Court of Appeal of Zambia - 2017 September

20 judgments
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Results. 20 judgments found.

20 judgments
September 2017
Appeal dismissed: dismissal upheld where disciplinary procedure was followed, evidence supported misconduct, and appellant voluntarily absented himself.
  • Employment law — Disciplinary procedure and dismissal — Sufficiency of evidence to support misconduct; Natural justice — audi alteram partem and hearings in absence; Appeal competence under Section 97 ILRA — points of law or mixed law and fact; Supervisory responsibility for departmental security; Distinction between wrongful and unfair dismissal.
28 September 2017
Registered title is conclusive absent specifically pleaded and proved fraud; a stranger to a settlement cannot acquire title by that settlement.
  • Certificate of title — conclusiveness under Lands and Deeds Registry Act — privity of contract — receipt ambiguous as to purpose — requirement to plead and strictly prove fraud — findings of fact disturbed where at variance with evidence.
28 September 2017
Defective voire dire led to exclusion of child evidence, but the deceased’s wife’s credible testimony and corroboration sustained the murder conviction.
  • Criminal law — Voir dire of child witnesses; admissibility and caution with juvenile evidence; suspect witnesses and requirement for corroboration; identification evidence and absence of fingerprint evidence; common design and malice aforethought in murder.
27 September 2017
Court may proceed in defendant's absence, but plaintiff must prove document authenticity; attorney-in-fact cannot attest to principal's unknown facts.
  • Civil procedure — trial in defendant's absence (Order 35 r.3); Evidence — admissibility and proof of documents; Power of attorney — limits on attorney-in-fact giving evidence about principal's personal knowledge; Fraud/forgery — requirement for particular pleadings and proof; Burden of proof — plaintiff must prove debt on balance of probabilities.
26 September 2017
The Statement of Claim failed to disclose a cause of action and the appellant lacked locus standi; appeal dismissed.
  • Pleadings — Cause of action — Requirement to plead facts giving rise to liability; Locus standi — intertwined with reasonable cause of action; Pleadings procedure — further and better particulars and striking out; Court’s power to dismiss on its own motion (Order 3/2 HCR).
22 September 2017
Court partly allows appeal, reduces respondent’s damages and orders recalculation accounting for tax and Workers Compensation deductions.
  • Personal injury — assessment of damages — heads: pain and suffering, loss of amenities, permanent disability, loss of future/prospective earnings; unpleaded consequential heads; projection of future earnings (multiplicand and multiplier); inclusion of non‑earnings items; deduction for tax; effect of Workers Compensation payments.
21 September 2017
Employer lawfully terminated by contractual notice; courts may only probe motives where malice is shown.
  • Employment law — termination by notice — exercising contractual notice clause — Industrial and Labour Relations Act s85(5) — when courts may 'pierce the veil' to inquire into motive — requirement of evidence of malice for probing terminations.
19 September 2017
Leave to appeal out of time and a stay of execution were refused for lack of prospects and insufficient evidence to set aside the writ.
  • Civil procedure — Extension of time — Order XIII Rule 3 — Discretionary grant requires sufficient reason and prospect of success; Appeal — Leave to appeal out of time — court may preview merits; Stay of execution — dependent on successful extension of time; Mortgage foreclosure — writ of possession — absence of prima facie ground to set aside; Erroneous advice by former counsel not dispositive.
15 September 2017
Taxation of costs was premature pending conclusion of the appeal; 2017 costs order not retrospective; High Court certification rule inapplicable to Court of Appeal.
  • Civil procedure — taxation of costs — interlocutory taxation; Costs — Legal Practitioners (Costs) Order — retrospective effect; Costs — certification for multiple counsel — application to High Court scales; Court of Appeal jurisdiction — Order XII Rule 1 and Order 62 RSC.
15 September 2017
Bank negligent for encashing crossed cheques to customer’s agent; not liable for a non‑apparent altered cheque; net recovery reduced to ZMW13,182.64.
