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128 documents
Plaintiffs' claims for road‑works damage dismissed: negligence not proven and claim against authority statute‑barred.
  • Limitation Act — joinder after expiry of limitation period; negligence — duty of care to properties near road works; res ipsa loquitur inapplicable where cause known; pleadings limit issues (waiver must be pleaded).
Judgment 23 April 2018
Appeal dismissed: lower court's adverse-possession finding upheld; inheritance statute inapplicable where not pleaded.
  • Land law — adverse possession — uninterrupted occupation and use for over 12 years — limitation statute; Civil procedure — evaluation of evidence and credibility; Pleadings — court confined to issues raised; Deceased Estates Act not applicable where inheritance not pleaded.
Judgment 30 January 2018
An unconditionally admitted counsel has a right of audience that can only be removed by statutory procedure; Oberem v Oberem stands until set aside.
  • Right of audience on admission to the bar; removal of right of audience only by statutory process; requirement for gazetting subsidiary legislation; Malawi Law Society standards; High Court/Chief Justice procedure to remove counsel’s standing; effect of Oberem v Oberem pending appeal.
Judgment 7 December 2017
Appellant allocated customary land by chief and, after respondent's long delay, obtained permanent usage and occupation rights.
  • Land law — Customary land — Allocation and authority of chiefs to authorize use — Land Act ss.2, 25, 26 — No individual title
  • Property — Possession and acquiescence — Development and long delay — Acquisition of permanent rights of usage and occupation
  • Civil procedure — Appeal to High Court — Rehearing standard and burden of proof on claimant
Judgment 24 October 2017
Mediator found the proposed pump site within road-reserve/buffer-zone intersection; construction confined there not violating plaintiffs' customary rights.
  • Land law — customary land v public land — road reserve and river buffer zone intersection — Waterworks Act s.6 — entitlement to injunctive relief where works extend onto customary land.
Judgment 11 September 2017
General Interpretation Act preserves repealed law and subsidiary Rules, so the Rules of the Supreme Court remain operative and the preliminary objection is dismissed.
  • Statutory interpretation — Courts (Amendment) Act 2016 — General Interpretation Act (ss.13, 14(1)) — effect of repeal on subsidiary legislation — Rules of Supreme Court remain operative — summary judgment procedure preserved.
Judgment 1 July 2017
Interlocutory injunction continued to protect asserted use-and-occupation rights in customary land pending resolution of disputed authority and jurisdiction.
  • Customary land — rights to use and occupy (distinct from registered title) — interlocutory injunction — adequacy of damages — balance of convenience — authority of seller and jurisdiction of chief to witness customary land transaction.
Judgment 22 May 2017
Leave granted for judicial review over alleged commencement of project without required EIA; ex parte injunction refused.
  • Administrative law — Judicial review — Leave to apply — Standing, amenability, and arguable case for full review
  • Environmental law — Environmental impact assessment — Requirement under EMA s.24 and GN No.58 of 1998 for projects withdrawing water from lakes
  • Civil procedure — Interim relief — Interlocutory injunction in judicial review — Ex‑parte relief requires demonstration of real urgency
Judgment 21 April 2017
Appellate court upheld conviction and concurrent sentences based on recent possession and an unreasonable explanation.
  • Criminal law — burglary and armed robbery — doctrine of recent possession — possession of stolen property shortly after theft — burden and standard of proof — appellate restraint on sentence interference; concurrent sentences.
Judgment 3 April 2017
Court continued interlocutory injunction to preserve disputed customary land pending trial.
  • Land law — Interim relief — Interlocutory injunction — Preservation of status quo pending trial
  • Civil procedure — Injunctions — Threshold test — Serious issue to be tried (American Cyanamid)
  • Remedies — Adequacy of damages — Land is unique; damages inadequate
Judgment 12 December 2016
Judgment 27 October 2016
Judgment 13 June 2016
Plaintiffs failed to prove customary rights; defendants' occupation upheld and claim dismissed with costs.
  • Land law — Customary land — Allocation and occupation — Requirement of proof and role of chiefs — Land Act ss 25, 26, 40
Judgment 8 February 2016
Trial held in prison without Chief Justice direction is a nullity; confessions obtained by compulsion must be excluded.
  • Constitutional law — appeal or review under section 42(2)(e) — statutory expansion of rights; Criminal procedure — venue — trials in prison precincts without Chief Justice direction violate public hearing right; Evidence — confessions — section 176 CPE Code admits only relevant and admissible confessions; confessions obtained by compulsion/torture (sections 19(3), 42(2)(c)) must be excluded; procedural requirement that courts determine voluntariness as preliminary factual matter; date in charge generally not essential.
