Lilongwe District Registry - 2022

6 judgments

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6 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
August 2022
Conviction for attempted suicide confirmed; custodial sentence set aside under s340(1) in favour of immediate release.
Criminal law – Sentencing – Attempted suicide – Custodial sentence for first offender – Section 340(1) CPE Code requires recorded good grounds before imprisonment – High Court review powers under Courts Act ss25–26 and CPE Code s362.
4 August 2022
July 2022
Decree nisi granted for cruelty (denial of conjugal rights); adultery not proved; Divorce Act applied to pre‑MDFRA marriage.
Statutory interpretation – MDFRA s.3 and s.114(6) – retrospectivity; Divorce Act governs pre‑MDFRA marriages; matrimonial relief – desertion, cruelty (denial of conjugal rights), adultery (insufficient hearsay/technical evidence); custody, maintenance and property distribution; damages for adultery; costs.
8 July 2022
June 2022
A defendant’s preliminary objection was dismissed for failing to follow court direction to pursue an inter-partes challenge to a consent order.
Civil procedure – consent order alleged entered by mistake – ex parte application to stay or set aside vs inter-partes procedure – preliminary objection at assessment hearing improper where party failed to follow court direction – dismissal with costs.
23 June 2022
March 2022
Court awarded MK14,000,000 for malicious prosecution and exemplary damages, denying additional pain and suffering or withheld-benefit awards.
Civil damages — Assessment of quantum — Malicious prosecution — Restitutio in integrum — Exemplary damages for oppressive or arbitrary state action — Pain and suffering award requires specific evidential basis.
16 March 2022
February 2022
Claimant proved a likely forged transfer to a subsequently-created trust; court ordered rectification restoring original joint ownership.
Registered Land Act – registration vests leasehold title; transfer by instrument — requirement of prescribed form and witnessing; alleged forgery of transfer — proof on balance of probabilities; transfer to trust created after transfer — invalid; rectification of register for fraudulently obtained registration.
14 February 2022
January 2022
Claimant awarded policy-limit damages for pain, suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement following a vehicle rollover.
Motor vehicle accident – assessment of damages – pain and suffering; loss of amenities; disfigurement – consent order limiting liability to policy limit – award of policy limit balance and costs.
19 January 2022