Results.
379 judgments found.
|
|
|
| May 2026 |
|
|
Court vacated interlocutory stay challenging DPP discontinuation, finding no risk of irreparable harm to preserve the appeal.
-
Constitutional law — Prosecutorial discretion — Whether the Director of Public Prosecutions is bound by recommendations of the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament
-
Civil procedure
-
—
Judicial review — Leave to apply for judicial review and discharge of leave — Whether a negative order discharging leave necessitates a stay of execution
-
—
Stay of execution — Discretionary relief — Requirement to show risk of irreparable harm or that appeal would be rendered nugatory
|
13 May 2026 |
|
SCA may hear stay pending High Court appeal and substituted a MK200,000,000 bank guarantee for 75% upfront payment.
-
Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Stay pending appeal — Jurisdiction of Supreme Court to entertain stay applications concurrent with High Court — Protection of interests where large awards involved
-
Constitutional law — Access to courts and equality — Right to effective remedy and non-discrimination — Limits on jurisdictional exclusion of applicants
|
12 May 2026 |
| April 2026 |
|
|
Production of official electoral documents raises a prima facie case, shifting evidential burden to the electoral commission; failure to explain irregularities voids the election.
-
Electoral law
-
—
Evidence — Burden of proof as to authenticity of statutory electoral documents — Production of Form 18B raises prima facie case and shifts evidential burden to electoral commission
-
—
Conduct of elections — Recording and authentication requirements — Irregularities affecting figures/words and signatures vitiate election — Elections Act s101(3)(b)
|
28 April 2026 |
| January 2026 |
|
|
|
13 January 2026 |
| May 2025 |
|
|
Whether long-serving casual workers were employees and whether they proved discrimination and entitlement to enhanced benefits.
-
Labour law — employee v independent contractor — totality of relationship test (control, integration, economic dependence, length of service, employer's treatment) — procedural compliance with Practice Direction No.1 of 2010 — discrimination claims require proof of prohibited ground under Constitution s.20 — costs in appellate labour matters discretionary.
|
3 May 2025 |
| June 2024 |
|
|
Application for permission to apply for judicial review dismissed for failing to follow the correct procedural provisions.
-
Civil procedure — Judicial review — Procedure for seeking permission after High Court refusal — Supreme Court of Appeal Act s.8 and CPR 1998 Part 52.15 govern practice — Incorrect reliance on SCA s.7, Order II, or High Court Order 19 rules — Procedural incompetence warrants dismissal; interlocutory relief falls away.
|
14 June 2024 |
| April 2024 |
|
|
A stay pending appeal requires a competent notice of appeal and leave to amend grounds; absent these, stay is denied.
-
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Competent notice of appeal required — Grounds of appeal cannot be amended without leave — Order I r18 SCAR is not the enabling provision for stay — Arguability and risk of nugatory appeal test.
|
12 April 2024 |
|
An inchoate judgment is not appealable, so a stay pending appeal was dismissed; the preliminary objection was procedurally defective.
-
Civil procedure — Preliminary objections — procedural compliance and minimum notice; Inchoate judgments — part of relief reserved for later assessment; Appealability — inchoate judgments not appealable; Stay of execution pending appeal — incompetent when judgment is inchoate.
|
10 April 2024 |
| March 2024 |
|
|
Leave and extension granted to challenge sentencing disparity; bail pending appeal refused.
-
Criminal procedure — Leave to appeal and extension of time — Sentencing uniformity between co-accused — Bail pending appeal — Supervisory nature and limits of High Court criminal review.
|
15 March 2024 |
|
Court refuses anti‑arbitration injunction, sanctions non‑disclosure in ex‑parte proceedings, and enforces arbitration agreements.
-
Civil procedure
-
—
Interlocutory jurisdiction — Applicability of Order I Rule 18; SCA jurisdiction only triggered where same application and material was first refused in High Court
-
—
Ex‑parte relief — Duty of full and frank disclosure; failure to disclose prior court directions justifies setting aside order
-
Arbitration law — Anti‑arbitration injunctions — Courts should respect arbitration agreements and refrain from granting anti‑arbitration injunctions except in limited cases (fraud, impartiality)
|
14 March 2024 |
|
14‑day deadline for skeleton arguments runs from filing the record of appeal in this Court; stay of execution maintained and application dismissed.
-
Civil procedure — stay of execution — Practice Direction No.1 of 2010 — 14‑day period for skeleton arguments runs from filing of record of appeal in Supreme Court of Appeal; non‑compliance may be waived or time enlarged; balance of justice and preservation of jurisdiction guide discharge of stay.
|
14 March 2024 |
| February 2024 |
|
|
Application to vacate stay dismissed for lack of SCA jurisdiction due to absence of a pending or contemplated appeal.
