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Citation
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Judgment date
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| May 2021 |
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Whether cumulative circumstantial evidence excluding reasonable alternatives justified conviction of the first appellant, but not the second.
Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – Strands must be considered cumulatively – Cogency required to exclude reasonable inference of innocence; Identification parades; Possession of stolen vehicle and pirating as corroborative circumstance; Insufficient linkage for co-accused where only last-seen evidence exists.
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28 May 2021 |
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Teacher’s failure to inquire into a pupil’s age negates the proviso defence to defilement under section 138(1).
Criminal law – Defilement under section 138(1) Penal Code – Proviso requiring reasonable belief as to age – Ocular observation not sole test – Teacher-pupil relationship and context of encounter may impose duty to inquire – Recklessness negating reasonable belief.
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28 May 2021 |
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Appellate court upheld murder conviction and death sentence, finding eyewitness credible and provocation defence fabricated.
Criminal law – murder – credibility assessment of interested witness – corroboration (post-offence admission and flight) – provocation and failed defence as extenuating circumstance – appellate review of factual findings.
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28 May 2021 |
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Accidental-discharge defence rejected; deliberate arming, locking and flight supported malice aforethought and upheld murder conviction.
Criminal law — Murder — Malice aforethought — Accidental discharge defence — Circumstantial evidence — Firearm handling and knowledge — Loading, locking premises, flight; mens rea inference.
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28 May 2021 |
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Malice aforethought proved; provocation and intoxication not established—appeal dismissed and murder conviction with death sentence upheld.
Criminal law – Murder – Malice aforethought (s.204(b)) – Provocation and intoxication as failed defences and extenuating circumstances – Witness credibility and suspect witness corroboration – Duty to call witnesses/investigation.
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28 May 2021 |
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Credibility findings and common design justified upholding arson convictions despite inconsistencies about who lit the fire.
Criminal law – Arson – Identification and credibility of witnesses – Common design/coordinated action – Inconsistencies in who lit the fire immaterial where acts were simultaneous – Appellate deference to trial court credibility findings (Risbey).
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28 May 2021 |
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Conviction quashed for lack of independent corroboration of the perpetrator's identity despite medical corroboration of intercourse.
Sexual offences — corroboration required of both commission and identity; Juveniles Act s122(b) — corroboration mandatory for witnesses under 14; medical evidence corroborates commission but not identity; opportunity by ordinary cohabitation does not suffice as corroboration.
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27 May 2021 |
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Appellant's murder conviction upheld on circumstantial evidence: last seen, accused's coat on body, flight and confession.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Last seen with deceased – Identification by witnesses with potential interest – Accused's coat found on body – Flight and subsequent statement to police – Accused's explanation rejected.
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26 May 2021 |
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Stock theft not proved beyond reasonable doubt; conviction substituted with receiving stolen property and three-year sentence.
Criminal law — Burden of proof in theft — Possession of recently stolen property — Reasonable explanation creates reasonable doubt — Lesser alternative conviction: receiving stolen property (s.318(1) Penal Code) — Sentencing must reflect proven facts.
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26 May 2021 |
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Convictions based on circumstantial evidence quashed where reasonable alternative explanations existed and evidence was unsatisfactory.
Criminal law – circumstantial evidence – must exclude all reasonable inferences other than guilt; Juveniles Act s.122 – voir dire requirements (intelligence and duty to tell truth); adequacy of investigation into defendants' explanations.
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26 May 2021 |
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Single-witness identification can be safe if reliable; armed aggravated robbery requires proper charge and direct firearm evidence.
Criminal law — Identification evidence: single identifying witness; opportunity to observe and risks of honest mistake. Aggravated robbery — armed aggravated robbery: accused must be charged with armed robbery and there must be direct evidence that a firearm (as defined by the Firearms Act) was used before imposing death sentence. Sentence substitution where conviction for armed robbery set aside
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26 May 2021 |
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Court held Bundabunda succession is rotational among three lineages and ordered the next rotation to the Kashimbi family.
Customary succession — Bundabunda chieftaincy — rotational succession among three matrilineal families — probative value of family tree and shrine (clay pots) evidence — appellate interference for misapprehension of facts.
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22 May 2021 |
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Whether unexplained last‑seen coincidences and recovered personal effects can sustain a murder conviction despite admission voluntariness concerns.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Last seen and odd coincidences – Admission evidence – Voluntariness enquiry – Ilunga Kabala precedent – Flight and recovery of personal effects.
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21 May 2021 |
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Court affirms indecent assault conviction: elements and corroboration satisfied despite non‑material inconsistencies.