Judgment 21 April 2015
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.
Judgment 27 October 2014
Court held parties agreed only to grant use of the mining licence, not its transfer; plaintiffs' claim dismissed, counterclaim granted.
  • Mines and Minerals — mining licence: 'use' v transfer; contract interpretation — objective approach and surrounding background; agency — licence-holder may use agents (s.43); royalties — contractual obligation and counterclaim; plaintiffs failed to prove breach or loss.
Judgment 3 November 2008
An 18‑month custodial sentence for illegal charcoal burning was excessive; fines substituted for first offenders.
  • Forestry Act s64(
  • A) — sentencing for illegal charcoal burning — omission to assess damage value — consideration of first offender status — custodial sentence manifestly excessive — substitution with fine
Judgment 13 July 2008
Customary land grants surface use only; government/developer may dig for irrigation but must restore land and compensate for damages.
  • Customary land — surface user rights only; Ministerial control of sub-soil and minerals (Land Act s.26) — Government/developer permitted to dig and lay irrigation pipes but must refill and compensate for destroyed crops/trees — No right to draw water from project canals — Procedural directions to list objectors, map customary lands and hold joint rights-explanation meeting
Judgment 2 December 2007
Delay after an ex parte interim order and genuine disputes over title made mandatory interlocutory relief inappropriate.
  • Interlocutory injunctions — ex parte interim relief and subsequent delay — mandatory interlocutory injunctions exercised with caution — balance of convenience — competing title/regularization disputes — adequacy of damages.
Judgment 23 August 2004
Customary land rights are constitutionally protected; eviction requires statutory expropriation procedures and compensation; injunction granted.
  • Customary land — constitutional protection of property rights — expropriation requires public utility, notice and compensation — Land Act and Land Acquisition Act procedural compliance — Environment Management Act grants locus standi to 'any person' — injunction to prevent environmental degradation
Judgment 10 January 2004
Plaintiff in road-traffic accident awarded K160,000 for pain, suffering and loss of amenities; costs awarded.
  • Road traffic accident — assessment of damages — medical evidence of bodily injury — pain and suffering and loss of amenities — compensatory principle — award of K160,000 and costs.
Judgment 7 November 2002
Plaintiff awarded K150,000 for pain, loss of amenities and reduced earning capacity after a road traffic injury.
  • Personal injury — Road traffic accident — Assessment of damages — Pain and suffering and loss of amenities — Loss of earning capacity — Liability established by default judgment — Awards guided by comparable cases and local purchasing power.
Judgment 20 March 2002
Assessment of damages after bus-accident: proved special damages awarded; loss of earning capacity and general damages granted, total K846,466.
  • Tort — Road accident — Assessment of damages — Proof and particularisation of special damages; distinction between loss of earnings (special) and loss of earning capacity (general); recoverability of cash carried abroad despite Exchange Control regulation; quantum for artificial limb, medical expenses, pain and loss of amenities.
Judgment 18 February 2002
Assessment of personal injury damages, hearsay inadmissibility of medical reports, rejection of vehicle claim due to discharge.
  • Damages for personal injury — distinction between pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses — assessment by comparison and adjustment for local economic conditions; admissibility of medical reports — hearsay unless doctor called; proof required for special damages; discharge as bar to vehicle claim; interest and exemplary damages not recoverable.
Judgment 13 February 1996
Summary judgment granted where defendant failed to raise a bona fide triable defence to a claim based on cheques issued by his agent.
  • Civil procedure — summary judgment (Order 14) — cheques treated as payment — agency and authority — insufficient affidavit to raise triable issue — certainty of claim.
Judgment 8 July 1993
Administrator General appointed after a private applicant was found biased and unsuitable to administer the estate.
  • Succession law — letters of administration — suitability and impartiality of administrator — Administrator General competent to administer estates — setting aside prior grant.
Judgment 15 March 1991
Court allowed substitution of newly incorporated company for firm sued, finding a genuine mistake and permitting amendment with costs.
  • Civil procedure — amendment/substitution of party — Order 20 Rule 5(3) — genuine mistake — corporate conversion of a firm to a company — avoidance of multiplicity of actions.
Judgment 14 January 1991
High Court reviewed and reduced a Taxing Master’s increased taxation of a solicitor-and-own-client bill, fixing K6,384.20.
  • Taxation of costs — Review of Taxing Master’s decision — Solicitor-and-own-client bill — Discretionary awards — Requirement for reasons when varying prior taxation — Admissibility of original bill as a guide.
Judgment 1 December 1986