High Court of Malawi - 2021 August

38 judgments
Skip past Court registries
Skip past years
Skip past months
Skip to results

Results. 38 judgments found.

38 judgments
August 2021
Assessment of damages for fatal and non‑fatal road accident injuries, including dependency and report costs.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages — pain and suffering; loss of expectation of life; loss of dependency — multiplicand and multiplier method; proof requirement for special damages; reasonable compensation for unproven report costs.
27 August 2021
An ex parte interlocutory injunction was maintained because claimants disclosed triable issues and damages would be inadequate; set-aside application dismissed.
  • Civil procedure — Interlocutory injunctions (Order 10 r.27) — triable issue and limited merits inquiry; adequacy of damages; abuse of letters of administration; non-disclosure and setting aside ex parte orders.
26 August 2021
Interlocutory injunction preserving disputed estate upheld where claimants showed a triable issue and damages were inadequate.
  • Interlocutory injunctions — ex parte injunctions — suppression/non-disclosure of material facts — letters of administration — administration and distribution of deceased estate — adequacy of damages — preservation of status quo — balance of convenience.
26 August 2021
An application for an interim injunction restraining a municipal ban on motorcycle taxis dismissed pending substantive review.
  • Administrative law — Interlocutory injunction — Test: serious question to be tried; adequacy of damages; balance of convenience — Right to economic activity — Limitation under constitutional section 44 — Municipal regulation of motorcycle taxis and public safety concerns.
24 August 2021
Claimant with scrotal rupture awarded MK7.5M for pain and loss of amenities; permanent impotence insufficiently proven.
  • Personal injury — workplace scrotal laceration exposing testes — assessment of general damages; pain and suffering; loss of amenities (sexual/conjugal life) — evidence required to prove impotence; disfigurement claim not pleaded/proven — award MK5,000,000 (pain) and MK2,500,000 (amenities).
23 August 2021
23 August 2021
23 August 2021
Assessment awards damages for 37‑day false imprisonment, nine months’ withheld wages, interest and costs following default judgment.
  • Damages — False imprisonment — Assessment of quantum for 37‑day detention; recovery of withheld wages for interdiction; interest on withheld salaries; party and party costs after default judgment.
23 August 2021
Appeal admitted out of time and retrial ordered where missing magistrate court record was substantial and prejudicial.
  • Criminal law — Appeal and extension of time — Admission of appeal out of time under s349(4) CPEC — Appellate review of magistrate findings — Missing/incomplete lower court record — Substantial omissions justify retrial — Credit for time in custody.
20 August 2021
High Court confirmed divorce and property division, ordered reassessment of compensation, and set aside an improper protection order allowing return to the home.
  • Family law — Divorce; distribution of matrimonial property — assessment of compensation — review of magistrate’s decision; Protection orders — improper ex parte PDVA order and unlawful eviction; Judicial conduct — delays, impartiality and fair trial concerns.
19 August 2021
Application to extend time to file a bill of costs refused for failure to demonstrate sufficient reason for delay.
  • Civil procedure — extension of time to file bill of costs — Order 31 r12 CPR 2017 — discretionary relief — good and substantial reason — enforcement proceedings — initial bill and supplementary bill — importance of timelines.
16 August 2021
16 August 2021
16 August 2021
Claimants awarded lost salary and 25% ex‑gratia for extra project work; interest refused; arbitrator’s fees allowed.
  • Employment law — wrongful/early termination — assessment of damages; conversion of US$ contractual salaries at prevailing rate; implied entitlement to pay for additional project work; discretionary refusal of interest on damages; enforceability of unapproved salary recommendations; arbitration fees awarded.
13 August 2021
Court assessed compensation for unfair dismissal, awarding loss, severance, leave and notice pay; refused interest and employer pension contributions.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — assessment of compensation (immediate and future loss, severance, accrued leave, notice) — mitigation — interest on damages not generally awardable; pension employer contributions not payable to dismissed employee under Pensions Act.
13 August 2021
11 August 2021
11 August 2021
Court awarded MK15,000,000 for severe personal injuries; insurer liable only to MK5,000,000 policy limit.
  • Damages — personal injury — assessment of quantum for pain and suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement; insurer’s liability limited to policy limit; claimant entitled to pursue driver for balance.
10 August 2021
Credible oral testimony sufficed to prove a metatarsal fracture; claimant awarded K4,000,000 for general damages, special damages dismissed.
  • Personal injury — proof of fracture by oral evidence — credibility vs best evidence (x‑rays) — general damages for metatarsal fracture — special damages must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved.
10 August 2021
A regular default judgment was set aside where defendants showed a prima facie defence and poor pleadings justified investigation despite delay.
  • Civil procedure — Setting aside default judgment — Order 12 r.21 HCCPR — Regularly obtained judgment requires prompt application and sworn prima facie meritorious defence — Inadequate particulars in statement of claim may justify delay to investigate.
