Results.
14 judgments found.
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| April 2024 |
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Whether claimant proved title to the plot and whether the purchaser was a bona fide purchaser without notice.
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Property law — proof of title: municipal offer/receipt and council confirmation as evidence; nemo dat principle; bona fide purchaser for value without notice — duty of due diligence and requirements; authentication of registry extracts and secondary documents.
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24 April 2024 |
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Intervenor’s request to stay and set aside a bail-forfeiture order dismissed; appeal and ordinary proceedings are the proper remedies.
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Criminal procedure — Forfeiture of property deposited as bail security — Section 121 Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code; Stay of execution — High Court jurisdiction and final orders; Inherent jurisdiction — sparing invocation where appeal available; Financial Crimes Act — Preservation order notices (section 66) not applicable to bail forfeiture; Matrimonial property claims — rights enforceable by appropriate proceedings or appeal.
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23 April 2024 |
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Court awarded MK6,000,000 compensatory damages for defamation but declined exemplary damages for lack of malicious publication.
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Defamation — libel for alleged robbery; compensatory damages awarded MK6,000,000 — exemplary damages refused for lack of malicious/guilty knowledge; claimant failed to prove pecuniary loss; damages must be pleaded and proved (Order 7 r.21); courts must balance reputation remedies with press freedom; UK personal-injury comparator not adopted.
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19 April 2024 |
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An admitted legal practitioner on the Roll must hold a valid practising licence to appear, and the abuse-of-office charge was time-barred under s302A.
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Criminal procedure — Public prosecutors: distinction between "legally qualified" and "entitled to practice"; practising licence mandatory for admitted legal practitioners; LELPA s30(4). — Time limits: s302A CP&EC mandates commencement/completion timelines; failure to commence trial within 12 months discharges accused. — Pre-trial dismissal: summary dismissal of criminal charges is exceptional; insufficiency of evidence ordinarily tested after prosecution case.
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19 April 2024 |
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An informal union cannot be dissolved by divorce; the applicant must seek declaration of marriage by repute and ancillary reliefs.
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Constitutional recognition of informal unions; Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act ss.12–13; marriage by repute/permanent cohabitation; declaratory jurisdiction to determine existence; ancillary reliefs (custody, maintenance, property) available after court finds such union; divorce proceedings inappropriate to dissolve non-formal unions.
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18 April 2024 |
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Marriages by repute cannot be dissolved via divorce petitions; seek declaratory finding and ancillary orders instead.
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Family law — Marriage by repute or permanent cohabitation — Whether such unions can be dissolved by a court — Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act ss 12, 13
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Civil procedure — Proper remedy for informal unions — Petition for divorce is inappropriate; seek declaratory finding and ancillary orders instead
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18 April 2024 |
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Applicants sought High Court review of magistrate’s bail refusal; Court dismissed for failure to meet high review threshold and wrong procedure.
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Criminal procedure — High Court revisionary/supervisory jurisdiction (s.26 Courts Act; s.360 CP&EC) — Bail law — Bail Guidelines Act (Part II, s.4) — Prima facie assessment of prosecution evidence at bail stage — Exceptional threshold for review versus appeal/fresh application.
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16 April 2024 |
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Failure to disclose parallel proceedings and attempting collateral attack on another court's decision amounted to abuse of process; action struck out.
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Civil procedure — Ex parte relief — Duty of full and frank disclosure of pending proceedings — Concurrent jurisdiction — Abuse of process — Action impermissible to challenge decisions of another court — Striking out and discharge of injunction; costs.
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15 April 2024 |
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A stay pending appeal requires a competent notice of appeal and leave to amend grounds; absent these, stay is denied.
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Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Competent notice of appeal required — Grounds of appeal cannot be amended without leave — Order I r18 SCAR is not the enabling provision for stay — Arguability and risk of nugatory appeal test.
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12 April 2024 |
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Conviction quashed after trial court improperly invoked s201 and prosecution failed to prove theft beyond reasonable doubt.
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Criminal appeal — theft (s278 Penal Code) — prima facie case at close of prosecution — trial court powers under s201 CP&EC — s201 invoked sparingly, parties to be notified — judicial impartiality and forum choice — improper calling of witness after defence; evidence struck out — conviction unsafe; quashed.
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12 April 2024 |
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Conviction on guilty plea confirmed for obtaining by false pretences; maximum sentence set aside and reduced to 30 months.
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Criminal law — Obtaining by false pretences (s.319 Penal Code) — Confirmation of conviction on plea — Sentencing: maximum penalty reserved for worst offences — Registrar and jurisdictional duties under Courts Act s.6A and Practice Direction No.1 of 2023.
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12 April 2024 |
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Retrospective application of the FCA was found by necessary implication but did not violate constitutional protections against conviction for non-offences.
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Constitutional law — retrospectivity of statutes — Financial Crimes Act section 42 vs repealed MLA section 35 — interpretation of saving provision section 141(2) FCA — right not to be convicted for non-existent offence and protection against harsher retrospective penalties — procedural commencement via constitutional referral (Order 19 CPR).
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10 April 2024 |
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An inchoate judgment is not appealable, so a stay pending appeal was dismissed; the preliminary objection was procedurally defective.
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Civil procedure — Preliminary objections — procedural compliance and minimum notice; Inchoate judgments — part of relief reserved for later assessment; Appealability — inchoate judgments not appealable; Stay of execution pending appeal — incompetent when judgment is inchoate.
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10 April 2024 |
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An interlocutory injunction was granted to preserve funds subject to a valid preservation order, affirming Financial Crimes Division jurisdiction and condemning forum shopping.
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Financial Crimes Division jurisdiction — preservation orders and freezing directives — exclusivity under Financial Crimes Act; interlocutory injunction to preserve status quo; forum shopping and abuse of court process; registrar’s duty to transfer misfiled matters.
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8 April 2024 |