Court of Appeal of Zambia - 2018 August

17 judgments
Skip past years
Skip past months
Skip to results

Results. 17 judgments found.

17 judgments
August 2018
Whether the employer's disciplinary code applied and whether dismissals for protesting bonus withdrawal were lawful.
  • Employment law — disciplinary code authentication — unfair dismissal — substitution of charges — 13th cheque as contractual entitlement — group company proceedings — exhaustion of remedies — s101(2) ILRA inapplicable
23 August 2018
The appellant's failed defences did not establish reasonable doubt or constitute extenuating circumstances.
  • Criminal law — murder — circumstantial evidence; defences — evidential burden to raise defences vs prosecution’s burden to negative them; intoxication; self-defence; provocation; accident; forensic evidence; sentencing — extenuating circumstances.
23 August 2018
Recognition-based identification and joint enterprise upheld; murder conviction affirmed and aggravated robbery sentence increased to life imprisonment.
  • Criminal law — Identification by recognition — honest mistake — opportunity and lighting; Joint enterprise — section 21(1) Penal Code — principals/accessories; Murder — malice aforethought — section 204(b) — use of offensive weapons; Aggravated robbery — sentence increased to life imprisonment with hard labour.
22 August 2018
Expired tenancies, arrears and lack of capacity meant no clear right or equitable basis for interlocutory injunction; appeal dismissed.
  • Interlocutory injunctions — American Cyanamid test — requirement of serious question to be tried and clear right to relief — expiry of tenancy agreements; tenancy at will — alleged renewal by conduct — clean hands (rental arrears) — capacity to give undertaking — sale in liquidation and transfer of beneficial interest.
22 August 2018
Recognition identification and joint enterprise proved appellants guilty; aggravated robbery sentence increased to life, murder conviction and death sentence upheld.
  • Criminal law — Identification by recognition at night — Need to exclude honest mistake — Joint enterprise and liability under section 21(1) — Malice aforethought under section 204 — Sentence substitution for aggravated robbery; death sentence maintained.
22 August 2018
Summary dismissal without a hearing was wrongful; statute obliges employer to repatriate foreign employees despite contractual exclusion.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — breach of natural justice (audi alteram partem) — court may probe mala fides; Immigration Act s28(8) — employer's repatriation obligation overrides contrary contractual clause; mitigation of damages; correction of accrued leave entitlement.
22 August 2018
Terminal gratuity must include the services allowance as last paid (tax gross-up); successful retiree awarded costs.
  • Employment law — terminal benefits — services allowance — grossing-up for tax — interpretation of conditions of service and HR memorandum; computation of gratuity; costs follow the event — discretion and "no order as to costs".
22 August 2018
Insufficient evidence of a firearm (no recovery or ammunition) precluded conviction under section 294(2); substituted convictions under section 294(1).
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Firearm element — Proof required under Firearms Act — recovery of firearm, cartridges or strong circumstantial/forensic evidence; recent possession of stolen property as evidence of guilty knowledge.
21 August 2018
Whether omission to explain a later-enacted proviso or recall witnesses after amending the offence date vitiated a corroborated defilement conviction.
  • Criminal law — Defilement (s138 Penal Code) — Proviso retrospectivity — Charge amendment and variance as to date (s213(2) Criminal Procedure Code) — Recall of witnesses — Corroboration of prosecutrix by medical report and caution statement — Submissions not evidence — Irrelevance of testing accused for victim's STI.
21 August 2018
Dismissal was wrongful for breach of natural justice; statute mandates reasonable repatriation despite contractual exclusion.
  • Employment law — wrongful and summary dismissal; natural justice (audi alteram partem) — requirement to afford hearing; court's power to examine substratum of facts/mala fides; Immigration and Deportation Act s28(8) — employer's repatriation obligation overrides contractual exclusion; mitigation of damages; computation of accrued leave.
21 August 2018
A registered certificate of title is conclusive evidence of ownership unless fraud, misdescription, or prior interest is proved; appeal dismissed.
  • Lands and Deeds Registry Act s33 — registered certificate of title conclusive evidence of ownership; requirements to rebut title (fraud, misdescription, prior interest). Survey law — re‑planning/re‑alignment where newly created lot overlaps earlier surveyed lot. Appellate review — interference with trial findings of fact only where findings are perverse or unsupported. Civil procedure — written submissions are advisory and not binding on the court
17 August 2018
Appeal allowed: employee had accepted renewed contract reducing notice period, so no breach or duplicative awards.
  • Employment law — fixed-term renewals — document admissibility and deemed admission where no timely objection — variation of termination notice by mutual assent — extrinsic evidence rule — unjust enrichment and duplication of awards.
10 August 2018
Registered title and bona fide purchaser protection upheld; squatter claims and unproved fraud allegations failed.
  • Land law — registered Certificate of Title — bona fide purchaser for value without notice — squatters’ occupancy — requirement to plead and prove fraud with particularity — procedure for transfer and memorials on title — costs follow the event.
10 August 2018
Court of Appeal held trial judge erred by deciding substantive chieftaincy issues at interlocutory stage and granted interim injunction.
  • Interlocutory injunctions — American Cyanamid principles — court must not determine triable issues on affidavit evidence — preservation of status quo — pre-empting merits hearing — chieftaincy election dispute.
10 August 2018
Applicant’s request to extend time to file the Record was denied for inordinate delay and failure to obtain leave to appeal.
  • Civil procedure — Appeals — Computation of time includes weekends — Notice of Appeal filed late without leave — Court’s discretion under Order XIII r 3(3) to extend time requires sufficient reason — Inordinate delay and dilatory conduct justify refusal — Costs awarded.
10 August 2018
Whether the appellant manufactured the contaminated drink and whether it caused the respondent's illness.
  • Product liability — manufacturer’s duty of care to consumers — proof on balance of probabilities; Negligence — necessity of proving causation for damages; Medical evidence — requirement to link contamination to illness; Standard of proof in civil actions.
10 August 2018
Appeal dismissed for inordinate delay and failure to serve notice and file record and heads within prescribed time.
  • Appeal procedure — service of notice of appeal — Order X r.3(9) — filing record and heads — Order X r.6 — extension of time — non‑compliance — dismissal — commercial list expedited proceedings.
7 August 2018