All courts - 2024 January

26 judgments
Skip past years
Skip past months
Skip to results

Results. 26 judgments found.

26 judgments
January 2024
Conviction quashed where facts established incest requiring DPP's written consent; trial ordered de novo with directions.
  • Criminal procedure — Review of subordinate court proceedings — Charge irregularity; incest (s.157 Penal Code) vs rape (s.133 Penal Code); requirement of DPP's written consent for prosecutions within prohibited degrees of consanguinity; conviction quashed; trial de novo ordered.
30 January 2024
Assessment of quantum for unfair dismissal, gratuity, pension and notice pay under Defence Force Regulations.}
  • :[
29 January 2024
Whether a Final Third-Party Debt Order can be set aside for alleged misrepresentation of claimant’s status (sole trader v partnership).
  • Civil procedure — Third-Party Debt Order — application to set aside Final Third-Party Debt Order; Partnership law — status of claimant (sole trader v partnership) and effect on liability; Courts (High Court) (Civil Procedure) Rules 2017 — Order 28 rule 17 — objections pre-final order; Abuse of process — striking out.
29 January 2024
Section 73(2) mandates counsel only where the other party is, or is represented by, a legal practitioner.
  • Labour law — Industrial Relations Court — Legal representation — Section 73(2) mandatory where other party is or is represented by a legal practitioner
  • Statutory interpretation — Mandatory language "shall" — No judicial addition or discretionary gloss on clear statutory conditions
  • Civil procedure — Corporate parties and representation — Other statutes do not displace Labour Relations Act procedural scheme
29 January 2024
Employer must consult employees before retrenchment; ministerial forced leave without consultation amounted to unfair dismissal and unfair labour practices.
  • Labour law — retrenchment — duty to consult employees before operational dismissals — Ministerial directive without Board authority — unfair dismissal; unfair and unsafe labour practices — compensation assessment.
29 January 2024
27 January 2024
Claimant failed to prove defendant’s negligence or statutory breach in fire allegedly caused by high voltage; claim dismissed with costs.
  • Tort — Negligence in electricity supply; causation; high voltage vs high current; short-circuit principles; res ipsa loquitur inapplicable; statutory reporting/arbitration (MERA) not mandatory.
25 January 2024
Interim injunction continued pending trial as triable issue exists over whether a counteroffer negated the sale agreement; damages inadequate for land.
  • Property law — interim injunction — existence of enforceable agreement for sale of land — whether offeree’s response amounted to a counteroffer or mere request for variation — adequacy of damages for land — balance of convenience — referral to mediation.
25 January 2024
Interim injunction maintained due to triable issue on offer/counteroffer and inadequacy of damages for land.
  • Interim injunction — whether a triable issue exists as to formation of contract (offer v counteroffer) — uniqueness of land and inadequacy of damages — balance of convenience — continuation of interlocutory injunction; referral to mediation.
25 January 2024
Court dismissed both claim and counterclaim for want of prosecution after 35 months' inaction.
  • Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — Order 12 r 54 — inordinate and inexcusable delay — abuse of court process — counterclaim also dismissed — costs: each party to bear own costs.
25 January 2024
Both claim and counterclaim dismissed for want of prosecution after 35 months' inaction; each party to bear its own costs.
  • Civil procedure — Dismissal for want of prosecution under Order 12, rule 54 — Inordinate delay and abuse of process — Counterclaim also dismissed — Overriding objective and case-management non-compliance — Costs: each party to bear own costs.
25 January 2024
Summary judgment granted where defence was a sham; stay for related criminal proceedings denied.
  • Civil procedure — stay of civil proceedings pending criminal proceedings; summary judgment — general denial treated as sham under Order 7 r 6 CPR; monetary claims vs criminal restitution; party-and-party costs only.
24 January 2024
A dispute founded on employment contract restraints belongs to the Industrial Relations Court, not the High Court Commercial Division.
  • Jurisdiction — High Court (Commercial Division) v Industrial Relations Court — employment contract disputes; restraint of trade in employment — enforceability and reasonableness vis-à-vis constitutional right to work (s.29); definition of "commercial matter" (Courts Act s.2).