-
Appellate jurisdiction — Order I Rule 18 SCA Rules — stay of execution — requirement of a pending or contemplated appeal — inchoate appeal — judicial review precedents not a jurisdictional cure.
|
29 February 2024 |
|
Summary judgment was reversed and remitted where pleadings raised triable issues; defective and unnotified grounds were struck or expunged.
-
Civil procedure — Summary judgment/judgment on admissions — Only appropriate where no defence and no triable issues on pleadings; Procedural compliance — obligation to file skeleton arguments, list of authorities and authorities — failure may justify denial of audience and refusal of extension; Appeals — Grounds of appeal must comply with form and notice requirements — defective grounds may be struck or expunged.
|
27 February 2024 |
| January 2024 |
|
|
Where no appeal is pending, the SCA will not entertain fresh injunction applications; section 4 and 10 bar relief against government.
-
Civil procedure — jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Appeal to hear original interlocutory applications; Order 1 r.18 and s.7 SCA Act; distress for rent — adequacy of damages; injunctions against Government/public officers — s.10 and mandatory pre‑suit notice under s.4; equitable relief and clean hands rule.
|
11 January 2024 |
|
This Court lacked jurisdiction under Order I r18 to grant a stay of an IRC award governed by section 65(3) of the Labour Relations Act.
-
Labour Relations Act s65(3) — stay of execution — concurrent jurisdiction of IRC and High Court — Order I r18 SCA Rules — limits of Supreme Court of Appeal jurisdiction — requirement of statutory conferment of jurisdiction.
|
10 January 2024 |
|
Interlocutory application dismissed for being improperly filed and premature without exhausting internal party dispute-resolution mechanisms.
-
Political party disputes — justiciability; exhaustion of internal remedies (Article 18) before judicial intervention; Supreme Court of Appeal jurisdiction — improper reliance on s.7 and Order I r.18; interlocutory judgments and appealability under s.21; interlocutory injunctions — procedural prematurity.
|
3 January 2024 |
| December 2023 |
|
|
SCA application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and for failing to first pursue the required Court below proceedings.
-
Supreme Court of Appeal jurisdiction — Section 7 SCA Act — Order 1 Rule 18 SCA Rules — requirement to apply first to Court below — disguised appeal — inherent jurisdiction not a substitute for procedural compliance.
|
22 December 2023 |
|
Single-member court refused an ex parte stay where the lower court had not refused and the affidavit lacked disclosure.
-
Civil procedure — Order 1 r18 — application must first be made to court below; adjournment ≠ refusal; ex parte applications — duty of full disclosure; inadmissible hearsay; powers of single member under section 7 of the Supreme Court of Appeal Act.
|
13 December 2023 |
|
Refusal of leave for judicial review is not appealable; a stay pending appeal requires the correct enabling provisions and procedure.
-
Civil procedure — Stay pending appeal — Enabling provisions — Section 7 Supreme Court of Appeal Act — Order I r18 SCA Rules — Part 52.16 CPR — Refusal of leave for judicial review not appealable; remedy is to reapply to a single member — Stay against enforcement requires Part 54.12/Order 19 r20.
|
12 December 2023 |
| November 2023 |
|
|
Application dismissed for failing Order I, rule 18 and for inordinate delay; costs awarded against the applicants.
-
Procedure — Order I, rule 18 SCA Rules — concurrent jurisdiction — same application must be first made to court below; delay and introduction of post‑order facts bar relief. Civil procedure — stay of execution/payment into court — discretionary, requires good grounds (risk of dissipation, non‑recovery). Labour law — section 72 LRA limits IRC’s power to award costs but does not preclude High Court/SCA awarding costs on appeals
-
Costs — appellate courts have discretion to award costs in labour appeals
|
10 November 2023 |
|
Delay and applicants’ failure to mitigate justified refusal of extension, dismissal of judicial review permission, and refusal of stay.
-
Judicial review — permission to apply — extension of time — unjustified 16‑month delay and failure to mitigate — forum misstated; matters better determined at trial — refusal of interlocutory stay of criminal proceedings.
|
10 November 2023 |
|
Applicants’ 16‑month delay and failure to mitigate precluded extension; issues suited to trial court, so judicial review application dismissed.
-
Judicial review — permission to apply; extension of time — 3‑month rule; interlocutory stay of criminal proceedings; delay attributable to applicant/counsel; appropriateness of judicial review versus trial court remedy.
|
10 November 2023 |
| October 2023 |
|
|
Application for leave to seek judicial review dismissed for inordinate delay and lack of arguable legal interest.
-
Judicial review — leave to apply — extension of time — inordinate delay — locus standi/legal interest — alternative remedies under Financial Services Act — procedural fairness and merits of administrative decision.
|
23 October 2023 |
|
Security-for-costs order in a labour appeal set aside because section 72 bars costs and such security would be futile.
