All courts - 1979

12 judgments
Skip past years
Skip past months
Skip to results

Results. 12 judgments found.

12 judgments
November 1979
Decree nisi granted after respondent's signed confession and corroborating evidence established adultery; custody and maintenance adjourned.
  • Divorce — Adultery — Proof by written confession and corroboration — Domicile and jurisdiction — Decree nisi — Custody and maintenance adjourned — Costs awarded to petitioner
24 November 1979
Decree nisi granted for divorce on grounds of cruelty (assault causing injury); custody and maintenance adjourned.
  • Family law — Divorce — Cruelty — Assault causing injury to health as ground for dissolution — Evidence and absence of cross-examination/corroboration — Decree nisi pronounced; custody and maintenance adjourned.
3 November 1979
Where lobola is required by customary law, cohabitation without lobola does not create a valid marriage.
  • Customary law — lobola (bridewealth) as prerequisite to marriage — cohabitation without lobola not a valid marriage — betrothal compensation.
1 November 1979
October 1979
Cohabitation without Chinkhoswe does not create enforceable marital rights; detinue claim dismissed as domestic matter.
  • Detinue; customary marriage (Chinkhoswe) — cohabitation without customary rites — no enforceable marital rights; domestic disputes adjudicable by ankhoswe; alleged assault and police inaction relevant to credibility and relief.
22 October 1979
September 1979
High Court cannot order instalment payment of a debt absent a judgment debt or originating proceedings.
  • Civil procedure — payment of debt by instalments — High Court jurisdiction limited to judgment debts — Order 20 r.5 Subordinate Courts Rules inapplicable — originating process required.
4 September 1979
August 1979
Under Mzimba customary law, cruelty and constructive desertion by an intended inheritor justify divorce and entitlement to dowry and custody.
  • Customary marriage — widow (chokolo) rights; inheritance/ levirate; cruelty and constructive desertion as grounds for divorce; entitlement to dowry and child custody where chosen inheritor refuses.
15 August 1979
Repeated elopement of a married woman creates separate compensatory liability for each occasion; appeal allowed.
  • Customary law — elopement of married woman — repeated elopement attracts separate compensatory liability; distinction for unmarried woman; judgment in absentia under Traditional Courts Procedure Rules r.38.
9 August 1979
June 1979
Appointment of a receiver by deed under a bank's common seal was held valid, giving the receiver priority over seized goods.
  • Debenture — appointment of receiver — validity of appointment by deed under a bank’s common seal versus "writing under the hand of a Manager" — construction of debenture conditions and priority between receiver and execution creditor.
28 June 1979
No customary marriage without chinkhoswe; maintenance order clarified to K12 monthly for six years.
  • Customary law — validity of marriage — chinkhoswe as essential to customary marriage; concubinage versus marriage; maintenance orders — uncertainty and substitution; compensation claims in absence of customary marriage.
15 June 1979
May 1979
A customary marriage requires chinkhoswe; absent it, cohabitation carries no enforceable marital rights and compensation was wrongly awarded.
  • Customary marriage — chinkhoswe (ankhoswe) essential for legal recognition — cohabitation alone insufficient; no compensation for desertion absent valid customary marriage; refund of payments made under erroneous orders; welfare-based maintenance may be available for children of unrecognised unions.
29 May 1979
April 1979
Decree nisi granted for divorce on ground of desertion; custody to petitioner and respondent ordered to pay costs.
  • Family law — Divorce — Desertion — Proof of marriage by ceremony and cohabitation — Presumption of validity — Factum and animus deserendi established — No consent or justification for separation — Decree nisi, custody and costs awarded.
7 April 1979
March 1979
Child welfare outweighs parental immorality; appeal allowed and custody awarded to the mother.
  • Children law — custody — welfare of the child paramount; parental morality and cohabitation not determinative; abandonment; appellate interference with discretion.
30 March 1979