22 January 2024
Whether a restraint-of-trade claim arising from employment belongs to the Industrial Relations Court rather than the Commercial Division.
  • Jurisdiction — Commercial Division v Industrial Relations Court — enforcement of post‑termination restraint in employment contract — whether dispute is commercial or labour — reasonableness of restraint and constitutional right to economic activity (section 29).
22 January 2024
Court set aside a without-notice injunction after the claimant failed to comply with filing, service and attendance conditions.
  • Civil procedure — interlocutory injunctions — without-notice orders — inherent power to set aside/discharge suo motu — non-compliance with terms (filing, service, attendance) — Order 10 r.27 — overriding objective.
22 January 2024
E-money services by a non-bank are not banking services and are not VAT-exempt under section 20.
  • Tax Law — Value Added Tax — Banking services — Whether e-money services provided by a non-bank e-money service provider qualify for VAT exemption under section 20 of the VAT Act
  • Payment Systems — E-money Regulation — Scope of e-money services — Whether non-bank e-money service providers may conduct banking business, accept deposits, or charge interest — Payment Systems (E-money) Regulations regs 5(3), 5(4), 5(7) and Banking Act s3
19 January 2024
Widow and children entitled to occupy customary land; Msudzulo cannot lawfully deprive them of inheritance or possession.
  • Customary law — Msudzulo ceremony — customary practice versus constitutional rights; Inheritance on customary land — Deceased Estates (Wills, Inheritance and Protection) Act — immediate family entitlement; Proof and admissibility — requirement of sworn verification for pleadings; Procedural dismissal of counterclaim.
17 January 2024
Respondent’s internal negligence or poor communication does not justify setting aside a default judgment or staying its execution.
  • Industrial Relations Court — default judgment — service of process — setting aside default judgment — stay of execution pending appeal — burden to show special circumstances — internal negligence not sufficient — assessment of compensation to proceed.
17 January 2024
Court orders in‑chambers inspection of classified Defence documents; dismisses time‑barred breach‑of‑trust counts under section 302A.
  • Criminal procedure — disclosure vs national security — in-camera judicial inspection of classified Defence Council/MDF documents; public interest immunity; right to fair trial and disclosure obligations; particulars of bribery charges (unspecified amounts) — not fatal; statutory limitation — section 302A CP&EC — strict construction, time-barred misdemeanour counts discharged.
12 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
Court discharged the 1st accused under section 247 CP & EC after the State conceded it had no evidence and could not proceed.
  • Criminal law — discharge of accused under section 247 CP & EC where prosecutor unable or unwilling to proceed — inapplicability of section 270 at substantive High Court trial — discontinuance power of DPP under section 77/section 99 — protection against prosecution without credible evidence.
9 January 2024
Applicant discharged under section 247 due to prosecutorial inability to produce evidence; court warns against prosecutions without evidence.
  • Criminal procedure — Discharge under section 247 CP & EC where prosecutor unable/unwilling to proceed; discontinuance as DPP's exclusive constitutional power; inapplicability of section 270 at substantive trial stage; prosecutorial duty to terminate prosecutions lacking credible evidence; abuse of process and protection of personal liberty.
9 January 2024
Court set aside stay of enforcement and issued a third‑party debt order against the respondent's bank for assessed costs.
  • Civil procedure — stay of execution of costs order — setting aside stay for inordinate delay and failure to prosecute review — third‑party debt order against bank — respondent's ability to repay — costs awarded to respondent.
4 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
Stay of execution pending appeal denied for lack of special circumstances and misleading conduct; costs awarded; enforcement ordered.
  • Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — applicant must show special circumstances; duly served party’s non-attendance and misleading affidavits negate entitlement to stay; costs may be awarded where motion is frivolous or dilatory.
2 January 2024