-
Labour law — costs — section 72 Labour Relations Act proscribing costs in Industrial Relations Court and on appeal — security for costs — Supreme Court discretion under section 22 of the Supreme Court of Appeal Act and Rules — ex parte security-for-costs order set aside as futile.
|
23 October 2023 |
|
Bail pending appeal denied—no exceptional circumstances and court declined to resolve appeal merits at bail stage.
-
Criminal law — Bail pending appeal — s24(1) Supreme Court of Appeal Act — discretionary power; exceptional circumstances required — appellate court should not decide merits at bail stage — defilement conviction; sufficiency and consistency of trial evidence.
|
19 October 2023 |
| August 2023 |
|
|
Interlocutory vacatur of injunction is inchoate and not appealable; stay pending appeal refused where debtor owes secured debt.
-
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Interlocutory orders and inchoate decisions — Appealability — Proper procedure (Order 1 R.18 and Order 2 R.1 Supreme Court Rules) — Balance of convenience and risk of injustice — Security for debt and repossession of pledged vehicles — Nugatory appeal doctrine.
|
7 August 2023 |
| July 2023 |
|
|
An applicant's request to release tax‑seized stock pending litigation was dismissed for procedural defects and unstated legal basis.
-
Tax law — seizure of goods — interim injunction to release impounded stock pending litigation; Civil procedure — competency of proceedings in appellate courts — requirement to state legal basis for relief; Procedural irregularity — standalone application in appellate court.
|
26 July 2023 |
|
Whether an interim injunction should release impounded stock pending tax proceedings to prevent irreparable business harm.
-
Interim relief — Injunction pending tax proceedings — Release of goods impounded by revenue authority — Irreparable harm and adequacy of damages — Balance of convenience and public interest.
|
26 July 2023 |
|
Appeal dismissed: 20 April 2016 letter was a binding contract, debt discharged by MK16,304,708.82, respondent entitled to interest.
-
Contract — variation of existing loan agreement by letter — formation, offer, acceptance and consideration — discharge of debt by payment of shortfall; Civil procedure — compliance with Order III grounds of appeal; Interest on judgment — pleadings, statutory rate and assessment by Registrar.
|
18 July 2023 |
|
Stay of execution refused where applicants failed to show respondent’s inability to repay or irreparable harm.
-
Stay of execution pending appeal — tests: serious issue to be tried, irreparable harm, balance of convenience/justice — impecuniosity evidence required — criminal prosecution allegations speculative and irrelevant to civil stay.
|
18 July 2023 |
|
Court continued ex parte stay pending appeal, granted leave to appeal, and ordered procedural steps and exclusion of later punitive orders.
-
Civil procedure — stay of execution pending appeal — jurisdiction under Order 1 Rule 18 — inherent jurisdiction — test for stay: justice, expediency, risk of appeal being rendered nugatory, balance of convenience — leave to appeal granted — exclusion of later punitive orders from record of appeal.
|
14 July 2023 |
|
Court sustained stay pending appeal, granted leave to appeal, and ordered timelines while excluding un-heard punitive orders from the record.
-
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Discretionary equitable remedy — Tests: serious issue, irreparable harm, balance of convenience/justice — Jurisdiction under Order 1 Rule 18 and inherent jurisdiction — Leave to appeal and exclusion of unhearing punitive orders from record.
|
14 July 2023 |
|
Court continued stay pending appeal, granted leave to appeal, and excluded un-heard post-judgment punitive orders from the record.
-
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Jurisdiction of appellate single judge to entertain stay before lower court final determination — Test for stay: serious issue, irreparable harm, balance of convenience/justice — Leave to appeal — Exclusion of post-judgment punitive orders from record where parties were not heard.
|
14 July 2023 |
|
Supreme Court dismissed stay, leave to appeal and extension applications for procedural non-compliance and premature filing.
|
10 July 2023 |
|
Supreme Court dismissed stay and out‑of‑time leave applications for failure to comply with High Court‑first procedural requirements.
-
Civil procedure — interlocutory orders — stay of execution pending appeal — requirement to first seek relief in High Court (Order I r.18) — incompetence of affidavit evidence — leave to appeal out of time and extension of notice period — procedural non‑compliance fatal.
|
10 July 2023 |
|
The SCA refused ex parte relief, holding the High Court's order for an inter partes hearing was proper case management.
-
Immigration — Deportation v valid residence permit; Judicial review — leave to move and interim injunctions; Civil procedure — ex parte v inter partes hearings; Case management — wide discretion under CPR; Appellate review — interference only if legal error or clearly wrong.
|
4 July 2023 |
|
Applicant must first have High Court determine judicial review and injunction; appellate interference with case-management orders is unwarranted.
