All courts - 2014 July

Sort by:

4 judgments

Citation	Judgment date
July 2014
Shaba v Republic (Criminal Appeal 19 of 2014) [2014] MWHC 492 (16 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
G4S Security Services Limited v Magola (Civil Cause 431 of 2012) [2014] MWHC 497 (8 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
Phiri v Electoral Commission (Election Petition 25 of 2014) [2014] MWHC 493 (4 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
Kamkwatira v Electoral Commission & Khembo (Election Petition 12 of 2014) [2014] MWHC 494 (3 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