High Court of Malawi - 2019 March

37 judgments
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Results. 37 judgments found.

37 judgments
March 2019
Assessment of personal injury damages awarding differing sums for pain, suffering, disfigurement and special damages.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages — pain and suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement — use of comparable awards as guide — special damages awarded — insurer allowed but did not prove policy exhaustion.
29 March 2019
29 March 2019
Unauthorized commercial use of plaintiffs' family image violated privacy; damages and costs awarded, but no dignity violation.
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27 March 2019
A village headman lacks statutory authority to administer customary land; the Traditional Authority must determine occupancy after consultation.
  • Land law — Customary land administration — Land Act s.26 — Chiefs Act — distinction between Chief and Village Headman — authority to authorize occupation of customary land — requirement of consultation and due process.
27 March 2019
26 March 2019
Application to stay dismissal for want of prosecution was improperly grounded under Orders 12 and 21 and was dismissed with costs.
  • Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — stay of ruling — Order 12 rule 55(1) (setting aside dismissal by agreement or on appeal) — Order 21 (appeals from subordinate courts) — High Court lacks jurisdiction to set aside dismissal on the basis advanced where appeal remedy lies with appellate court.
26 March 2019
26 March 2019
Claim for revised invoice rates upheld; defendant justified in deducting re‑fumigation costs; compound interest awarded; collection indemnity denied.
  • Civil procedure — court divisions and jurisdiction; contract formation and variation by conduct; estoppel to deny agreed revised prices; warranty of beetle‑free fumigation; lawful deduction for re‑fumigation costs; award of compound interest; collection costs not recoverable after litigation.
26 March 2019
Letters of administration granted; estate must be administered and distributed under section 17, giving spouse and children equal shares.
  • Probate — Letters of administration — Intestacy distribution under section 17 — Equal shares for spouse and children — District authority guidance on administration.
25 March 2019
Assessment of damages for serious road‑traffic injuries: awards for pain and suffering, lost earnings and loss of earning capacity.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages — non‑pecuniary damages (pain and suffering, loss of amenities, disfigurement); pecuniary loss — past lost earnings; loss of earning capacity — multiplicand/multiplier approach; special damages — lost goods and cash; costs for reports.
25 March 2019
Judicial review allowed where university promotion decisions and a journal 'whitelist' raise public-law, ultra vires and procedural-fairness issues.
  • Administrative law — judicial review — amenability of employment-related decisions to judicial review where public-body decision-making, ultra vires action, or procedural fairness is in issue; limitation — three months from final administrative decision.
25 March 2019
A default judgment entitles claimants to pursue distribution; defendants must seek restoration to challenge it, not strike out the summons.
  • Probate — distribution summons — attempt to strike out under inherent jurisdiction — default judgment binding unless set aside — non-attendance at mediation — restoration of defence under Order 13 rule 6(2).
22 March 2019
22 March 2019
Claimant awarded K10,296,436.64 for wrongful death—life expectancy, dependency and funeral expenses.
  • Personal injury — Wrongful death — Assessment of damages: loss of expectation of life; loss of dependency (multiplicand and multiplier); funeral expenses — proof and award without detailed receipts; reliance on comparable awards and WHO life-expectancy statistics.
19 March 2019
Court awarded K5,500,000 general damages and K4,000 special damages for severe elbow and chest injuries; insurer’s liability capped at K5,000,000.
  • Personal injury — Assessment of damages — fractured olecranon and elbow dislocation, chest and pelvic contusions — general damages for pain and loss of amenities — proof and award of special damages — reliance on comparable authorities and inflation — insurer’s contractual policy limit caps liability.
18 March 2019
Court ruled there was a case to answer under section 254(1); accused must enter defence.
  • Criminal procedure — Case to answer — Section 254(1) — Prima facie test — When to rule no case to answer — Requirement to give reasons for no-case rulings (ss.139–140).
18 March 2019
16 March 2019
Permission for judicial review set aside where claimant lacked an arguable case and had unexhausted alternative remedies.
