Principal Registry - 2023

69 judgments
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Results. 69 judgments found.

69 judgments
May 2023
Overtime claims require employee proof; unreasoned lump-sum awards for unfair dismissal must be set aside and reviewed.
  • Labour law — Unfair dismissal — Procedural fairness v substantive reason — Compensation assessment — Burden of proof for overtime on employee — Registrar/Assistant Registrar jurisdiction — Review under Rule 5A — Mitigation and contributory fault — Severance pay computation.
5 May 2023
Court held interdiction and prosecution null where suspension power rests with the President and Director enjoys statutory immunity absent alleged bad faith.
  • Administrative/constitutional law — judicial review of government action — permission to apply ex parte constitutes the review application; where no defence is filed claimant may seek scheduling conference or ask Court to end proceedings early — exception to mootness for decisions capable of repetition yet evading review — public officer immunity under Corrupt Practices Act (section 22) requires allegation/establishment of bad faith before proceedings — suspension/interdiction power of Director vested in President (section 6(3)).
5 May 2023
April 2023
Registrar found ambiguity in Order 13(6)(2) on restoring struck-out defences and referred the issue to the Judge.
  • Civil procedure — mediation — Order 13(6): striking out defence vs dismissal of claim; scope of restoration under Rule 6(2); Registrar’s powers under Order 25; referral to Judge for authoritative determination.
19 April 2023
Experienced employee’s failure to take available precautions defeated negligence and statutory duty claims against the employer.
  • Employer's duty of care; employee’s duty to take reasonable care; Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare Act (ss.13,18,58,65); contributory/sole negligence; res ipsa loquitur.
5 April 2023
An experienced worker’s failure to take available precautions defeated his claim of employer negligence and statutory breach.
  • Personal injury — employer’s duty under Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare Act — alleged breach of statutory duty — contributory negligence by experienced employee — causation and failure to prove employer negligence.
5 April 2023
March 2023
The applicants recovered damages only for false imprisonment; unpleaded and unproven heads were dismissed, award K1.5M each.
  • Constitutional/Delict — False imprisonment — Assessment of damages limited to pleaded relief — Evidential burden for special damages — Duration (20 hours) and circumstances relevant to quantum — Award K1,500,000 per claimant — Costs to be agreed or taxed.
28 March 2023
Whether reliance on a Ministerial Budget Statement to calculate excise tax is lawfully reviewable and whether a Special Referee appeal was available.
  • Judicial review — Amenability where lawfulness/illegality alleged — Ministerial Budget Statement as basis for excise tax; legitimate expectation; alternative remedy — Special Referee jurisdiction under s121 Customs and Excise Act; interim injunction — adequacy of damages.
22 March 2023
Aggravating factors (premeditation, abuse of trust, pregnancy, HIV risk) outweighed mitigation; long concurrent custodial sentences imposed.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing for sexual offences — Defilement, rape and indecent practices — Abuse of trust, premeditation, victim pregnancy and miscarriage, HIV risk — First offender status and age not determinative — Concurrent long custodial sentences.
8 March 2023
Court imposed a lengthy custodial sentence for defilement, rape and indecent practices due to premeditation, abuse of trust and serious victim harm.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing — Defilement, rape and indecent practices in presence of a child — Aggravating factors: premeditation, abuse of trust, victim pregnancy and miscarriage, HIV‑positive assailant, sexual act in presence of a child — Upward sentencing trend for sexual offences — Custodial sentence imposed (concurrent terms).
8 March 2023
Court set aside a default judgment to determine contested estate issues on the merits; claimant ordered to pay costs.
  • Civil procedure — setting aside default judgment — service and content of summons (Order 5) — default judgment provisions (Order 12 r6 & r21) — reasonable cause and meritorious defence — discretion in interests of justice — deceased estates (Deceased Estate (Wills, Inheritance and Protection) Act ss.17,187).
6 March 2023
February 2023
Continuation of an interim injunction pending judicial review of alleged unlawful and abusive tax enforcement by the revenue authority.
  • Judicial review — tax enforcement — interim injunction — serious question to be tried — adequacy of damages — balance of convenience — unclean hands — status quo ante.
21 February 2023
A statutory Law Society may seek judicial review of public‑law decisions affecting the Anti‑Corruption Bureau; review is not barred by section 61 Courts Act.
  • Judicial review — jurisdiction to review magistrates' decisions — section 61 Courts Act distinction between suits and judicial review — locus standi of statutory Law Society to protect public interest — alternative remedies and exhaustion — interdiction as public law vs. private employment matter — ex parte stay applications and urgency.
8 February 2023
Claimant failed to exhaust the statutory appeal under section 121 and missed the three-month filing deadline, so judicial review was dismissed.
  • Administrative law — Judicial review barred where alternative remedy available under s121 Customs and Excise Act; Special Referee’s jurisdiction covers disputes as to amount of duty (including formula issues) — Requirement to exhaust statutory appeal — Time limit for judicial review (3 months) — Post-decision discussions do not extend limitation period.
6 February 2023
Stay of execution denied where applicant failed to prove respondent’s impecuniosity and appeal prospects were not decisive.
  • Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Discretionary relief — Prospects of success on appeal not decisive — Applicant must prove respondent’s impecuniosity — Balance of injustice test.
1 February 2023
January 2023
Ex parte injunction discharged where borrower defaulted, misrepresented title/service and bank lawfully pursued sale under statutory remedies.
  • Interlocutory injunction — discharge of ex parte injunction; American Cyanamid principles; Registered Land Act ss.68 & 71; service of statutory demand; misrepresentation and bad faith; adequacy of damages; balance of convenience.
24 January 2023
The court found the insurer liable where the insured driver's road obstruction breached the duty of care and caused the collision.
  • Motor vehicle negligence — obstruction of road — duty of care of drivers — causation and burden of proof — insurer liability — assessment of damages.
13 January 2023
A road obstruction by an insured driver was negligent, rendering the defendant insurer liable and damages to be assessed.
  • Negligence — obstruction of road by driver — duty of care of road users — foreseeability and causation — insurer vicarious/liability — burden of proof on balance of probabilities.
13 January 2023
12 January 2023
Assessment of damages for property and business losses caused by negligent electricity supply, including replacement costs and lost profits.
  • Negligence — assessment of damages for destruction of property and business by electrical fire; replacement value and contractor quotations; proof of special damages; conversion of sales to profit (30% margin); general damages for inconvenience.
12 January 2023