Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal - 2024

11 judgments
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Results. 11 judgments found.

11 judgments
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