Results.
40 judgments found.
|
|
|
| November 2014 |
|
|
Committal for contempt requires personal service of notification of adjourned hearing; lack of proof of service led to dismissal.
-
Committal for contempt — personal service of order and notice required — adjourned hearing dates require fresh personal service unless dispensed by order — absence of proof of service fatal to committal application.
|
6 November 2014 |
| October 2014 |
|
|
Whether a central bank lawfully revoked a bank's licence and reclaimed supervision and forensic audit costs.
-
Banking law — revocation of banking licence — statutory powers under Banking Act (ss 10, 31) — due process and urgency; Prudential supervision — recovery of costs (s 53) — forensic audit fees recoverable; Constitutional/administrative law — natural justice and section 43 — adequacy of hearing in urgent financial contexts; Consent orders and side letters — duress, waiver and estoppel; Public law torts — misfeasance in public office — bad faith not established; Interest — compound interest awarded.
|
27 October 2014 |
|
Petition for recount and alleged barring of monitors dismissed for failure to prove material irregularities.
|
17 October 2014 |
|
Prior consent settlement on identical facts can preclude a defendant from maintaining a bona fide defence, justifying summary judgment.
-
Civil procedure — Summary judgment under Order 14 r.1 — Bhogal two-stage test: credible defence and bona fide defence — Effect of prior consent order/compromise on issue estoppel and res judicata — Whether prior settlement on same facts precludes denial of liability.
|
7 October 2014 |
|
In customary (Chitengwa) marriages, matrimonial property is generally jointly held and equally divided unless fairness or maintenance considerations dictate otherwise.
-
Family law — Matrimonial property
-
— Customary (Chitengwa) marriage — Disposal of matrimonial property governed by fairness principles under Constitution s24(1)(b)(i) and s24(1)(b)(ii)
-
— Meaning of 'held jointly' — Property registered in one spouse’s name may be jointly held and divisible on dissolution
-
Customary law — Chitengwa — Husband’s obligation to build matrimonial home limited to his village, not an obligation to build a separate house at wife’s village
|
7 October 2014 |
| September 2014 |
|
|
Stay of execution pending appeal denied where applicant failed to prove successful party could not repay the award.
-
Civil procedure — stay of execution pending appeal — party seeking stay must adduce evidence that successful party cannot repay; discretionary balancing of risks; ‘‘broad approach’’ (ruin and prospects of success) not displacing traditional test.
|
25 September 2014 |
|
An employer breached its duty by failing to provide safe equipment, workplace and supervision, causing the employee’s paralysis.
-
Tort
-
— Employer’s duty of care — Provision of safe equipment, safe workplace and adequate supervision
-
— Employer liability — Foreseeability of injury and causation where work involves latent and patent danger
-
— Contributory negligence — Foreseeable employee error may be de minimis and not reduce employer liability
|
25 September 2014 |
|
|
17 September 2014 |
|
A creditor’s statutory demand and the company’s failure to pay within 21 days warranted compulsory winding up and appointment of an official receiver.
-
Company law — Winding up — Inability to pay debts — Statutory demand and 21‑day non‑compliance under Companies Act — Appointment of official receiver
|
16 September 2014 |
|
|
11 September 2014 |
|
Applicant’s summary dismissal for taking cooked food without permission found unfair; awarded eight months’ salary compensation.
-
Employment law — unfair dismissal — summary dismissal — proportionality of sanction — disciplinary procedure — mitigation — compensation under Employment Act secs 56–63.
|
9 September 2014 |
|
|
9 September 2014 |
| August 2014 |
|
|
Missing judge’s summing-up in a jury trial rendered convictions unsafe; convictions set aside and surviving appellants released.
-
Criminal procedure — jury trials — importance of judge’s summing-up and directions; Incomplete trial record — missing summing-up may render convictions unsafe; Reconstruction of missing record — impracticable after long delay; Remedy — setting aside conviction and considerations for retrial; Delay in custody — may preclude ordering retrial.
|
28 August 2014 |
|
Summary judgment under Order 14 inappropriate where contractual terms and disputed facts require full trial; application dismissed with costs.
-
Civil procedure — Summary judgment (Order 14) — Debt claim for unpaid bills — Requirement that defendant have no defence — Disputed contractual terms and need for taxation/ full trial.
|
12 August 2014 |
|
Class/representative suits require High Court leave; IRC Form 1 must sufficiently particularise retrenchment claims.
-
Industrial Relations Court — limited inherent jurisdiction; Representative/class actions — equitable origin, not maintainable in IRC without High Court leave; Pleadings — IRC Form 1 must particularise claims and list applicants; Distinction between retrenchment and redundancy material.
|
7 August 2014 |
| July 2014 |
|
|
Conviction upheld; sentence increased from six years IHL to eighteen years imprisonment without hard labour.
