High Court of Malawi - 2021 April

20 judgments
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Results. 20 judgments found.

20 judgments
April 2021
Interlocutory injunction granted restraining both parties from dealing with disputed customary land pending trial.
  • 'Interlocutory injunction' — application of American Cyanamid principles; 'serious question to be tried' as to ownership; 'adequacy of damages' for customary land; 'balance of convenience' and preservation of rights pending trial.
30 April 2021
Court granted mutual interlocutory injunction restraining both parties from dealing with disputed customary land pending determination.
  • Interlocutory injunction — Land disputes — Serious question to be tried — Adequacy of damages for land — Balance of convenience — Preservation of customary land pending trial.
30 April 2021
Council’s decision to allow a Gandhi statue was unlawful, procedurally defective and violated claimants’ right to dignity.
  • Administrative law — judicial review of local authority decision — Physical Planning Act compliance and planning committee approval required; Constitutional law — right to human dignity (section 19) — administrative obligations to consider public interest and discrimination; Unreasonableness/Wednesbury review; Monuments and Relics Act inapplicable where no monument connection; Improper joinder of Attorney General where no decision by that office.
29 April 2021
26 April 2021
Whether the claimant held a beneficial interest in the matrimonial home and whether subsequent transfers were void for lack of purchaser inquiry and improper transfer.
  • Registered land — Overriding interests — Rights of person in actual occupation — Bona fide purchaser for value without notice — Matrimonial property — Beneficial interest — Transfer void ab initio — Trust ownership and authority to sell — Rectification of land register.
23 April 2021
Court appointed the respondent and an applicants’ nominee as joint interim administrators over estate fishing business pending will validity litigation.
  • Deceased estates — Interim administrator pendente lite — Appointment under ss.46 and 78(1) — Management of estate business — Surviving spouse’s priority under s.43 — Joint interim administrators — Decision‑making and referral to court.
20 April 2021
Claimant struck by vehicle awarded K5,500,000 for pain, suffering and loss of amenities; special damages denied.
  • Personal injury — motor vehicle collision — open distal tibia fracture — assessment of general damages (pain and suffering; loss of amenities; disfigurement) — degree of incapacity assessed at 40% — special damages not proved — award K5,500,000 — costs to claimant.
19 April 2021
Court increased sentence for defilement of a four‑year‑old from 10 to 45 years, stressing gravity and need for deterrence.
  • Criminal law — Defilement of a child — Sentence enhancement — Starting point 14 years — Aggravating factors: victim age (4 years), physical injury, psychosocial harm — Need for routine psychological assessment of child victims.
19 April 2021
Court increased the convict's sentence to 45 years for defiling a 4-year-old, finding the 11-year term manifestly inadequate.
  • Criminal law — Defilement — Sentencing — Starting point of 14 years for defilement — Aggravating factors (very young victim, position of trust) outweighing mitigation — Guilty plea and first-offender status — Need for routine psychosocial assessment of child victims.
19 April 2021
Whether death or life imprisonment is appropriate for a heinous, premeditated murder of a person with albinism; court imposed life imprisonment.
  • Criminal law — Murder of a person with albinism; sentencing discretion under amended Penal Code; death penalty no longer mandatory; "rarest of the rare" principle; life imprisonment as alternative maximum; aggravating v. mitigating factors; need for thorough investigation and inquest.
19 April 2021
16 April 2021
Notice of application improper; defence must file a formal 'Application to Restore Case' under Order 13 Rule 6(2); claimant awarded costs.
  • Civil procedure — Applications must follow prescribed Forms (Order 10) — Notices of application not generally permitted — Restoration of struck-out defence under Order 13 Rule 6(2) — Compliance with procedural rules and signatures — Costs for improper Notice.
15 April 2021
Judge recuses after public allegation of bribery by accused’s relative to preserve appearance of justice; trial adjourned sine die.
  • Judicial recusal — appearance of justice — public allegation of bribery by party’s relative — reasonable apprehension of bias — recusal mid-trial — adjournment pending reallocation.
15 April 2021
Convictions for harmful cultural practices quashed due to defective particulars, irregular guilty pleas, and insufficient supporting facts.
  • Criminal law — Harmful cultural practices (Child Care, Protection and Justice Act s80/s83) — Sufficiency of particulars — Plea-taking formalities (CP&EC s251) — Necessity to prove nexus between cultural practice, timing and harm — Defective pleas fatal — Conviction quashed — Retrial declined.
11 April 2021
Convictions for harmful cultural practices quashed for insufficient particulars, defective guilty pleas and inadequate prosecutorial facts.
  • Criminal law — harmful cultural practices — adequacy of particulars — plea-taking under s.251 CP&EC — requirement that prosecution facts disclose offence — incurable procedural defects — quashing convictions; retrial discretionary.
11 April 2021
Assessment of fatal injury damages: K3,000,000 loss of life, K2,156,868 dependency; special damages denied.
  • Personal injury — Fatal road traffic accident — Assessment of damages — Loss of expectation of life; loss of dependency — Multiplicand/multiplier method using minimum wage where no earnings proved — Special damages require strict pleading and proof — Adjustment of awards for currency devaluation and comparative precedents.
9 April 2021
Assessment of damages for a death: court adjusted awards for inflation, calculated dependency via multiplier/multiplicand, and disallowed unproven special damages.
  • Assessment of damages — Fatal road accident — Loss of expectation of life — Comparable awards adjusted for inflation — Loss of dependency — multiplicand and multiplier method — use of recorded age and one-third deduction — special damages must be strictly proved.
9 April 2021
Court awarded K4.7M for personal injury (pain, loss of amenities, disfigurement); special damages not proved.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages — wedge compression fracture (L2) and MCP dislocation of index finger — general damages (pain and suffering, loss of amenities, disfigurement) assessed by reference to comparative awards — special damages require strict proof.
9 April 2021
A dismissed defence force member is entitled to statutory terminal benefits under Defence Force regulations and compensation for unfair dismissal.
  • Employment law — applicability of Employment Act to armed forces — Defence Force Act and regulations govern dismissal remedies; unlawful dismissal; terminal benefits — one month’s pay per completed year; compensation for future loss of earnings and pension; interest on terminal benefits.
8 April 2021
Insurer settlements do not bind an absent insured; contributory negligence and inevitable accident raised triable issues, defeating summary judgment.
  • Summary judgment — Order 12 r.23(1) — realistic prospect test; Insurer settlement/non-contest — binding effect on insured who did not participate; Defences of contributory negligence and inevitable accident — triable issues; Abuse of process — striking out defence.
6 April 2021