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Citation
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Judgment date
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| November 2019 |
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Stay application dismissed as premature; notice of appeal struck out for failure to serve and prosecute.
Civil procedure — stay pending appeal — prematurity where no enforcement order obtained; Order I r18 — first seek stay in lower court; failure to serve notice of appeal and to prosecute appeal — striking out; failure to serve skeleton arguments — sanction.
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7 November 2019 |
| August 2019 |
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Whether interlocutory and case-management decisions are appealable and should be interfered with; appeal dismissed with costs.
Appealability — Sections 21 and 23 Supreme Court of Appeal Act; procedural requirements — Notice of Appeal; interlocutory orders and case-management; appellate interference with exercise of judicial discretion; dismissal with costs.
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15 August 2019 |
| July 2019 |
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High Court lacked jurisdiction; Director immune absent bad faith; regulations and closure orders were lawful and reasonable.
Environmental law — Director’s statutory immunity; prerequisite to sue: proof of bad faith — Jurisdiction: requirement to exhaust Environmental Appeals Tribunal remedies before High Court judicial review — Subsidiary legislation reviewable for reasonableness (Kruse/Wednesbury) but courts defer to policy and local circumstances — International instruments (Basel, SADC) enable domestic regulation, do not impose specific micrometer standards.
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31 July 2019 |
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Applicant failed to prove respondent liable for crop loss from experimental barn due to lack of evidence and agency link.
Contract farming – agronomy services – experimental tobacco barns – agency – vicarious liability – negligence – particulars of negligence – burden of proof – causation – quantum of loss.
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19 July 2019 |
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High Court lacked jurisdiction after an Ombudsman determination; the correct remedy was review under section 123(2), so appeal dismissed.
Administrative law — Ombudsman determinations — compliance or judicial review under section 123(2) of the Constitution — jurisdiction of High Court — forum-shopping and nullity of proceedings where review remedy available.
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17 July 2019 |
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High Court lacked jurisdiction over a dispute already determined by the Ombudsman; review under the Constitution was the proper remedy.
Administrative law — Ombudsman determinations — must be complied with or reviewed under Constitution s123(2); forum shopping prohibited; High Court lacked jurisdiction; proceedings nullity.
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17 July 2019 |
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High Court may vary Supreme Court bail conditions for good cause, but Hajj travel denied due to flight risk.
Bail – Variation of conditions – High Court’s power to vary bail conditions granted by superior court – Flight risk – Travel for religious pilgrimage (Hajj) refused.
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10 July 2019 |
| June 2019 |
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26 June 2019 |
| April 2019 |
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Court taxed the claimant’s costs after itemised reductions, awarding K4,310,584.75 in recoverable costs.
Costs — taxation — standard basis — reasonableness and proportionality of items; hourly rate; instruction fees on assessment proceedings; disallowance of duplicate discovery items; allowance for out‑of‑court negotiations; general care and conduct set at 50%.
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23 April 2019 |
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16 April 2019 |
| February 2019 |
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Ex parte leave for judicial review requires a prima facie arguable case; ministerial appointments/commissions are generally non‑justiciable and NGOs lacked standing.
Judicial review — leave to apply — prima facie/clearly arguable case required; Executive powers/prerogative — reviewability depends on subject‑matter and justiciability; Appointment/suspension of ministers and appointment of commissions of inquiry generally non‑justiciable absent statutory/constitutional underpinning or infringement of individual rights; Locus standi — NGOs must show a particular legal interest affected; Affidavit/mandate — deponent must demonstrate authority to represent trustee organisations.
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13 February 2019 |
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Loss-of-use damages compensate unavailability of a chattel when called upon, not only days it was actually used; mitigation limits period.
Sale of Goods/Consumer Protection – breach of contract – damages for loss of use of a chattel – measure and period of loss-of-use; mitigation by purchase of replacement; assessment of damages beyond sporadic actual use.
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13 February 2019 |
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First appellant’s convictions for misuse of public office and neglect upheld; second appellant’s convictions on uncharged counts quashed.
Corrupt Practices Act s25B(1) – misuse of public office; Penal Code s121 – neglect of duty; prima facie threshold at close of prosecution; circumstantial evidence and chain of inference; admissibility of secondary/public documents; conviction not permissible for offences not charged.
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13 February 2019 |
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Whether bail pending appeal should be granted; court may grant pre-hearing bail and virtual hearings can satisfy public-trial requirements.
Criminal procedure – Bail pending appeal – Interpretation of section 24 Supreme Court of Appeal Act – Applications not necessarily premature pre-hearing; Public trial – virtual/remote hearings and constitutional public-access requirement; Exercise of discretion – consider all circumstances (Macdonald Kumwembe); Alleged trial irregularities and health claims require substantiation.
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13 February 2019 |
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Acquittal where identification was unreliable and the prosecution failed to disprove the applicant’s alibi.
Criminal law – Murder – Identification evidence and Turnbull guidelines for dock recognition – Alibi defence and burden on prosecution to disprove alibi – Insufficiency of circumstantial evidence – Acquittal for reasonable doubt – Police investigative failures.
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12 February 2019 |
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Conviction quashed where identification was unreliable, the alibi was not disproved and the State failed to prove weapon issuance or deployment.
Criminal law — identification evidence — dock recognition — Turnbull principles — alibi defence — burden on prosecution to disprove alibi — circumstantial evidence insufficiency — failure to prove issuance/deployment of weapon — conviction quashed.
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12 February 2019 |
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Retrenched employees entitled to reassessed individual compensation; severance payments under s35 deductible from awards.
Employment law – retrenchment and unfair dismissal – consultation requirements; Section 57(2) (capacity/conduct) – limited application to redundancy; Section 61(2) – justice and equity in dismissal; Section 35 – severance allowance independent and deductible from compensation; assessment of damages – individualised assessment required.
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11 February 2019 |
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11 February 2019 |
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Whether appellants benefited from a later amendment to sentencing law (lex mitior); court held amendment not milder and dismissed appeal.
Criminal law – sentencing – lex mitior (retroactive application of milder penal law) – General Interpretation Act s14 (savings on repeal and re‑enactment) – theft by public servant – mandatory minimum sentences – appellate limits under S.11(2) Supreme Court of Appeal Act.
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7 February 2019 |
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Amendment to Penal Code did not confer retroactive benefit; appeal limited to law, conviction and sentence confirmed.
:[
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7 February 2019 |