  • Banker–customer duty; crossed cheques paid contrary to crossing; negligence for paying third‑party cheques to customer’s agent; apparent alterations to cheques; effect of payment into court; proof and pleading of special damages (statutory penalties).
14 September 2017
Defective trial judgment and unresolved credibility on confession evidence warrant setting aside convictions and ordering retrial.
  • Criminal procedure — Judgment writing — Section 169 Criminal Procedure Code — necessity for review of evidence, findings of fact, reasoning and application of law; Evidence — admissibility and weight of warn-and-caution/confession statements; Appeal — when retrial should be ordered where trial judgment is defective and credibility disputed.
14 September 2017
Whether a request to be "released of responsibilities and liabilities" constituted resignation requiring registry changes under the Companies Act.
  • Company law — company limited by guarantee — construction of a letter requesting "release of responsibility and liability" as resignation — Sections 19(3)(b) and 210(1) Companies Act — extension of time to file register changes — appellate standard for disturbing factual findings.
14 September 2017
Defective trial judgment and reliance on confession evidence led to quashing of convictions and order for retrial.
  • Criminal procedure — requirements of a judgment — Section 169(1) Criminal Procedure Code — necessity for review of evidence, findings of fact, credibility assessments and application of law.
14 September 2017
Employer not liable for vehicle tax; advances were loans; refund award set aside as unjust enrichment; some benefits upheld.
  • Employment law — Self‑liquidating motor vehicle scheme; characterization of advances as loans; pleading and admissible evidence for repatriation and retention claims; PAYE overpayment and recovery; tax liability on duty‑free vehicle; unjust enrichment; restitutionary remedies; damages for loss of use.
14 September 2017
Employer’s statutory-board dismissal held influenced by ministerial statements; 24 months’ aggravated damages awarded, vehicle and loss-of-use claims succeed.
  • Employment law — wrongful/constructive dismissal — piercing the contractual notice ‘veil’ to ascertain real motive — ministerial statements influencing statutory body’s decision; damages for traumatic and humiliating dismissal (Mpundu damages); entitlement to equal treatment regarding sale of personal-to-holder vehicle; proof required for allowances payable upon presentation of bills.
13 September 2017
Failure to explain the proviso before plea is curable if explained before witnesses are called and no prejudice results.
  • Criminal procedure — Defilement charge — Proviso to s.138 Penal Code — Duty to explain proviso to unrepresented accused — Failure to explain before plea an irregularity curable if no prejudice — Explanation given before witnesses called cured irregularity.
7 September 2017
A discontinuance of proceedings vacates pending appeals, rendering procedural challenges moot.
  • Civil procedure — Discontinuance of action — Effect of notice of discontinuance vacating pending appeal; procedural issues on affidavit jurat and placement of penal notice left undetermined.
7 September 2017
Whether the appellants were bound by post-judgment consent orders and entitled to assessment of dues under the original judgment.
  • Civil procedure — post-judgment consent orders — binding effect only on parties and their duly authorised agents; Evidence — proof of payment requires proof of receipt by creditor or authorised agent; Assessment of post-judgment dues –Registrar to assess where claimants are not bound by consent orders and no proof of payment; Remittal to Registrar where documentary record is voluminous.
7 September 2017
Appellate court reduced sentence, finding charge duplicitous and sentencing misdirected by reliance on unconvicted multiple acts.
  • Criminal law — Defilement — Duplicitous charge where multiple occasions alleged in a single count — separate acts constitute separate offences (Criminal Procedure Code s.135) — sentencing: age of victim borderline, breach of trust and pregnancy aggravating — sentencing must not reflect unconvicted acts.
7 September 2017
Appeal allowed where plaintiff complied with consent trial directions and dismissal for want of prosecution was unjustified.
  • Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution; inordinate delay; missing court record; jurisdiction of deputy registrar; appeal from registrar as rehearing; appellate review of discretionary dismissals; costs.
7 September 2017