Criminal law – Indecent assault – Elements: unlawful act and indecency judged by reasonable person test – Consent as defence; Criminal procedure – Corroboration required in sexual offence cases – corroboration of act and identity may be satisfied without witnessing every detail; Evidence – inconsistencies not material do not vitiate conviction.
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19 May 2021 |
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Whether a purchaser from a fraudster acquires title and if refusal to adjourn denied the applicant a fair trial.
Civil procedure – adjournment – trial judge’s discretion to refuse adjournment; Property law – nemo dat quod non habet – purchaser from fraudster cannot acquire good title; Lands and Deeds Registry Act – certificate of title vitiable for fraud or impropriety; Intestate Succession Act s.19(2) – sale of estate property without court order; Contract formation – offer and acceptance may be inferred from parties’ conduct.
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18 May 2021 |
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The appellant's claim failed: advance payment not a condition precedent; respondent entitled to terminate and claim damages.
Contract formation — purchase orders and award letter — advance payment not a condition precedent; delivery period counted from purchase order; supplementary purchase order for crane; breach, termination and damages; possessory lien not available.
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18 May 2021 |
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50% advance was not a contractual condition precedent; appellant breached by late delivery and could not retain wagons as a lien.
Contract law – condition precedent – advance payment – interpretation of purchase orders and award letter; Public Procurement Regulations – advance payment limits; delivery period – commencement date; agreement for hire/transport of crane; breach, termination and damages; possessory lien not available where no debt justifying retention.
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18 May 2021 |
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12 May 2021 |
| April 2021 |
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A valid party-made variation (with offer, acceptance and consideration) barred the seller's attempted rescission.
Contract law — Variation of contract by mutual agreement; offer, acceptance and consideration — Rescission — Law Association of Zambia General Conditions of Sale (Clause 7) — Specific performance.
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29 April 2021 |
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Cause of action accrued on resignation in 1989; failure to invoke administrative channels within ninety days rendered the complaint statute-barred.
Industrial and labour law – limitation periods – accrual of cause of action – Section 85(3) Industrial and Labour Relations Act – deferred accrual by administrative channels – requirement to invoke and exhaust administrative remedies within ninety days.
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29 April 2021 |
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Applicants failed to show irreparable harm; damages were adequate, so interim injunction was refused and single Judge’s decision upheld.
Civil procedure – interim injunction – applicant must show clear right to relief and irreparable injury not remediable by damages; where damages suffice, balance of convenience irrelevant.
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23 April 2021 |
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Leave to appeal denied for failure to show a point of law of public importance or reasonable prospects of success.
Court of Appeal — application for leave to appeal to Supreme Court — s.13 Court of Appeal Act — requirement of point of law of public importance and reasonable prospects of success — procedural non-compliance not necessarily fatal — appellate review of damages and excessive award.
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23 April 2021 |
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Leave to appeal denied: no point of law of public importance and no reasonable prospects of success.
Court of Appeal Act s13 – leave to appeal to Supreme Court; point of law of public importance; reasonable prospects of success; procedural non‑compliance; appellate interference with damages; excessive damages.
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23 April 2021 |
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Employer’s payment according to a later letter of offer may imply mutual variation, making that offer the operative employment document.
Employment law — Letter of offer versus formal written contract — Parol evidence and exceptions — Implied variation by conduct where employer pays under superior offer — Contra proferentum considered — Entitlement to allowances and gratuity — Costs under Industrial and Labour Relations Act (Rule 44(1)).
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23 April 2021 |
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A letter of offer implemented by payroll can impliedly vary a written employment contract, entitling the employee to enhanced terms.
Employment law — Whether a letter of offer signed and implemented by payroll can impliedly vary a later-written employment contract; admissibility of extrinsic evidence; entitlement to salary arrears, fuel allowance and gratuity; costs under Industrial and Labour Relations Act.
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23 April 2021 |
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23 April 2021 |
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Long, unexplained delay and intervening unappealed judgments precluded setting aside a foreclosure judgment affecting a bona fide purchaser.
Civil procedure — Setting aside judgment obtained in absence — Order 35(5) HCR and Order 35 RSC — Promptness and delay — Prospects of success — Prejudice to bona fide purchaser — Res judicata — Foreclosure and equitable mortgage.
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23 April 2021 |
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Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court refused as the applicant's grounds lacked public importance and prospects of success.
Leave to appeal — Section 13 Court of Appeal Act — requirement of points of law of public importance and reasonable prospects of success; separate legal personality — waiver by failure to raise in arbitration; jurisdiction — competence of statement of case; locus standi — affidavits deposed by employee not a stranger; arbitral award — not induced by fraud or serious irregularity.