-
Criminal law — Defilement — sentencing starting point 14 years — aggravating factors: breach of trust, planning, repeated assault, violence, injury, lack of remorse — mitigation: first offender (limited).; Exercise of discretion under s.27(1) Penal Code to impose imprisonment without hard labour.; Protection of child victims’ identities — Registrar to obscure/remove names from public records.; Prosecutorial consideration that rape may be charged where intercourse with a child occurred without consent.
|
16 July 2014 |
|
Failure to file and serve a notice of appointment of legal practitioners is a fundamental irregularity barring counsel’s right of audience, warranting dismissal of the appeal.
-
Civil procedure — notice of appointment of legal practitioners — requirement to place counsel on record — right of audience; Procedural irregularity — whether omission is fundamental or curable under O.2 r.1 RSC; Access to justice — constitutional argument not determinative where counsel not on record; Default judgment — appeal dismissed for counsel not validly on record.
|
8 July 2014 |
|
The applicant's election petition was dismissed as time-barred; broadcast declaration triggered the seven-day filing period.
-
Electoral law — Time limits for election petitions — Interpretation of section 100(1) PPE Act — Computation of time (General Interpretation Act s45) — Effect of section 99 publication requirements on commencement of limitation period — Declaration by broadcast sufficient to trigger time limit.
|
4 July 2014 |
|
The applicant failed to show alleged tally-sheet tampering likely affected the result; recount denied and petition dismissed.
-
Election law — Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act s114(4) — requisites for recount; burden of proof (balance of probabilities); s93(2) entitlement to copies of tally summaries; parallel vote tabulation admissibility and reliability; electoral transparency and safeguards for tally-sheet alterations.
|
3 July 2014 |
| June 2014 |
|
|
A High Court may stay civil proceedings pending a perjury trial to avoid prejudice to the applicant.
-
Civil procedure
-
— Stay of proceedings — Inherent jurisdiction — Whether High Court may stay civil action pending criminal perjury trial arising from testimony in civil proceedings — Avoidance of prejudice to fair trial
-
— Concurrent civil and criminal proceedings — Whether civil action should be stayed where same or similar questions of fact will be decided in criminal proceedings — Principle of le criminal tient le civil en etat
|
15 June 2014 |
|
A regular default judgment may be set aside if the defendant shows a real-defence, but delay and abuse justify conditional relief (payment into court).
-
Civil procedure — Default judgment — Setting aside regular default judgment — Discretionary relief under Order 13 r9/Order 19 r9 — Defendant must show defence on merits with real prospects of success — Delay, explanation and abuse of process relevant — Conditional setting aside (payment into court and service of defence).
|
11 June 2014 |
|
Stay of execution granted where the respondent failed to show ability to repay damages; awarded sums ordered paid into court pending appeal.
-
Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Order 59 r 13 — Appeal against award of damages — Risk of nugatory appeal — Requirement to show inability to repay — Payment into court pending appeal.
|
10 June 2014 |
|
An administrator not formally substituted has no capacity to apply to set aside a default judgment; application dismissed.
-
Default judgment — set aside — Order 13 r 9 & Order 19 r 9; capacity to apply/substitution of parties; service of process; defective affidavit; discretionary relief.
|
10 June 2014 |
|
Following a default judgment on liability, the court awarded K1,700,000 for general damages plus special damages and costs.
-
Damages assessment — default judgment establishing liability — general damages for pain, suffering, loss of amenities and disfigurement — consideration of comparable authorities and currency devaluation — award of special damages and costs.
|
2 June 2014 |
| May 2014 |
|
|
Interim injunction continued to restrain border parking fees where no legal mandate shown and damages inadequate.
-
Administrative law — Local fees and charges — Power to levy parking fees at border posts — Requirement of lawful authority under s.95 Road Traffic Act
-
Civil procedure — Interim injunction — Good arguable claim, adequacy of damages, balance of convenience — Application of American Cyanamid principles
|
26 May 2014 |
|
Failure to seek stay and leave in the lower court precludes Supreme Court jurisdiction; costs ordered against appellant’s counsel.
-
Civil procedure — stay pending appeal — Order 59/13/9 RSC requires stay applications first to the court below; leave to appeal under s.21 Supreme Court of Appeal Act required before Court assumes jurisdiction — urgency and holiday do not justify bypassing prescribed procedure — costs against counsel for procedural misconduct.
|
13 May 2014 |
|
Default judgment set aside where third party disclosed triable defence, though third‑party notice was irregular for lack of prior court leave.
