Court of Appeal of Zambia - 2019 March

15 judgments
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Results. 15 judgments found.

15 judgments
March 2019
A single Judge may settle an embodiment order; monetary awards expressed pre‑2013 kwacha are to be read as re‑denominated under the 2012 Act.
  • Court of Appeal procedure — Order 10 Rule 23 — power of single Judge to settle order embodying judgment; functus officio and limits on post‑judgment amendment; interpretation of monetary awards — Re‑denomination of Currency Act No.8 of 2012 — pre‑2013 figures deemed re‑denominated.
29 March 2019
27 March 2019
A judge elevated from the High Court cannot review their own High Court judgment; matter remitted for review by another judge.
  • Civil procedure — Review of judgment — Order 39/1 High Court Rules — proviso — judge who has ceased to have jurisdiction — functus officio — remittal to another High Court judge.
27 March 2019
Conviction based on uncorroborated circumstantial evidence and unexplained boot prints was unsafe; appeal allowed.
  • Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Degree of cogency required to permit only inference of guilt; odd coincidences — limits where no forensic link; police dereliction — failure to compare boots/prints prejudices accused; appellate interference with unsafe convictions.
26 March 2019
Appellant's recent possession and failure to lead police to alleged owner justified conviction and affirmed sentence.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — recent possession doctrine — innocent possession v. guilty receiver/retainer — circumstantial evidence — failure to lead police to alleged owner undermines explanation.
26 March 2019
Failure to seek extension of time renders an out‑of‑time stay application incompetent and subject to dismissal.
  • Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Time limits for single‑judge applications — Court of Appeal Rules, Order 10 Rule 2(1) — Extension of time required for out‑of‑time applications — Competence of application.
25 March 2019
Shared directors do not establish that two companies are the same; judicial notice cannot replace evidential proof.
  • Corporate personality — separate legal entity — common directors insufficient to establish identity or pierce the corporate veil; Judicial notice — court must have basis/evidence before taking judicial notice of facts in issue; Appellate review — factual findings may be reversed if perverse or unsupported by relevant evidence; Negligence — liability of one company for another requires evidential basis linking the entities.
21 March 2019
Appellate court set aside trial finding equating two companies without evidence; shared directors did not negate separate corporate personality.
  • Company law — separate legal personality; piercing the corporate veil — directorship/common directors insufficient alone; judicial notice — limits where fact not notorious and no record enquiry; appellate review — reversing findings of fact unsupported by evidence.
21 March 2019
Ministerial directive on merging allowances applies to employees who separated before adopting new conditions; appeal dismissed and costs awarded.
  • Employment law — Ministerial directive ("Penza Letter") — incorporation of allowances into basic salary; applicability to employees who separated under early retirement before migration to new conditions of service; Collective Agreement inapplicability post-termination; appellate review of credibility findings; assessment of unliquidated sums; costs discretion.
21 March 2019
Post‑employment earnings are not discoverable at pre‑trial; interlocutory courts must avoid determining substantive merits.
  • Civil procedure — discovery — further and better list — relevance of post‑employment earnings; interlocutory relief — limits on deciding merits; contract interpretation — contra proferentem considered but not determinative.
21 March 2019
Title issued during a subsisting caveat may be set aside; oral gift and documentary minutes can create enforceable equitable interests.
  • Lands and Deeds Registry Act  caveat bars registration; removal only by court order or written withdrawal; certificate of title not immune from challenge where obtained during subsisting caveat. Statute of Frauds s.4  note/memorandum (minutes, receipts, contracts) can satisfy writing requirement; equitable interest by oral gift and subsequent transactions. Bona fide purchaser protection; cancellation of title for fraud/impropriety; damages for unlawful eviction/trespass
13 March 2019
Appellant wrongfully dismissed; awarded housing allowance, accrued leave, assessed salary arrears, compensation, interest and costs.
  • Employment law — wrongful termination for want of notice — oral contract of employment — entitlement to housing allowance and accrued leave — assessment of unpaid salary arrears — appellate review where trial judgment fails to analyse evidence and make findings of fact.
7 March 2019
Clear pleading admissions required entry of judgment; a debtor in default cannot enjoin a creditor’s debenture-based receivership.
  • Civil procedure — Judgment on admission — clear, unequivocal admissions in pleadings warrant judgment; Interim injunction — restraining appointment of receiver under debenture — debtor in default disentitled to equitable relief; Receivership — creditor entitled to exercise debenture rights absent bad faith or lack of benefit; Adequacy of damages and balance of convenience considered.
7 March 2019
Whether a time limit exists for renewing a single Judge’s decision to the full Court and how to fill the procedural lacuna.
  • Civil procedure — renewal of applications from a single Judge — lacuna in Order 10 Rule 8 regarding time limits — section 8(2)(a) White Book reference — leave to appeal to Supreme Court under section 13(3).
7 March 2019
Court granted stay pending appeal where special-leave review was mishandled and the appeal had prospects of success.
  • Stay of execution pending appeal; special leave to review vs review; Order 39 delay considerations; prospects of success and irreparable loss; appellate discretion.
7 March 2019