Results.
44 judgments found.
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| June 2017 |
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30 June 2017 |
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Whether the Rules of the Supreme Court remain applicable in the High Court after repeal of section 29 of the Courts Act.
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Civil procedure — summary judgment — applicability of Rules of the Supreme Court after repeal of section 29 of the Courts Act — General Interpretation Act ss 13 and 14(1)(e) preserving subsidiary legislation — procedural lacunae remedied by interpretation provisions.
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27 June 2017 |
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26 June 2017 |
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26 June 2017 |
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Assessment of personal injury damages: plaintiff awarded K1,505,000 for wrist fracture-related losses and incurred report costs.
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Personal injury — assessment of damages — non-pecuniary damages for fracture, pain and suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement — special damages must be pleaded and proved; reasonable compensation may be awarded where proof lacking — reliance on prior awards for quantum adjustment.
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26 June 2017 |
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26 June 2017 |
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Petition improperly filed under subordinate rules, guardian ad litem report misused, and duplicate filing amounted to abuse of process; petition struck out.
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Adoption — procedural compliance with Adoption of Children (High Court) Rules; guardian ad litem appointment and confidentiality; duplicate petitions and judge shopping as abuse of process; ethical obligations of counsel in adoption proceedings.
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23 June 2017 |
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Whether an insurer’s passenger-exclusion is void when Section 144(b) mandates cover for passengers for hire or reward.
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Road Traffic Act ss 144(b) and 148 — Motor vehicle insurance — Passenger exclusion in policy — Validity where passengers are carried for hire or reward — Third-party right to sue insurer.
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23 June 2017 |
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Defamatory newspaper photo-caption of plaintiffs as corrupt; court awards MK3,000,000 each.
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Defamation — Assessment of damages — Newspaper publication juxtaposing officers' faces with criminal imputation — Wide circulation and use of photographs — Absence of apology aggravating injury — General damages awarded.
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23 June 2017 |
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23 June 2017 |
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20 June 2017 |
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Assessment awarded K1,400,000 for pain and suffering and K13,500 special damages, costs to plaintiff.
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Tort
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Damages — Assessment of general damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities — Quantum for limb/foot injury with 20% incapacity
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Special damages — Proof and awarding of specific outlays (medical and police reports) — Award based on exhibited receipts
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20 June 2017 |
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Assessment of damages for a tortious motor-vehicle injury: pain, disfigurement, special damages and costs.
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Tort
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Personal injury — Assessment of damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities — Quantum with partial incapacity
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Disfigurement — Permanent scarring — Compensation adjusted for devaluation
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Civil procedure — Default judgment — Assessment of damages in absence of defence
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20 June 2017 |
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Ex parte injunction discharged because the applicant suppressed a material email, breaching the duty of full disclosure.
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Civil procedure — ex parte interlocutory injunction — duty of full and frank disclosure — suppression of material facts (email DM2) — materiality and discharge of injunction; disciplinary/complaints procedure and natural justice (not determined).
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19 June 2017 |
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19 June 2017 |
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Court ordered transfer of a commercial suit to the Commercial Division and awarded costs against the plaintiff.
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Civil Procedure — Division of High Court — Commercial Division jurisdiction — Transfer of proceedings commenced in wrong division under s6A(2) Courts Act — Costs liability under s6A(3)
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19 June 2017 |
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Plaintiff's claim dismissed for want of prosecution; defendant's counterclaim granted and damages to be assessed.
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Contract law — breach and specific performance — dismissal for want of prosecution — counterclaim granted in plaintiff’s absence — damages to be assessed by Assistant Registrar — costs awarded.
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19 June 2017 |
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Assessment of personal injury damages: MK2,000,000 general damages; special damages only if pleaded and proved.
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Assessment of damages — personal injury — general damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities — reliance on comparable awards; special damages must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved; unpleaded heads of damages (loss of expectation of life, loss of dependency) not recoverable.
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19 June 2017 |
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16 June 2017 |
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Assessment of damages for a child’s road accident injuries: quantum for pain, loss of amenities, disfigurement, and modest special expenses.
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Personal injury — assessment of damages — road traffic accident involving child — permanent deformity and persistent pain — awards for pain and suffering, loss of amenities, disfigurement — proof of special damages and reasonable compensation for incidental expenses.
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16 June 2017 |
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Revocation of fraudulently obtained limited letters of administration and cancellation of unlawful land registration due to existing caution.
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Succession and probate — letters of administration — fraudulent/non‑disclosure in obtaining limited grant — revocation of grant; Land registration — effect of caution — unlawful registration and rectification of register; Will construction — clause prohibiting transfer of charged property.
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16 June 2017 |
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Driver negligence caused the accident; insurer's exclusion for "hire or reward" passengers did not apply to plaintiffs.
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15 June 2017 |
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13 June 2017 |
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Bail pending appeal denied for convicted foreign nationals due to flight risk and lack of exceptional circumstances; forfeiture stayed.
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Criminal law — bail pending appeal — convicted offenders — discretionary and requires exceptional/unusual circumstances; risk of flight of foreign nationals; stay of forfeiture on appeal under s.149(3) CP&E Code; appellate prospects assessed but not determinative at bail stage.
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12 June 2017 |
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Plaintiff's claims for false imprisonment, defamation, and malicious prosecution dismissed; defendant reported to police and awarded costs.
