Commercial Division — Courts (Amendment) Act 2016 s 2; Courts Act s 6A
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10 January 2017 |
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10 January 2017 |
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Magistrate courts may decide customary land disputes; customary land cannot be acquired by prescription or bequeathed if not owned.
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Civil Procedure — Jurisdiction of Subordinate Courts — Determination of Title to Customary Land — Courts Act s.39
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Property Law — Prescription/Adverse Possession — Customary Land Not Acquirable by Prescription — Registered Land Act s.134 proviso
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Succession — Wills and Intestacy — Clan/Customary Land Cannot Be Bequeathed if Not Owned by Deceased — DEWIPA ss.2,11,16
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10 January 2017 |
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10 January 2017 |
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9 January 2017 |
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Appeal dismissed where appellant’s counsel failed to show good cause for non-attendance, so judgment in absence stood.
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Civil Procedure
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Rescission and Stay of Execution — Proceedings in absence and discretion to proceed — Industrial Relations Court (Procedure) Rule 25(1)(h)
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Audi alteram partem — Failure to appear by counsel and effect on right to be heard
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Hierarchy of Courts — Concurrent hearings in superior and subordinate courts and counsel’s duty to plan or delegate
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9 January 2017 |
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Consultation via the employees' union satisfied retrenchment procedure; appellant failed to prove unfair dismissal, appeal dismissed.
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Employment Law
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Retrenchment/Operational Requirements — Consultation with workers' representatives under ILO Convention No. 158
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Unfair Dismissal — Burden of proof requires employer to show procedural consultation and compliance
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Procedural Objections — Failure to raise an issue at trial precludes succeeding on it on appeal
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6 January 2017 |
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Medical report admissible under s.180 to prove age; conviction and 12‑year sentence for defilement upheld.
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Criminal Law — Sexual Offences (Defilement) — Proof of age — Admissibility of medical report under section 180 CP&EC
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Criminal Procedure — Evidence — Section 180 hearsay exception — Requirements for service, objection and effect of representation
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6 January 2017 |
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6 January 2017 |
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Conviction and nine‑year sentence for defilement upheld; age proven and statutory defence not established.
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Criminal Law
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Sexual Offences — Defilement (s 138 Penal Code) — Proof of age and penetration
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Defences — Statutory proviso of s 138 — Requirements for reasonable belief that complainant was 16 or over
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Criminal Procedure — Evidentiary Powers — Exercise of s 201 powers to summon witnesses and assessment of inadmissible or non‑probative documents
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6 January 2017 |
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6 January 2017 |
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6 January 2017 |
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6 January 2017 |
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6 January 2017 |
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Court ordered implementation of unpaid rural hardship allowances, declared contested postings illegal, and awarded costs.
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Administrative law — Judicial review of executive inaction — Failure to implement rural hardship allowance; Unreasonableness, arbitrariness and discrimination in eligibility criteria; Mandamus to compel payment; Unlawful/retaliatory postings; Costs awarded.
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6 January 2017 |
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High Court may review 'case to answer' findings; co‑accused acquitted where confessions lacked independent corroboration.
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Criminal procedure
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Review of 'case to answer' — Whether High Court may review a magistrate’s finding of a case to answer — Powers to prevent miscarriage of justice
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Hostile witness — Evidential weight and inadmissibility when declared hostile
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Criminal law — Confession evidence — Use of one accused’s confession against co‑accused; requirement of independent corroboration and s176(3) test
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5 January 2017 |
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High Court may review 'case to answer' rulings; co-accused acquitted where another's confession lacked independent corroboration.
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Criminal Procedure — Review — Review of 'case to answer' rulings and High Court supervisory jurisdiction
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Evidence
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Confessions — Admissibility; confession of one accused inadmissible against co-accused without adoption or independent corroboration
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Hostile witnesses — Evidence declared hostile is to be disregarded and not relied upon by the prosecution
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5 January 2017 |
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4 January 2017 |
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Court required the State to produce evidence and proof of custody extension before deciding the applicant’s bail application.
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Criminal Law
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Bail — Strength of evidence required on affidavit under Bail Guidelines Act — Necessity to produce docket material
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Pre-trial Detention — Expiry of custody period and requirement for lawful extension — Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code ss 161G–H
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Publicity and Public Outrage — Whether media coverage or community anger justifies denial of bail
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4 January 2017 |
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Whether escape forfeits only up to sixty days' remission and whether the applicant was entitled to immediate release given subsequent sentences.
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Prison law — Remission of sentence — One‑third remission subject to lawful deductions — Section 107 and section 91 of the Prisons Act
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Criminal procedure — Release from custody — Effect of escape and subsequent convictions on release date — Duty to disclose material facts in release applications
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4 January 2017 |
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Appellate court reduced a 12-year defilement sentence to 9 years, balancing guilty plea and first-offender mitigation against pregnancy aggravation.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Defilement of a child (12 years) — Plea of guilty as mitigating factor — First offender and relative youth as mitigation — Victim pregnancy as aggravating factor — Appeal reduces sentence from 12 to 9 years' imprisonment with hard labour.
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4 January 2017 |
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4 January 2017 |
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Accomplice testimony may sustain a child‑trafficking conviction if, after caution, the court finds it credible.
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Criminal Law — Child Trafficking — Accomplice evidence and section 242: conviction may rest on uncorroborated accomplice testimony if the court warns itself and finds it credible
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Evidence — Identification — Turnbull principles not required where identification arose from multiple clear daytime encounters
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Procedure — Venue and in‑camera trial — Holding trial at prison for security does not vitiate proceedings absent shown prejudice
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4 January 2017 |