Court of Appeal of Zambia - 2020 September

21 judgments
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Results. 21 judgments found.

21 judgments
September 2020
Leave granted to judicially review Ministerial common-carrier declaration and ERB interim wheeling tariff; stay refused.
  • Judicial review — Leave to apply — Ministerial declaration of transmission/distribution lines as common carrier (Electricity Act s.15) — Interim wheeling tariff by ERB — Alternative remedies and appeal routes — Abuse of process — Locus standi — Arguable case (illegality, procedural impropriety, improper motive) — Stay refused.
29 September 2020
Court granted appellant 14-day extension to file record and heads due to delay in preparing the lower court record.
  • Appeal procedure — extension of time under Order 13 Rule 3 — delay caused by unprepared lower court record — discretion to extend where no mala fides or unreasonable delay — costs in the cause.
10 September 2020
Application for bail pending appeal dismissed for lack of special circumstances and poor prospects of success.
  • Criminal procedure — Bail pending appeal — Requirement of special/exceptional circumstances — Delay and voluminous record — Prospects of success — Circumstantial evidence — Kayumba v The People precedent.
10 September 2020
Where title acquisition is disputed on contested affidavits, oral evidence is required and the matter must be retried.
  • Land/title dispute — Allegation of fraud in acquisition of council house — Contentious factual disputes require oral evidence — Trial judge erred in resolving credibility on affidavits — Appeal allowed and matter remitted for retrial.
9 September 2020
Tenant not entitled to statutory compensation absent specified grounds; court lacked jurisdiction to order possession and mesne profits via originating notice.
  • Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act — statutory procedure for new tenancy applications — scope of section 19 compensation — jurisdictional limits of originating notice of motion — invalidity of vacant possession and mesne profits orders where wrong process used.
3 September 2020
Appellants failed to prove a trust; Administrator General’s assignment stood and they lacked locus standi.
  • Succession and property law — Administrator General’s administration — presumption of regularity — certificate of title and Lands Register entries — constructive trust burden of proof — locus standi of personal representatives — interaction with Administrator General's Act and Local Courts Act.
3 September 2020
Appellant's conviction quashed due to improperly obtained plea; matter remitted for retrial.
  • Criminal procedure — improper plea — judicial persuasion/intimidation during plea-taking — unsafe conviction — Court of Appeal power under s.16(3) to order retrial — manslaughter.
3 September 2020
Directors/shareholders must obtain leave under Companies Act s331 to sue for company interests; consent judgments require fresh action.
  • Companies Act s331 — derivative actions and requirement for court leave; Locus standi of directors/shareholders to sue on behalf of a company in receivership; Consent judgments — affected non-parties must challenge by fresh action; Consolidation of appeals where common issues and parties.
3 September 2020
Appellants' murder convictions and death sentences upheld; dying declaration and independent eyewitnesses established malice aforethought.
  • Criminal law — Eyewitness evidence and dying declarations — Res gestae distinguished from dying declaration — Suspect/ interested witnesses — Prosecutorial omissions and prejudice — Malice aforethought established by kicking/punching causing severe head injury.
3 September 2020
An appeal is competent to correct an erroneous costs order; absent reasons costs follow the event and the erroneous order was set aside.
  • Civil procedure — costs — principle that costs follow the event — erroneous costs order after dismissal of application for judgment on admission — clerical error (slip rule) vs appeal — competence of appeal where trial judge declines correction.
3 September 2020
A trust deed need not be registered under section 4; it may be validly registered (electively) in the Miscellaneous Register.
  • Lands and Deeds Registry Act — registration of documents affecting land — trust deeds — sections 74 and 10 (miscellaneous register) — specific statutory provision overriding general provision (section 4) — elective registration of trusts.
3 September 2020
An unregistered trust deed need not be void ab initio where section 74 allows elective registration in the Miscellaneous Register.
  • Lands and Deeds Registry Act — registration of instruments affecting land — distinction between general registration requirement (s.4) and specific provisions for trusts (ss.10, 74) — trust deeds may be registered in Miscellaneous Register and elective — non-registration in lands register does not automatically render trust void ab initio.
3 September 2020
Failure to explain the proviso to section 138 to an unrepresented accused prejudiced him, warranting quashing and retrial.
  • Criminal law — Defilement (section 138 Penal Code) — Duty to explain proviso to unrepresented accused — Plea procedure — Prejudice from failure to explain statutory defence — Identification issues and retrial.
2 September 2020
Employer's failure to provide systems caused wrongful dismissal; compensatory damages upheld, mental-anguish award set aside.
  • Employment law — Wrongful/unlawful dismissal — Employer duty to provide systems and equipment — ATM reconciliations and e-journals; Availability of alternative methods (manual tallying) — Enhanced damages for wrongful dismissal — Damages for mental anguish not pleaded or proved.
2 September 2020
Appellants' appeal dismissed: circumstantial evidence and witness credibility established aggravated robbery.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Circumstantial evidence — Cogency and odd coincidences — Witness with potential interest/corroboration — Credibility of inconsistent statements — Ingredients of s.294(1) Penal Code proven beyond reasonable doubt.
2 September 2020
An order for an account may be directed under Order 43(2) at any stage (including after a consent order); lack of writ endorsement alone was insufficient.
  • Civil procedure — Order 14A: oral determination of questions of law in interlocutory proceedings; effect of expunged affidavit paragraph. Civil procedure — Order 43(1) and (2): taking of accounts; scope of Rule 2 permitting accounts at any stage and in any cause or matter. Trust/equitable remedy — account arising from consent order; necessity (or not) of fresh proceedings or endorsement on writ
2 September 2020
Appellant failed to prove fraud or eligibility as a sitting tenant; appeal dismissed with costs.
  • Property law — Sale of parastatal/SOE houses — Eligibility to purchase requires employment or specified status; sitting tenancy alone insufficient — Allegations of fraud require higher standard of proof — Misjoinder and procedural challenge should be timely appealed.
2 September 2020
Alleged tax fraud and forgery known before a consent judgment could not be relitigated; appeal dismissed on res judicata grounds.
  • Civil procedure — consent judgment — setting aside — fraud, mistake and illegality — res judicata — tax irregularities and forged PPT certificates; enforcement v. setting aside; wrong party not sufficient ground.
2 September 2020
Appeal dismissed: claimant failed to prove eligibility or fraud in sale of a state-owned house.
  • Property/Parastatal housing — Eligibility to purchase government or parastatal houses — sitting tenant plus employment criterion; Civil proof — allegations of fraud require higher standard and admissible evidence; Procedure — misjoinder/striking out does not preclude calling removed persons as witnesses; burden of proof lies on the claimant.
2 September 2020
First offender who pleaded guilty to manslaughter deserved leniency; 15-year sentence reduced to 10 years imprisonment.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing — Manslaughter; first offender who pleads guilty — entitlement to leniency; appellate interference with sentence where sentence is wrong in principle or manifestly excessive; improper consideration of extraneous/personal views by trial judge; reduction of sentence.
2 September 2020
Union officers speaking on union matters at appropriate times are protected from employer disciplinary action under section 5.
  • Labour law — Trade union activities — Protection under section 5 Industrial and Labour Relations Act — Capacity of union officer when speaking off-duty — Interaction with section 6 duties to promote industrial peace — Sufficiency of grounds for disciplinary dismissal — Remedy: damages; reinstatement discretionary.
2 September 2020