Results.
11 judgments found.
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| February 2019 |
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Court upheld murder convictions under common purpose, rejecting self-defence and finding no extenuating circumstances.
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Criminal law — Murder — Doctrine of common purpose; Self‑defence and proportionality; Single witness testimony and danger of false implication; Extenuating circumstances and provocation; Sentence — death.
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28 February 2019 |
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Dying declaration and independent eyewitness evidence sustained a murder conviction despite inadmissible spousal testimony.
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Criminal procedure — admissibility of evidence — cross‑examination using unproduced police statement; Spousal testimony — consent required except in statutory exceptions; Dying declaration — admissible where deceased aware of impending death; Witness interest — relationship alone does not disqualify credibility; Dereliction of duty — failure to examine exhibit creates rebuttable presumption.
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28 February 2019 |
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Court dismissed appeal, upholding judgment on admission as based on clear admission and refusing joinder of the Surveyor General.
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Joinder — locus standi and interests of the State/Surveyor General; Civil procedure — Judgment on admission requires clear, unequivocal, unconditional admission; Statute — non‑retrospectivity of Urban and Regional Planning Act and effect on High Court jurisdiction; Evidence — late introduction of Surveyor General report; Local authorities — binding effect of officers’ correspondence.
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28 February 2019 |
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Court upheld a family distribution agreement but ordered administrators to render accounts before any revocation or appointment.
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Intestate Succession Act — distribution by agreement of priority dependants — enforcement under s.42(c); Administrator duties — duty to account and s.19(c); Revocation of letters of administration — s.29 remedies; Court's power to appoint Administrator-General after accounting.
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27 February 2019 |
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Whether eyewitness and circumstantial evidence supported a murder conviction despite discrepancies and no fingerprint analysis.
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Criminal law — murder — eyewitness and circumstantial evidence — discrepancies in accounts — admissibility of inference that accused tied victim; forensic failure to uplift fingerprints — when not dereliction; provocation defence — elements and proportionality.
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27 February 2019 |
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Application to extend time for leave to appeal dismissed for lack of reasons and prospects; stay discharged and costs awarded.
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Civil procedure — Extension of time (Order 13 Rule 3) — Leave to appeal out of time — Applicant must show plausible reasons for delay and some prospect of success — Uncommissioned affidavit disregarded — Stay of execution discharged — Costs awarded.
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26 February 2019 |
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A private perjury complaint filed during related High Court proceedings is not per se abuse, but trial must be stayed to avoid unfairness.
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Criminal procedure — Private prosecutions under s.90 — Jurisdiction to try perjury while related civil proceedings pending — Abuse of process and stays to prevent unfairness — Costs in private prosecutions (s.172): liability and assessment procedure.
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25 February 2019 |
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Forgery requires a document to 'lie about itself'; theft by public servant proven and statutory judgment entered for outstanding public funds.
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Criminal law — Forgery: requirement that document must 'purport to be what it is not' (making of a false document) — cheque with false particulars not necessarily forgery; Theft by public servant — proof and onus; Statement of offence — non-prejudicial defect; Section 171 Criminal Procedure Code — mandatory statutory judgment for recovery of stolen public funds; Accused's duty to adduce evidence for affirmative defence.
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25 February 2019 |
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Whether uncorroborated testimony of relatives and limited alibi investigation could overturn murder convictions and death sentences.
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Criminal law — Murder; witness credibility and corroboration — relatives of deceased as suspect witnesses; danger of false implication; alibi — duty of investigating officer to investigate particulars; common purpose/joint enterprise; postmortem corroboration of assault; conviction and death sentence upheld.
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22 February 2019 |
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Employees of a statutory agency are not public officers and government circulars bind them only when the agency expressly adopts them.
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Statutory bodies — employment conditions — Whether staff of a statutory agency are public officers — Regulation excluding Agency employees as public officers — Applicability of Government circulars only when adopted by Agency — Non‑private practice allowance not payable absent Board-approved conditions of service.
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21 February 2019 |
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Libel on prime-time television was actionable per se; damage presumed, defences failed, appeal dismissed with costs.
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Defamation — Libel actionable per se — Publication on television — Words defamatory if tending to lower person in estimation of right-thinking members of society — Damage presumed in libel — Burden on defendant to prove justification or fair comment — Quantum of damages for injury to reputation.
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7 February 2019 |