-
Civil procedure — Setting aside default judgment — Order 13 r 9 and Order 19 r 9 — applicant must disclose defence on the merits or triable issue — draft defence showing denial of negligence and plea of contributory negligence — Third‑party notice — requirement of prior leave under Order 16 r 1(2) — discretion as to costs.
|
5 May 2014 |
| April 2014 |
|
|
Default judgment set aside where defendant disclosed triable defence; delay and assessment issues did not bar relief, costs awarded.
-
Civil procedure — Default judgment — Setting aside regular default judgment under Order 13 R.9/Order 19 R.9 — Defendant must disclose defence on the merits or triable issue with real prospects of success — Delay and prejudice considered but not determinative; costs may cure prejudice.
|
28 April 2014 |
|
Applicant granted leave for judicial review after health office refused a detailed medical report; proceedings expedited.
-
Judicial review — Leave to apply under Order 53 r.3 — Locus standi — Provision of detailed medical reports by public health authority — Amendment of relief — Urgency and abridgement of time.
|
1 April 2014 |
| March 2014 |
|
|
A statutory university lecturer is not a civil servant for eligibility disqualification; leave of absence is not resignation.
-
Election law — candidate eligibility — "public office" defined narrowly as civil service — university lecturers not civil servants — leave of absence v. resignation — s51(2)(e) Constitution; s40 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act.
|
28 March 2014 |
|
Board membership of a statutory corporation is not necessarily a "public office" under section 51(2)(e); resignation before nomination cures disqualification.
-
Constitutional interpretation — "public office" in section 51(2)(e) limited to civil service; statutory corporation board membership not per se a public office; resignation prior to nomination cures disqualification; election procedure — section 40 PPE Act referral and duty to afford procedural fairness; binding precedent and duty to follow Supreme Court of Appeal.
|
28 March 2014 |
|
Plaintiff injured by a bus; driver found negligent and insurer held liable under s.65A; damages and costs awarded.
-
Negligence — Road traffic accident — Driver liable for negligent driving (over‑speeding) — Insurer liability under s.65A Road Traffic Act — Evidence: police abstract and medical report — No rebuttal by defendants — Assessment of damages (pain and suffering, loss of amenities, special and medical expenses).
|
24 March 2014 |
|
The affected parties were granted leave to appeal; counsel reprimanded for including a misleading postscript and unprofessional conduct.
-
Electoral law — fresh elections — voters' roll to be used — candidate eligibility — procedural conduct of counsel — improper inclusion of 'postscript' in formal order — respect for court orders — leave to appeal granted.
|
24 March 2014 |
|
Leave to appeal granted; court reprimanded counsel for improper postscript and unprofessional attempts to revisit its order.
-
Electoral law — fresh elections — use of voters' roll; leave to appeal; joinder of affected parties; professional conduct of counsel; propriety of postscripts in formal court orders.
|
24 March 2014 |
|
Decree nisi granted after petitioner proved cruelty, constructive desertion and adultery by the respondent.
-
Family law — Divorce
-
— Cruelty — Repeated physical assault amounting to cruelty justifying dissolution
-
— Desertion — Constructive desertion where conduct reasonably causes spouse to leave the home
-
— Adultery — Proof by inference from association and communications (text message)
|
23 March 2014 |
| February 2014 |
|
|
Applicants granted bail due to prolonged pre-trial detention after the State failed to try them within the ordered timeframe.
-
Constitutional right to bail (s42(2)(e)) — limited by interests of justice; prolonged pre-trial detention; State’s failure to try within 60 days; bail conditions in serious offences.
|
4 February 2014 |
| January 2014 |
|
|
Court ordered immediate release, holding that continued 21‑day detention and disproportionate monetary conditions were unlawful.
-
Bail — interests of justice; unlawful conditional release (granting bail yet ordering continued detention); incomplete investigations insufficient to justify remand; proportionality and clarity of bail conditions; preservation of alleged proceeds via cautions.
|
28 January 2014 |
|
Appeal dismissed: section 63 awards compensate pecuniary loss (monetary quantification), minima are floors, employer must prove non-mitigation.
-
Employment law — Unfair dismissal — Section 63 Employment Act: compensation for 'loss' (pecuniary), heads of loss not closed, awards must be quantified monetarily; s63(5) prescribes minima not mandatory month-per-year multipliers; burden of proof on employee for loss and on employer for failure to mitigate; appeal competent on question of law.
|
20 January 2014 |
|
|
8 January 2014 |
|
The court dismissed the plaintiff’s claim for want of prosecution due to prolonged inactivity and awarded costs to the defendant.
-
Civil procedure — want of prosecution — striking out/dismissal for inordinate and inexcusable delay — dismissal on first application permissible in appropriate cases — failure to attend hearing as evidence of abandonment — costs to defendant.
|
6 January 2014 |