Court of Appeal of Zambia - 2019 July

21 judgments
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Results. 21 judgments found.

21 judgments
July 2019
Court granted stay pending appeal due to urgent special circumstances but sanctioned appellant’s counsel for abusing court process.
  • Civil procedure — stay of execution pending appeal — Order 13 Rule 12 CAR; Whitebook (Order 59 RSC) — special circumstances permitting Court of Appeal to exercise original jurisdiction — urgency, threatened execution, judge incapacity — abuse of process and costs sanction.
31 July 2019
Appeal partly allowed: two heads of bank-customer claims awarded; counterclaim upheld and guarantor liability affirmed, with offsets and interest ordered.
  • Banking law — unauthorised debits and transfers; compound interest and penal interest; burden and standard of proof in civil claims; counterclaim and mode of commencement; guarantee liability; offset of judgments; interest rates.
26 July 2019
Counterclaim for terminal benefits barred by res judicata and abuse of court process; appeal dismissed with costs.
  • Civil procedure — res judicata and abuse of process — multiplicity of actions/forum-shopping — counterclaim and set-off — staff loans converted to commercial loans on termination — simple interest where no express agreement for compound interest.
17 July 2019
Failure to comply with an 'Unless Order' requires an application for extension of time/restoration, not a review; appeal dismissed.
  • Civil procedure — 'Unless Order' — failure to comply — court retains discretion to extend time — proper remedy is application for extension of time/restoration, not review — Order 3/5/9 RSC — authority: Ruth Kumbi v Robinson Caleb Zulu; Samuels v Linzi Dresses.
12 July 2019
The court refused the respondent's application for security for costs, finding it not a proper case to order it.
  • Civil procedure — Security for costs — Discretion under Order 10 Rule 8(1) — Factors: bona fides, prospects of success, oppressive use, delay — Burden to show stifling of litigation — Failure to specify amount — Residents and employer‑employee relationship — Application refused.
11 July 2019
A two-day procedural delay justified extension of time to file appeal documents; prospects of success not a prerequisite.
  • Civil procedure — extension of time to file record of appeal and heads of argument — Order 13 Rule 3(1)(c) — short/technical delays — procedural technicalities should not defeat substantive justice — prospects of success not required for extension — costs in the cause.
11 July 2019
Tenant's application under section 28 succeeded on appeal; court remitted matter for valuation and determination of market rent.
  • Landlord and tenant law — section 28 (determination of rent) — purposive statutory interpretation — corporate personality vs Government ownership — requirement for valuation report to determine market rent — costs follow event.
11 July 2019
Appeal dismissed for want of prosecution where appellant failed to lodge record and seek extension within prescribed time.
  • Civil procedure — Court of Appeal Rules Order X Rules 6 and 7 — requirement to lodge record of appeal and heads within 60 days — dismissal for want of prosecution — need for extension of time application — procedural timeliness and precedent.
11 July 2019
Appeal dismissed for want of prosecution after appellant failed to file record and heads and did not seek extension.
  • Civil procedure — Appeal — Dismissal for want of prosecution — Failure to file record of appeal and heads of argument within statutory time — No application for extension — Court of Appeal Rules Order X Rule 7 — Precedent: Naher Investments v Grindlays Bank.
11 July 2019
Appeal dismissed for want of prosecution where record and heads were filed after the granted period without seeking further extension.
  • Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — Court of Appeal Rules Order 10 Rule 7 — computation of time under Order 13 Rule 2(a) — filing record and heads out of time without leave — discretion to dismiss — costs.
11 July 2019
Court confirmed a stay pending appeal where the appeal had prospects and rejected payment-into-court as a substitute for security.
  • Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — discretionary remedy; court may preview prospects of success — Notice of appeal — adequacy where it refers to memorandum of appeal — Payment into court (Order 22 RSC) is a voluntary pre-judgment offer to settle, not security for a judgment pending appeal — improper procedure (summons v notice).