-
Immigration and deportation — Judicial review — Leave to apply and interim injunctions — Ex parte relief exceptional — Case-management discretion under CPR — Appellate restraint on interfering with lower court's exercise of discretion.
|
4 July 2023 |
| June 2023 |
|
|
|
9 June 2023 |
|
A stay pending appeal was refused because applicants delayed prosecution despite raising serious appellate issues.
-
Criminal procedure — Stay of proceedings pending appeal — Discretion to grant stay — Delay in prosecuting appeal — Judge's refusal to hear matter de novo after transfer — Jurisdictional challenge.
|
9 June 2023 |
|
The SCA lacks jurisdiction to hear a direct appeal from an Assistant Registrar’s interlocutory order; such appeals lie first to a High Court Judge.
-
Civil Procedure — Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Appeal — Appeals from Registrar/Assistant Registrar decisions — Interlocutory orders — Order 25 CPR — Section 21 Supreme Court of Appeal Act — Appeal to Judge in chambers before SCA — Assessment of costs/insurance policy limits (merits not decided).
|
8 June 2023 |
|
Permission for judicial review of arrest/prosecution granted; interim suspension denied; confiscated passport ordered returned.
-
Judicial review — reviewability of decisions to arrest and prosecute — permission to apply for review; interim relief; abuse of prosecutorial discretion; procedural error in lower court.
|
8 June 2023 |
| May 2023 |
|
|
Appeal dismissed for failure to comply with Order III rules and for filing judicial review two years after the prescribed period without extension.
-
Civil procedure — Appeal grounds must comply with Order III rules 2–4 (state law or fact and particulars); Judicial review applications must be brought promptly and within three months under Order 53(4)(1) unless time is validly extended; Non-compliance and lack of extension renders review/application time-barred and appeal liable to dismissal.
|
4 May 2023 |
| March 2023 |
|
|
Court vacated stay pending appeal, finding appellant failed to show appeal would be rendered nugatory and balance of justice favoured respondents.
-
Civil procedure — stay pending appeal — discretionary power of appellate court — tests: serious issue, irreparable harm, balance of convenience; jurisdiction of High Court vs. statutory tribunal; alleged illegality, irregularity and excess of jurisdiction; costs.
|
28 March 2023 |
|
Applicants granted seven‑day enlargement to appeal after registry failures and missing leave order justified extension.
-
Civil procedure — Extension of time to appeal — Order III r 4 Supreme Court of Appeal Rules — Good and substantial reasons — Registry negligence and missing filed documents — Competency vs. final dismissal (functus officio) — Use of eCMS as evidence of mismanagement.
|
8 March 2023 |
|
Registry failings causing lost filings can justify an enlargement of time to appeal where no final adjudication on the merits occurred.
-
Civil procedure — enlargement of time to appeal — section 23(2) Supreme Court of Appeal Act and Order III r 4 — good and substantial reasons — registry negligence and lost filings — functus officio and abuse of process distinguished — reliance on eCMS records.
|
8 March 2023 |
|
Court granted seven‑day extension and leave to appeal after accepting registry negligence and prima facie arguable grounds.
-
Civil procedure — enlargement of time to appeal — Order III r 4 and s.23(2) Supreme Court of Appeal Act — good and substantial reasons — registry negligence and lost filings — eCMS evidence — functus officio and abuse of process — distinction between dismissal for want of competence and final decision.
|
8 March 2023 |
| February 2023 |
|
|
Table 6 collection charges are solicitor–client charges payable by the client, not recoverable from the debtor once proceedings commence.
-
Legal practitioners' fees — Table 6 collection charges — solicitor-and-own-client charges on receipt of monies; not recoverable from judgment debtor after commencement of proceedings; pleading of costs; effect of Government Notices and Law Revision Orders.
|
14 February 2023 |
|
A settlement agreement constituting a final order bars interlocutory appeals; amendment motion was incompetent and appeal dismissed.
-
Commercial procedure — settlement agreement — final order — interlocutory application — O.18 High Court (Commercial Division) Rules — s.21 Supreme Court of Appeal Act — res judicata — leave to amend pleadings — leave to appeal.
|
14 February 2023 |
|
Eyewitness and medical evidence established malice aforethought; convictions and 15‑year sentences were upheld.
-
Criminal law — Murder — Malice aforethought (s.212 Penal Code) — Eyewitness reliability — Direct evidence — Post‑mortem medical evidence — Mob assault — Sentence review — Manifest excessiveness.
|
14 February 2023 |
|
Eyewitness and medical evidence proved murder with malice aforethought; convictions and 15-year sentences affirmed.
-
Criminal law — Murder — Eyewitness credibility — Corroborating post-mortem evidence — Malice aforethought under Section 212 (knowledge or intention/probable consequence) — Joint participation in a prolonged assault — Sentence affirmed.
|
14 February 2023 |