Results.
27 judgments found.
|
|
|
| December 2024 |
|
|
Whether a stay pending appeal should be granted where employer alleges appeal merits but cites financial incapacity.
-
Labour law — stay of execution pending appeal — criteria for granting stay (prima facie merits, nugatory appeal, prejudice) — unfair dismissal — retrenchment — consultation — ultra vires ministerial action — financial incapacity not determinative.
|
23 December 2024 |
| October 2024 |
|
|
Insurer subrogation succeeds where driver of BR 398 failed to give way, entitling recovery of MK15,390,000 plus interest and costs.
-
Road traffic negligence — duty to give way at junction; proof by photographs and damage pattern; insurer’s right of subrogation to sue in insured’s name; discretion to admit late documents under frontloading rules; award of compound interest and costs.
|
18 October 2024 |
|
The court ceased jurisdiction after referral to arbitration and declined to entertain further applications.
-
Arbitration law — Referral to arbitration cedes court jurisdiction — Court obliged to honour arbitration agreement; inability to hear matters once jurisdiction ceded; procedural delay attributable to counsel’s failure to appoint arbitrator.
|
16 October 2024 |
|
Registrar rejects originating summons as procedurally defective, abusive, and brought by a claimant lacking standing.
|
9 October 2024 |
| September 2024 |
|
|
Court refused to forfeit a bonded motor vehicle for late passport surrender, applying substantial justice and not punishing counsel‑caused delay.
-
Bail conditions — bonded property — forfeiture for non‑compliance; substantial justice over technicality; liability for counsel’s procedural failures; exercise of judicial leniency.
|
17 September 2024 |
| August 2024 |
|
|
Permission for judicial review refused because the Assistant Registrar’s act was judicial and appeal, not review, was the appropriate remedy.
-
Judicial review — Registrar’s functions — Issuance/rejection of court processes as judicial acts — Amenability to judicial review vs appeal — Alternative remedy (appeal) required before review — Natural justice and ultra vires challenge to admission-to-bar decision.
|
12 August 2024 |
|
Permission to seek judicial review denied because the Registrar acted in a judicial capacity and an appeal, not review, was the appropriate remedy.
-
Administrative law — judicial review — registrar’s issuance of court processes is a judicial function; decisions by a registrar exercising judicial power are not amenable to judicial review but to appeal; judicial review is a remedy of last resort where alternative remedies exist.
|
12 August 2024 |
| July 2024 |
|
|
Claims of negligence and defamation against auditors over a confidential forensic report dismissed; no duty owed to the claimant.
-
Auditor liability — duty of care limited to commissioning client; negligent misstatement — proximity and foreseeability; defamation — necessity of adoption and publication; confidentiality and court-ordered disclosure; compliance with ISRS 4400.
|
31 July 2024 |
|
Applicants detained beyond the 90-day pretrial limit for murder; court found detention unlawful and ordered conditional release on bail.
-
Constitutional right to challenge detention (s42) — pre-trial custody limit for murder (s161G CP & EC) — power to grant bail after expiry of custody time limit (s161I CP & EC) — unlawful detention — release on bail with conditions.
|
29 July 2024 |
|
Removal of a village headman without being heard breached natural justice and was quashed.
-
Administrative law — Judicial review — Procedural fairness and natural justice; section 43 Constitution (administrative justice); Chiefs Act s.9 — appointment/removal of village headmen; interpretation of administrative circular; Wednesbury unreasonableness; remedy — certiorari and costs.
|
26 July 2024 |
|
Consent judgment ordering defendants to pay claimant, third party to refund failed forward-exchange proceeds, and State to ensure funding.
-
Civil procedure — Consent judgment — Settlement enforcement; Commercial/contract law — refund for total failure of consideration under modified forward exchange contract; Escrow/escrow-account directions — joint control, restricted release and priority of disbursement; State involvement — direction to ensure funding to satisfy judgment.
|
22 July 2024 |
|
Default judgment for terminal benefits is not taxable; collection costs payable but without interest, Registrar to assess.
-
Taxation of judgment debts — terminal/post-employment benefits — characterization of monthly payments as net versus gross — prohibition on double taxation — collection costs payable but no interest — Registrar to assess collection costs.
|
22 July 2024 |
|
Failure to inform an unrepresented accused of statutory defences in defilement proceedings vitiates the conviction and mandates retrial.
-
Criminal procedure — Plea of guilty — s251(2) CP&EC — requirement to ascertain accused understands nature and consequences of plea; Criminal law — Defilement — s138 Penal Code — statutory defences (age-difference/consent) — duty of trial court to explain defences to unrepresented accused; Fair trial — omission to inform of defences vitiates conviction — conviction reversed and retrial ordered.
|
21 July 2024 |
|
Failure to comply with scheduling conference directions justified striking out the 1st defendant’s defence and dismissing its counterclaim.