9 August 2021
The claimant awarded purchase price, accrued interest and inconvenience damages after defendant sold land to another and failed to refund.
  • Contract/land sale — recovery of purchase price; assessment of interest on money due — acceptance of uncontroverted accountant's computation; damages for inconvenience for prolonged deprivation; costs taxed if not agreed.
6 August 2021
Registrar taxed applicants’ bill allowing five counsel, applied 100% care and conduct, and reduced instruction fees to MWK10,000,000 each.
  • Costs assessment — number of counsel — care and conduct uplift — instruction fee — NGO-associated counsel entitlement — Order 31 taxation factors.
6 August 2021
Police torture and false imprisonment resulted in K34,000,000 damages, including a large punitive award against the State.
  • Police misconduct; torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; false imprisonment; assessment of non-pecuniary damages; exemplary/punitive damages; Police Act and constitutional breaches; comparative awards in personal injury assessments.
5 August 2021
Claimants awarded general and exemplary damages for 27-day false imprisonment due to oppressive state conduct.
  • Civil damages — False imprisonment — Assessment of general damages for 27 days’ detention; consideration of comparative awards and currency value — Exemplary/punitive damages for oppressive, arbitrary state conduct — Costs taxed if not agreed.
5 August 2021
Assessment of damages for unfair dismissal of a defence force member; Defence Force Regulations govern gratuity and pension entitlements.
  • Labour law — unfair dismissal — armed forces excluded from Employment Act — Defence Force Act and Regulations govern gratuity and pension; one month pay per completed year as gratuity; nominal pension award where pensionable-service threshold unmet; interest and costs.
5 August 2021
5 August 2021
4 August 2021
Assessment of damages for serious road-traffic injuries, awarding quantified sums for non-pecuniary and pecuniary losses.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages after default judgment — heads: pain and suffering, loss of amenities, disfigurement, loss of earnings/earning capacity, future nursing care — use of comparable awards, multiplier method and adjustment for currency devaluation — leave to appeal granted.
4 August 2021
Assessment of personal injury damages for a road accident, reduced by 15% contributory negligence and subject to insurer policy limits.
  • Assessment of damages — personal injury from road traffic accident — awards for pain and suffering, loss of amenities, disfigurement, loss of earnings — adoption of assumed income where earnings not proved — 15% contributory negligence reduction — insurer liable within policy limit.
4 August 2021
Ex parte interlocutory injunction discharged due to suppression of material facts about nearby licensed quarry operations.
  • Civil procedure — Interlocutory injunction — Ex parte injunction — Duty of full and frank disclosure — Suppression of material facts — Mining licence and proprietary rights — Effect of licensed quarry operations on injunction relief.
3 August 2021
Youthful first-time offender convicted of premeditated murder sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment with hard labour.
  • Criminal law — murder — sentencing — mandatory death penalty abolished — mitigation (youth, first offender, guilty plea, remorse) weighed against aggravation (premeditation, attack on sleeping victim, use of stone) — sentence of 25 years with hard labour.
3 August 2021
3 August 2021
Ombudsman lacked jurisdiction over employment disputes properly triable in the Industrial Relations Court; systemic abuse‑of‑power remedies upheld but employment relief quashed.
  • Administrative law — Ombudsman jurisdiction — s123 Constitution and Ombudsman Act — limits where court remedies available; Labour law — employment disputes fall within Industrial Relations Court; Natural justice — right to be heard and challenge evidence when Ombudsman issues final determinations; Remedies — systemic remedies and referrals may stand while employment orders ultra vires.
3 August 2021
Claimant awarded compensation for a 17-month extension but failed to prove inflated business losses; court awarded MK61.9m plus disturbance.
  • Compulsory acquisition/compensation — assessment of damages for loss of business due to project extension — limits of pleadings on claimed period — requirement to prove special damages; valuation by occupancy, room rate, costs and disturbance allowance.
3 August 2021
Default judgment set aside because defendant demonstrated a meritorious defence (not the insurer); defence to be filed within seven days.
  • Civil procedure — setting aside default judgment — Order 12 rule 21; service on corporate bodies — branch v principal place of business; meritorious defence — insurer liability for uninsured vehicle; inordinate delay and interests of justice.
2 August 2021
Claimant awarded MK5,503,000 for physical injuries; insurer liable only up to MK5,000,000 policy limit.
  • Personal injury — Assessment of damages — Pain and suffering; loss of amenities; disfigurement — Proof of mental injury requires medical evidence — Special damages must be strictly proved — Insurer’s liability limited by policy limit.
2 August 2021
Court awarded damages for pain, loss of amenities and disfigurement; refused special damages for lack of proof.
  • Personal injury — Assessment of damages — Pain and suffering; Loss of amenities of life; Disfigurement; Special damages require strict documentary proof; Use of comparative awards and adjustment for currency devaluation.
2 August 2021
2 August 2021