All courts - 2019

286 judgments
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Results. 286 judgments found.

286 judgments
December 2019
24 December 2019
20 December 2019
Petitioner proved tampering and procedural failures that affected the result; court nullified election and ordered a re-run.
  • Election law — Section 114 PPEA — election petition and burden of proof; electoral irregularities and tampering; duty to supply duplicate signed polling-station result sheets (s.93 PPEA); failure of Electoral Commission to produce official tally records; nullification and order for re-run.
20 December 2019
19 December 2019
19 December 2019
19 December 2019
16 December 2019
16 December 2019
13 December 2019
12 December 2019
Substantive reason for dismissal proven but procedural breaches (no written charges, no proper appeal) rendered the dismissal unfair, entitling remedies.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — substantive validity of reason (negligence) established but procedural fairness breached — failure to give written charges and hold proper appeal — compensation and severance payable.
10 December 2019
Summary dismissal for gross negligence (sleeping on duty) upheld where employer afforded hearing and relied on prior warnings.
  • Employment law — Summary dismissal — Gross negligence (sleeping on duty) — Burden on employer to prove reason on balance of probabilities — Right to be heard — Prior warnings relevant to fairness — Sections 57, 59, 61 Employment Act.
4 December 2019
November 2019
29 November 2019
Court imposed death and life sentences for murder and organ-trafficking of a vulnerable person with albinism.
  • Criminal law — Murder in cold blood — Harvesting body parts and trafficking in persons — Death penalty lawful and available in exceptional cases — Extracting and transacting in human tissue — Life imprisonment — Sentencing principles.
28 November 2019
21 November 2019
Proceedings struck out because they were commenced under superseded rules and instituted by an unlicensed practitioner.
  • Civil procedure — Rules of Court: RSC superseded by CPR 2017 — Proceedings instituted under former rules invalid; Right of audience — Legal practitioner must hold current practising licence — Processes instituted by unlicensed practitioner are nullities; Relief — striking out and costs.
21 November 2019
Dismissal was procedurally and substantively unfair; inadequate notice, biased appeal, employer failed to prove a valid reason.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — procedural fairness (adequate notice, particulars, right to be heard) — natural justice and bias in internal appeals — employer's onus to prove valid reason — remedies: compensation and severance.
18 November 2019
15 November 2019
14 November 2019
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.
7 November 2019
Employer failed to prove alleged fuel siphoning or conduct a reasonable investigation; dismissal held unfair and damages plus statutory terminal benefits ordered.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — employer bears burden to prove dismissal fair — reliance on vehicle tracking reports insufficient without adequate investigation or physical evidence — entitlement to damages and statutory terminal benefits.
6 November 2019
October 2019
29 October 2019
Applicant’s dismissal for alleged fuel theft held lawful; claims for unfair dismissal and terminal benefits dismissed.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — Employment Act ss.57, 58, 61 — employer’s burden to justify dismissal — anonymous tip-off and fuel-consumption evidence — disciplinary hearing and right to be heard — payment of terminal benefits evidenced.
29 October 2019
29 October 2019
29 October 2019
25 October 2019
24 October 2019
22 October 2019
14 October 2019
14 October 2019
14 October 2019
14 October 2019
10 October 2019
2 October 2019
September 2019
30 September 2019
27 September 2019
22 September 2019
Dismissals held unfair due to multiple procedural breaches in the employer's disciplinary and appeal processes.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — disciplinary procedure — investigator participating on disciplinary panel — insufficient particulars in charges — improperly constituted disciplinary and appeal committees — procedural fairness required under Employment Act and employer's Disciplinary Policy.
20 September 2019
20 September 2019
Petition alleging result-sheet alterations, barred monitors and unsealed ballot box failed for lack of sufficient evidence.
  • Electoral law — election petition under s.100 PPEA — proper mode of commencement; burden and variable standard of proof in election petitions; admissibility and weight of polling-station result sheets (MEC.POLL 066b) and record log books; recount/scrutiny and effect of unsealed ballot box; requirement for written complaints at polling stations (s.89).
16 September 2019
Claimant awarded general damages for pain and loss of amenities; special damages limited to police report cost.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages — fracture of distal tibia — general damages for pain and suffering and loss of amenities — proof of special damages required — award for police report only — reliance on comparable local authorities and consideration of award timing.
10 September 2019
August 2019
30 August 2019
Dismissal procedurally unfair for lack of hearing; applicant awarded six months' pay, no additional terminal benefits.
  • Labour law — disciplinary versus criminal proceedings — acquittal not necessarily dispositive in workplace discipline; procedural fairness — right to be heard before dismissal; remedies — reduced/nominal compensation where employee contributed to dismissal; terminal benefits — receipts as evidence of payment.
23 August 2019
21 August 2019
Employer failed to prove valid reason or fair procedure; dismissal declared unfair and respondent ordered to pay compensation and terminal dues.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — burden on employer to prove valid reason and procedural fairness — contradictions in disciplinary record and caution statement — entitlement to compensation and terminal benefits.
15 August 2019
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.
15 August 2019
A court-ordered settlement is a consent judgment and can only be set aside by fresh proceedings showing fraud, mistake, or misrepresentation.
  • Civil procedure — Settlement agreements executed in court are deemed judgments — No appeal lies against such agreements — Setting aside requires fresh proceedings and proof of fraud, mutual mistake or misrepresentation — Consent-judgment principles apply to mediation settlements.
14 August 2019
13 August 2019
A casual labourer released during a slack period was not unfairly dismissed; respondent must pay six days' wages if unpaid.
  • Employment law — casual worker v. permanent employee — definition of casual work — unfair dismissal — recall after slack period — entitlement to wages for days worked
13 August 2019
13 August 2019