10 July 2019
A defendant may obtain an interlocutory injunction linked to the plaintiff's claim; omission of an undertaking to damages was not fatal.
  • Civil procedure — interlocutory injunction — defendant entitled to apply without counter-claim; site inspection unnecessary on interlocutory application; injunctions cannot lie against the State; undertaking as to damages ordinarily required but omission not fatal.
9 July 2019
A contractual clause requiring additional interest on default was held to be unlawful penal interest under the Cost of Borrowing Regulations.
  • Banking law — Penal (penalty) interest — Cost of Borrowing Regulations (SI No.179 of 1995) — clause imposing additional interest on default unlawful — freedom of contract limited by statutory/regulatory prohibition — retrospective application of statute disallowed.
9 July 2019
Whether signed settlements extinguish employment claims and whether dissociated plaintiffs must be misjoined and removed.
  • Employment law — claims for long-service bonus, unpaid pension contributions and redundancy — whether signed full-and-final settlements bar claims or are avoidable for economic duress — representation and authority to sue — joinder/misjoinder where plaintiffs dissociate — procedure for striking out for want of cause of action.
5 July 2019
Possession of stolen phone days after theft does not inevitably prove robbery; uncorroborated suspect-witness evidence rendered conviction unsafe.
  • Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Inference of guilt not inevitable from possession of stolen property — Recent possession principle; Accomplice/suspect witnesses — need for caution and "something more" beyond demeanour; Production of stolen property — corroborative but not indispensable; Unsafe conviction — appellate intervention; Sentence quashed.
5 July 2019
Conviction and increased sentence for theft by a public servant upheld; statutory judgment of K3,800 entered for the Attorney General.
  • Criminal law — Theft by public servant — Sufficiency of retrial evidence; credibility findings on appeal — Reliance on evidence from earlier trial — Sentence review and increase — Mandatory statutory judgment for stolen amount.
5 July 2019
Conviction for aggravated robbery was unsafe where uncorroborated suspect-witness evidence and non-recent possession left alternative inferences open.
  • Criminal law — aggravated robbery — circumstantial evidence — possession of stolen property — recentness of possession — accomplice/suspect witness — need for corroboration — production of stolen property not invariably essential.
5 July 2019
High Court has jurisdiction to hear trespass claims protecting surface rights despite parallel Mines Act procedures.
  • Mines Act — jurisdiction; trespass and surface rights; purchaser in possession without registered title; s.52/s.56 dispute-resolution does not oust common-law tort remedies; Mining Appeals Tribunal absence not fatal.
3 July 2019
A landowner with surface rights may sue for trespass in the High Court despite mining Act dispute procedures.
  • Torts — Trespass to land — Surface rights vs mineral rights; Jurisdiction — High Court competence where owner/purchaser in possession alleges trespass despite mining licences; Mines and Minerals Development Act — dispute-resolution procedures (Director, arbitration, Mining Appeals Tribunal) do not oust common-law remedies unless clearly expressed; Consent under s.52; Sections 96–97 appeal procedure; Effect of tribunal not yet constituted; Committal proceedings.
3 July 2019
A purchaser in possession may sue for trespass despite mining-licence procedures; Mines Act remedies do not oust common-law trespass claims.
  • Property law — trespass v. mining rights; purchaser-in-possession without registered title may sue in trespass; Mines and Minerals Development Act dispute procedures do not oust High Court jurisdiction for surface-rights torts; Mining Appeals Tribunal absence not fatal; committal proceedings should be determined.
3 July 2019
The applicant’s dismissal for fraudulent vehicle registration was lawful; courts will not retry disciplinary findings absent lack of supporting facts.
  • Labour law — wrongful dismissal — disciplinary procedure — standard of review by courts of domestic disciplinary decisions — substratum of facts required to support dismissal — burden of proof on employee.
1 July 2019