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Lilongwe District Registry - 2025

9 judgments
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9 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
December 2025
Joseph Manguluti v Simplex E.D. Chithyola & Malawi Electoral Commission (Election Petition Cause 66 of 2025) [2025] MWHC 29 (3 December 2025)
Defective affidavits and insufficient evidence meant petitioner failed to prove electoral irregularities; election confirmed.
Election law – electoral petition – admissibility and credibility of affidavits (name, signature and jurat date discrepancies) – failure to cross-examine deponent – burden and standard of proof in election petitions – MEC’s investigatory duties, jurisdiction and remedial powers – allegations of handouts, intimidation, purchase of voter slips, and ballot handling.
 3 December 2025
September 2025
Ndhlovu v Malawi Electoral Commission (Electoral Case 1 of 2025) [2025] MWHC 22 (10 September 2025)
Application dismissed for being commenced in the wrong procedural form; election challenges require petition or Form 86A originations.
Election procedure — Mode of commencement — Petition under PPLGEA or judicial review by originating motion (Form 86A); CPR cannot add modes; procedural irregularity fatal.
 10 September 2025
Sandram v Malawi Electoral Commission (Electoral Case 5 of 2025) [2025] MWHC 23 (9 September 2025)
Failure of the Returning Officer to notify a nomination defect rendered the exclusion unlawful despite incorrect fee paid at presentation.
Election law — nomination fees — age qualification for youth candidates determined at time of presentation — Returning Officer’s duty to notify defects before close of nominations (s.39(2)–(3)) — failure to notify defeats internal remedies (s.99) — judicial review permissible where no communicated decision.
 9 September 2025
August 2025
Binda vs Malawi Electoral Commission (Electoral Case 4 of 2025) [2025] MWHC 17 (29 August 2025)
Court abridged time and set an expedited timetable to hear a review of a candidate's exclusion under Section 42(2) before the election.
Electoral law – judicial review of electoral commission decision – exclusion of candidate – urgency – abridgement of time under civil procedure rules – operation of Section 42(2) of the Elections Act.
 29 August 2025
July 2025
The Republic vs Mumba (Homicide Criminal Case 157 of 2020) [2025] MWHC 18 (28 July 2025)
Bail pending appeal denied: no exceptional circumstances, appeal unlikely to succeed, substantial sentence remains unserved.
Criminal procedure — Bail pending appeal (s.359) — Discretionary relief only in exceptional, special or unusual circumstances — Factors include likelihood of success and risk of serving substantive sentence — Likelihood alone rarely sufficient.
 28 July 2025
Mbele v The Director of Public Prosecutions (Constitutional Case 2 of 2024) [2025] MWHC 20 (17 July 2025)
Criminal defamation provision struck down as an unconstitutional, disproportionate limit on freedom of expression.
Constitutional law — Freedom of expression — Criminal defamation — Section 200 Penal Code — Overbreadth, vagueness and chilling effect — Section 44 limitation test — Civil remedies as less restrictive means — Attorney General’s neutral role in constitutional referrals.
 17 July 2025
Mbele v The Director of Public Prosecutions (Constitutional Case 2 of 2024) [2025] MWHC 21 (17 July 2025)
Whether criminal defamation (section 200) unjustifiably limits freedom of expression and must be struck down.
Criminal defamation – Freedom of expression (section 35) – Limitation test (section 44(1),(2)) – Proportionality and necessity – Civil remedies as less restrictive means – Chilling effect – Decriminalisation consistent with regional and international jurisprudence – Attorney General’s impartial role in constitutional referrals.
 17 July 2025
April 2025
Kabambe v Nyasulu & The Director of Public Prosecutions (Judicial Review 2 of 2025) [2025] MWHC 12 (28 April 2025)
Judicial review of the DPP’s prosecutorial decisions is exceptional; applicants must first exhaust parliamentary and criminal remedies.
Prosecutorial discretion – Judicial review leave – Selective prosecution alleged – Requirement to exhaust parliamentary oversight (Legal Affairs Committee) – Exceptional circumstances threshold (dishonesty/mala fides) – Prematurity and abuse of civil process to challenge criminal proceedings.
 28 April 2025
January 2025
S (on the application of City Plastics Industry) & 10 Others v Minister of Natural Resources & Climate Change & The Attorney General (Judicial Review Cause 48 of 2024) [2025] MWHC 3 (31 January 2025)
Ex parte permission for judicial review discharged for abuse of process and suppression of prior related proceedings.
Administrative law — Judicial review — Ex parte permission — Duty of frank and full disclosure — Suppression of prior related proceedings — Abuse of court process via multiplicity of actions — Discharge of permission and interlocutory injunction — Discretionary extension of time (functus officio).
 31 January 2025