Results.
19 judgments found.
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| August 2021 |
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An arguable defence on interest-rate conversion justified setting aside a default judgment and ordering trial.
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Civil procedure — Setting aside default judgment — requirement of an arguable defence on the merits; Contract law — applicability and retrospectivity of change from staff lending rate to commercial rate; Set-off/counterclaim — does not automatically bar setting aside default judgment.
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27 August 2021 |
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Execution cannot be levied on amounts unilaterally computed by a judgment-creditor; unresolved quantum must be referred for assessment.
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Civil procedure — enforcement of judgment — Writ of Fieri Facias — quantum left to judgment-creditor — requirement for court assessment or referral where amounts are not court-quantified — ex parte leave to execute — irregularity.
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27 August 2021 |
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Appellate court upheld murder conviction where a voluntary confession to community crime preventers, corroborated by other evidence, proved guilt.
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[Confession and voluntariness] Admissibility of confessions to non-police community crime prevention members; [Appellate review] Deference to trial court credibility findings unless unreasonable; [Evidence] Corroboration of confession by presence and conduct evidence in murder case.
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26 August 2021 |
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Sitting tenants (including subsidiary employees) have priority to purchase ZCCM houses; wrongful sale titles may be cancelled and purchase monies refunded.
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Land law — Sale of parastatal/government houses — Home empowerment policy — Priority of sitting tenants (including subsidiary employees) — Validity and cancellation of certificates of title — Restitution of purchase price with interest — Pleading versus evidence on statute-barred defence.
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26 August 2021 |
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Confession to a fellow inmate admissible if voluntary; failed provocation not extenuating, death sentence upheld.
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Criminal law — Confession to fellow inmate — Admissibility and voluntariness; Cell captain not necessarily a person in authority; Corroboration of confession; Provocation — failed defence and extenuation; Death sentence — absence of mitigating circumstances.
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26 August 2021 |
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A confession to a fellow inmate is admissible if voluntary; failed provocation does not mitigate death sentence.
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Criminal law — Confession to fellow inmate — Admissibility — Person in authority — Voluntariness; Circumstantial evidence corroboration; Provocation as extenuation and sentencing (death penalty).
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26 August 2021 |
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Appellate court upheld 30-year sentence for unprovoked, savage manslaughter of the appellant's mother; sentence not excessive.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Appeal against sentence — Jutronich test for appellate interference — Manslaughter; aggravating factors: use of weapon, unprovoked violent attack on mother; mitigation: youth, first offender, guilty plea — Sentence upheld.
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26 August 2021 |
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A failed defence of provocation does not mitigate a murder sentence absent evidence of provocative act and loss of self-control.
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Criminal law — Murder — Provocation — Requirements: provocative act, loss of self-control, proportionality of retaliation — Failed provocation only mitigates if elements proven — Appeal against death sentence dismissed.
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26 August 2021 |
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A failed provocation defence cannot mitigate murder sentencing absent credible proof of provocation and loss of self-control.
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Criminal law — Murder — Defence of provocation — Requirements: provocative act, loss of self-control, disproportionate retaliation — Failed provocation may mitigate only if provocation and loss of self-control proven — Dying declaration and post-mortem evidence; credibility assessment; malice aforethought.
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26 August 2021 |
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Dying declarations require belief of imminent death; res gestae requires contemporaneity — admission made conviction unsafe.
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Criminal evidence — dying declarations — require settled hopeless expectation of imminent death; injuries alone insufficient — hearsay exception. Res gestae — requires contemporaneity or approximate proximity to exclude concoction. Admission of non‑qualifying statements renders conviction unsafe
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26 August 2021 |
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Appeal allowed: consolidation ordered because common copyright issues justified merging defamation and infringement actions.
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Civil procedure — Consolidation of actions — Discretionary power — Common questions of law/fact (copyright infringement) — Balance of convenience — Avoidance of multiplicity and conflicting decisions — Consent order for consolidation.
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20 August 2021 |
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Consolidation granted where defamation and copyright claims raised common questions of law, avoiding multiplicity and saving costs.
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Civil procedure — Consolidation of actions — Order 3 Rule 5 HCR & Order 4 Rule 9(1) RSC — Discretionary remedy — Common questions of law/fact — Copyright infringement and related defamation claims — Balance of convenience and avoidance of multiplicity of proceedings.
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20 August 2021 |
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Whether the applicant should be granted extension of time to seek leave to appeal and a stay of the judgment.
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Court of Appeal Rules — Extension of time — Discretionary relief requiring sufficient reason; Failure to comply with time limits by state legal officer; Stay of execution — requires extant appeal or leave to appeal; Multiplicity of actions — otiose applications arising from denied extension; Immigration/residence permit — consequences of appellate restoration of permit.
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19 August 2021 |
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An assignment under seal read with a sale agreement attracts the 12-year limitation period, not the six-year period for simple contracts.
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Limitation Act 1939 — section 2 (six-year limitation for simple contracts) v section 4 (twelve-year limitation for deeds under seal) — sale of land and deed of assignment — when documents are read together as one transaction — action for failure to assign title.
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9 August 2021 |
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Whether the Industrial Relations Division can adjudicate employment-related terminal benefits and mortgage-related counterclaims.
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Industrial Relations jurisdiction; employment-related terminal benefits; constitutional interpretation; counterclaim versus mortgage action; striking out pleadings; audi alteram partem; costs under Rule 44(1).
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6 August 2021 |
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Default judgment under an unless order inappropriate where declaratory reliefs and common issues affect all defendants.
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Civil procedure — Unless orders and default judgment — Declaratory reliefs — Requirement that interested parties be before court — Setting aside default judgment — need to show arguable defence and satisfactory explanation for default — prejudice to co-defendants — retrial ordered.
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6 August 2021 |
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Order 14A application was properly entertained; interpleader does not bar post-judgment damages claims by a non-party tenant, but original mortgagors’ claims were res judicata.
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Civil procedure — Order 14A preliminary issues — timing and prerequisites; Res judicata and multiplicity of actions; Interpleader scope limited to ownership of seized property; Tenancy created after mortgage not binding on mortgagee; Judicial comity between Judges of equal jurisdiction.
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5 August 2021 |
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Whether a court may vary agreed loan terms on equity where the defaulter comes with unclean hands and a post-default penal interest clause is unenforceable.
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Contract law — freedom of contract; equity — clean hands doctrine; unconscionability — scope and limits; Interest law — distinction between agreed interest, compound interest (requires express agreement or acquiescence) and penal/illegal interest; Remedies — enforcement of valid contractual terms and limits on reopening transactions.
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3 August 2021 |
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Judgment on admission upheld where documentary admissions and part payment established clear liability despite shared letterhead.
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Civil procedure — judgment on admission (Order 27 Rule 3) — requirements: clear, unambiguous, unconditional admission; corporate law — separate legal personality of companies; shared letterhead by related companies is internal arrangement and not a defence to third-party claims; documentary admissions and part payment may justify judgment on admission.
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3 August 2021 |