-
Civil procedure — scheduling conference directions — mandatory compliance with Order 14 — effect of non-compliance (Order 14 r.5) — striking out defence and dismissal of counterclaim as sanction — section 47 General Interpretation Act inapplicable to court directions — good cause required to avoid sanctions.
|
17 July 2024 |
|
The claimant cannot sue defendants to set aside a consent judgment for alleged former-counsel misconduct; action dismissed with prejudice.
-
Civil procedure — Consent orders — Setting aside consent judgment — Grounds required: mistake/fraud or material/supervening change — Pleading particularity — Misconduct by former counsel is remedy against counsel, not basis against opposing parties — Frivolous/vexatious actions and abuse of process — Dismissal with prejudice and costs.
|
17 July 2024 |
|
Attempt to set aside a consent judgment dismissed as frivolous; claimant should sue former lawyers or enforce the order.
-
Civil procedure — setting aside consent orders — requirement to plead mistake, misrepresentation or material supervening change — abuse of process — remedy against former lawyers or by enforcing consent judgment.
|
17 July 2024 |
|
Action to set aside a consent order dismissed as disclosing no reasonable cause and an abuse of court process.
-
Civil procedure — setting aside consent orders — necessity to plead and particularise mistake, misrepresentation or material supervening event; remedies against former lawyers versus setting aside consent judgment; dismissal for frivolous, vexatious or abusive proceedings.
|
17 July 2024 |
|
Claimant failed to prove ownership or arbitrary appropriation; land was likely acquired via community consent and compensated, claim dismissed with costs.
-
Property law — proof of ownership and representative capacity — arbitrary appropriation of land — customary land acquisition procedures and compensation — evidential burden and failure to call material witness.
|
17 July 2024 |
|
Driver negligent; claimant partly contributorily negligent; liability apportioned 60% defendants, 40% claimant; insurer limited by policy.
-
Road traffic negligence — duty of care and lookout — narrow road and large vehicle — contributory negligence — apportionment 60/40 — vicarious liability of owner — insurer liability subject to policy limit (includes party-and-party costs).
|
15 July 2024 |
| June 2024 |
|
|
Court upheld Penal Code provisions criminalising certain same-sex sexual conduct and dismissed constitutionality challenges.
-
Constitutional law — Criminal law — Sections 153(a), 154, 156 Penal Code — Whether offences criminalising "carnal knowledge against the order of nature", attempts and male-on-male gross indecency violate rights to equality, privacy, dignity, personal liberty and fair trial — Interpretation of the Constitution — Scope of right to privacy — Presumption of constitutionality — Locus standi — Referral procedure for constitutional questions.
|
28 June 2024 |
| April 2024 |
|
|
Court awarded MK6,000,000 compensatory damages for defamation but declined exemplary damages for lack of malicious publication.
-
Defamation — libel for alleged robbery; compensatory damages awarded MK6,000,000 — exemplary damages refused for lack of malicious/guilty knowledge; claimant failed to prove pecuniary loss; damages must be pleaded and proved (Order 7 r.21); courts must balance reputation remedies with press freedom; UK personal-injury comparator not adopted.
|
19 April 2024 |
| February 2024 |
|
|
Employer did not breach statutory or common‑law duty; claimant failed to prove negligence and was himself negligent, claim dismissed with costs.
-
Occupational safety — Employer's duty of care under Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act — Employee's reciprocal duty to take reasonable care — Proof of negligence on balance of probabilities — Contributory negligence and credibility findings.
|
28 February 2024 |
|
An applicant cannot obtain leave to appeal to the SCA on an interlocutory matter without certified lower-court refusal and procedural propriety.
-
Civil procedure — Leave to appeal — Requirement to seek leave in the court below and to produce certified refusal before approaching appellate court — Interlocutory/non-final matters not appealable — Procedural propriety for litigants in person.
|
19 February 2024 |
| January 2024 |
|
|
Claimant failed to prove defendant’s negligence or statutory breach in fire allegedly caused by high voltage; claim dismissed with costs.
-
Tort — Negligence in electricity supply; causation; high voltage vs high current; short-circuit principles; res ipsa loquitur inapplicable; statutory reporting/arbitration (MERA) not mandatory.
|
25 January 2024 |
|
Court dismissed both claim and counterclaim for want of prosecution after 35 months' inaction.
-
Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — Order 12 r 54 — inordinate and inexcusable delay — abuse of court process — counterclaim also dismissed — costs: each party to bear own costs.
|
25 January 2024 |
|
Both claim and counterclaim dismissed for want of prosecution after 35 months' inaction; each party to bear its own costs.
-
Civil procedure — Dismissal for want of prosecution under Order 12, rule 54 — Inordinate delay and abuse of process — Counterclaim also dismissed — Overriding objective and case-management non-compliance — Costs: each party to bear own costs.
|
25 January 2024 |
|
Court set aside a without-notice injunction after the claimant failed to comply with filing, service and attendance conditions.
-
Civil procedure — interlocutory injunctions — without-notice orders — inherent power to set aside/discharge suo motu — non-compliance with terms (filing, service, attendance) — Order 10 r.27 — overriding objective.
|
22 January 2024 |