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Tort — False imprisonment — Liability where a private party 'directs' police arrest; Defamation — arrest and court attendance alone not necessarily defamatory; Malicious prosecution — requirement to prove initiation, lack of reasonable and probable cause, and malice.
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12 June 2017 |
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Court granted interlocutory injunction restraining church from excommunicating clergy pending trial.
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Civil Procedure — Interlocutory Injunction — Preservation of status quo pending trial — Application of American Cyanamid principles
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Ecclesiastical Law — Church Governance — Validity of conference and authority to convene — Effect on resolutions including excommunication
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Administrative Law/Natural Justice — Right to fair hearing — Whether clergy were afforded opportunity to be heard before excommunication
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12 June 2017 |
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Appeal against sentence in trafficking convictions; court corrected misrecorded charges and adjusted concurrent custodial terms.
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Criminal law — Trafficking in persons — Proper statutory charge (sections 14, 15, 16(1)(c)) — Sentencing discretion — manifestly excessive test — substitution/correction of charges where victim’s age or mental capacity misrecorded.
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12 June 2017 |
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Applicant's challenge to a chief's appointment dismissed because only the President may appoint chiefs; respondents were wrong parties.
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Administrative law — judicial review — proper parties; Attorney General not a proper respondent in judicial review unless office privy to challenged decision; Chiefs Act s.4 — appointment/recognition of chiefs vested in the President; action dismissed for being directed at wrong parties; interim stay discharged.
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9 June 2017 |
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Customary land sales are unenforceable; respondent’s inheritance upheld and the appellant’s appeal dismissed with costs.
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Customary land — communal ownership and administration by chiefs — alleged sale of customary land unenforceable; burden and credibility of evidence in land disputes; limitation defence misconceived.
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8 June 2017 |
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Application for judicial recusal dismissed: alleged bias grounded in procedural disputes and improper attempts to add parties was unreasonable.
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Recusal — apprehension of bias — test of the reasonable and fair‑minded observer; procedural complaints do not alone establish bias; adding parties requires proper application; recourse is by appeal, not judicial disqualification.
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8 June 2017 |
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8 June 2017 |
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7 June 2017 |
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Assessment of dismissal compensation involving factual issues requires a quorate IRC; a Chairperson sitting alone renders the decision a nullity.
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Labour law — Industrial Relations Court — quorum requirement (s.67 Labour Relations Act) — assessment of compensation involves questions of fact and law — Chairperson sitting alone incompetent — decision nullity; jurisdiction — acquiescence does not confer jurisdiction.
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7 June 2017 |
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Failure to explain plea consequences and statutory defilement defence to unrepresented accused rendered the trial unfair; accused discharged absolutely.
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Criminal procedure — recording of guilty plea — proviso to s.251(2) (ascertainment of understanding and consequences) — failure renders plea defective; Criminal law — defilement — statutory defence of reasonable belief as to age — duty to inform unrepresented accused; Remedy — conviction quashed/sentence set aside and discharge under s.337(1)(b) where mitigating circumstances exist.
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7 June 2017 |
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7 June 2017 |
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Accused convicted of murder for acting in joint enterprise; provocation and self‑defence rejected.
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Criminal Law
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Murder — Joint enterprise and liability for fatal acts committed in concert — Application of s.209 and s.22 Penal Code
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Mens Rea — Malice aforethought by use of dangerous weapons — Section 212 Penal Code
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Defences — Provocation and self‑defence assessed; provocation insufficient to reduce to manslaughter (ss.213–214)
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7 June 2017 |
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Court allowed deterrent custody for unlawful possession/sale of prescription medicines but reduced sentence and imposed a fine.
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Criminal Law — Sentencing — Deterrent custodial sentences for first offenders in cases of unlawful possession and sale of prescription medicines — Application of ss339–340 Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code — Pharmacy, Medicine and Poisons Regulations Reg.35(1)/s65(1)
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6 June 2017 |
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5 June 2017 |
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Leave granted for judicial review of customs seizure due to disputed vehicle identity and unpaid duty.
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Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Leave to Apply — Arguable case threshold at leave stage
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Revenue Law — Customs Seizure — Identity of seized vehicle and payment of duties — Seizure pending payment of customs duty
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5 June 2017 |
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Part payment without documentary proof of full settlement constitutes admission; failure to prove settlement warrants judgment on admission.
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Civil procedure — Judgment on admission (Order 29) — Part payment as admission of liability — Burden to prove full and final settlement — Evidentiary requirement for settlement documentation.
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1 June 2017 |
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Interim injunction granted to restrain alleged unlawful transfer of village headship pending customary succession dispute.
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Injunctions — Interim relief to preserve status quo — Disputes over customary leadership succession — Chewa customary authority and lineage claims — Role of affidavit evidence in interlocutory relief.
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1 June 2017 |
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Registrar erred by deciding disputed factual issues under Order 14; appeal allowed and ruling set aside with costs.
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Civil procedure — Appeal from Registrar — Order 14 RSC — Improper summary disposal of disputed factual issues — Rescission of sale — Local authority powers (s.35 Local Government Act) — Contractual privity — Remittal for full hearing.
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1 June 2017 |
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Appellate court upheld lower court's credibility finding in a customary land dispute and dismissed the appeal with costs.
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Customary land — communal ownership — chiefs’ power to authorize use under Land Act ss.25–26 — limits of chiefs’ authority — allocation vs individual title; civil proof on balance of probabilities; credibility findings on customary land disputes; relationship between Traditional Authority determinations and court jurisdiction.
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1 June 2017 |
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1 June 2017 |