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Lilongwe District Registry - 2025 July

3 judgments
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3 judgments
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