  • Administrative law — judicial review permission — requirement of an arguable case and exhaustion of alternative remedies; Tax law — scholarship/bursary exemption requires ministerial approval; procedural — setting aside permission and costs.
15 March 2019
The appellant's defilement conviction was upheld on credible child, maternal and medical evidence; sentence reduced from 11 to 8 years.
  • Criminal law — Defilement of child under 16 — Child’s unsworn evidence and circumstantial corroboration; admissibility of medical reports — compliance with s180(3) — oral evidence of medical officer; sentencing — youth and first offender mitigation; appellate reduction of sentence.
14 March 2019
14 March 2019
14 March 2019
11 March 2019
11 March 2019
Sole credible eyewitness proved driver negligence; insurer's non-reporting defence did not defeat the plaintiff's claim.
  • Motor vehicle accident — Insurer liability — Proof of negligence on balance of probabilities — Sole eyewitness credibility — Failure to report accident to insurer not dispositive of claimant's entitlement.
11 March 2019
The applicant's claim dismissed because the insurer's policy excluded passenger liability and the claim against the driver was abandoned.
  • Motor vehicle insurance — passenger liability exclusion — s.144(b) Road Traffic Act — renewal of original policy by renewal notes — insurer not liable for passenger injuries absent cover for passengers or employment-related carriage.
11 March 2019
Court found a prima facie case of manslaughter under s.254; accused ordered to enter defence.
  • Criminal procedure — Case to answer — s.254 Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code — Prima facie test — Whether reasonable tribunal might convict — Distinction between rulings that there is a case to answer and findings of no case requiring reasons.
11 March 2019
11 March 2019
Strength of the prosecution's case can inform bail decisions, but must be weighed with other factors; bail granted with strict bonds.
  • Bail law; Bail (Guidelines) Act s4(ii) — strength of case as bail factor; lower evidentiary standard at bail stage (affidavits); presumption of innocence; strict conditions for serious offences (defilement).
8 March 2019
Section 90 grants the revenue authority discretion to pursue importer or possessor; no injunction as damages are adequate.
  • Customs law — Interpretation of Section 90 Customs and Excise Act — Whether provision creates priority to recover unpaid duty from importer or permits discretion to pursue importer or person in possession — Interlocutory injunction prerequisites — adequacy of damages.
8 March 2019
An appeal lacking grounds and merely re-presenting evidence will be dismissed; each party bears own costs.
  • Appeal procedure — requirement to file grounds of appeal; appellate rehearing and deference to trial findings of fact; procedural non-compliance may warrant dismissal.
7 March 2019
An appeal that merely re-presents evidence without grounds is dismissed for failure to show trial court error.
  • Civil procedure — Appeal — Requirements for valid appeal — Need for grounds of appeal — Appeal by way of rehearing — Appellate reluctance to disturb trial findings of fact absent misdirection, misreception of evidence, or perversity — Dismissal where appellant merely re-presents evidence.
7 March 2019
Assessment of quantum of damages after negligent driving, limiting repair costs and awarding reasonable compensation for non-pecuniary losses.
  • Motor vehicle negligence — assessment of quantum of damages — repair costs where vehicle not produced — loss of use and inconvenience awards despite limited proof — special damages strictly proven by receipt.
6 March 2019
Damages for breach of land sale measured as the difference between current market price and contract price, computed via forex conversion.
  • Contract law — breach of sale agreement — measure of damages as difference between contract price and market price — computation via USD conversion using Reserve Bank forex averages — assessment of small variance due to currency stability.
6 March 2019
6 March 2019
6 March 2019
Assessment of personal injury damages and rejection of insurer’s late-raised exhausted policy-limit defence; defendants jointly and severally liable.
  • Motor vehicle personal injury — assessment of general damages (pain and suffering, loss of amenities, disfigurement) — medical evidence and comparable awards; Insurance — policy limits — must be pleaded and determined in main proceedings; exhausted policy defence raised at assessment rejected; joint and several liability of insurer and insured; implication of terms into insurance contracts to give effect to reasonable expectations.
5 March 2019
5 March 2019