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22 April 2021 |
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Whether properties later registered in a company formed part of an intestate estate and how they should be disposed of.
Intestate succession; property registered post‑mortem; corporate separate personality vs estate; cancellation of certificate of title for impropriety; impracticability of common leasehold where beneficiary relations are irreparably broken; discretionary award of costs.
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22 April 2021 |
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Court affirmed estate ownership of property improperly registered post-death, ordered valuation and sale, rejected common leasehold, and each party bears costs.
Intestate succession — Certificate of title — Cancellation for impropriety post-mortem registration — Separate legal personality of a company — Alternative reliefs — Common leasehold impracticability due to animosity and communal facilities — Costs: discretion and no common estate fund.
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22 April 2021 |
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Circumstantial evidence (last seen with victim, found with newborn, led police to body) upheld murder conviction.
Criminal law — Murder — Circumstantial evidence — Cogent 'closely knit' chain of facts — Last seen with deceased; possession of newborn; led police to body — Investigative omissions (footprints, DNA, forensic exhibits) rebuttable but displaceable by overwhelming circumstantial proof — Malice aforethought under section 204.
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21 April 2021 |
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Court dismissed procedural objections to a Notice of Motion as curable irregularities and awarded costs in the cause.
Civil procedure – interlocutory applications – Notice of Motion – procedural irregularities – curability of defects; Court of Appeal Rules – index in record; certificate of record addressed to Master v Registrar; affidavit commissioning; heads of argument not mandatory for Notices of Motion.
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21 April 2021 |
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Bail pending appeal denied for lack of exceptional circumstances; separate stay of sale dismissed as appeal already operates as a stay.
Criminal procedure — bail pending appeal — exceptional circumstances required for bail; interlocutory relief — stay of sale of forfeited property — lodging criminal appeal operates as a stay; sentencing jurisdiction — contention regarding subordinate court's maximum sentence (not decided on merits).
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21 April 2021 |
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Whether circumstantial evidence (mask recovery, co‑accused linkage, ballistics) sufficed to convict the appellant.
Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – staged reasoning test – linking facts must point to nothing else but guilt; Identification of exhibits (mask) as key linking evidence; Credibility and demeanour of accused; Sentencing — pronouncement on each count.
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21 April 2021 |
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Whether an issuing bank may be held liable for paying under a letter of credit when documents appear compliant under UCP 600.
Letters of credit — autonomy and strict compliance — UCP 600 (Articles 4, 14, 18, 34) — issuing bank's obligation to pay on apparently compliant documents — limits on bank liability for document accuracy and non-delivery — applicant–issuing bank relationship.
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15 April 2021 |
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Recent possession of a branded animal plus an implausible explanation can sustain a circumstantial-evidence conviction.
Criminal law – Stock theft – Circumstantial evidence and recent possession – Sufficiency and cogency of circumstantial proof – Compliance with section 169 Criminal Procedure Code (reasons for judgment).
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13 April 2021 |
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Confession must be tested by a trial within a trial when voluntariness is challenged; child‑witness identity requires corroboration.
Criminal law – Defilement – Proviso to s.138(1) Penal Code – Explanation of proviso where accused is represented – Confession – voluntariness – duty to hold trial within a trial – Juveniles Act s.122 – voire dire requirements and corroboration of child witness – identity corroboration – appellate quash and acquittal.
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9 April 2021 |
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Leave to appeal refused where a liquidated company proceeded without required leave and raised no public importance or prospects.
Appeal — leave to appeal to Supreme Court — discretionary threshold under s.13 Court of Appeal Act — company in liquidation — requirement for leave to commence or continue proceedings (s.66 Corporate Insolvency Act) — dismissal for want of prosecution — precedent and stare decisis (John Sangwa).
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6 April 2021 |
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A party may bring a separate Article 28 privacy petition despite related divorce proceedings; advocates may be sued for alleged rights violations.
Constitutional law — Article 28 (constitutional petition) — right to privacy; distinctness of matrimonial and constitutional causes; abuse of court process; liability of advocates and expert witnesses; disciplinary remedies do not oust constitutional claims.
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6 April 2021 |
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Unregistered trust deed is void; trust assets form part of intestate estate and administrators must render full inventory and account.
Intestate succession; unregistered deed of trust nullity; administrators' duty to render inventory and accounts (s.19 Intestate Succession Act); sales without court authority void; defective will incapable of probate.
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1 April 2021 |
| March 2021 |
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Court granted extension to file appeal documents due to Covid-19 closures, finding the delay not inordinate.
Civil procedure – Extension of time – Court of Appeal Rules, Order 13 Rule 3(1) – Covid-19 related law-firm closures as sufficient reason – inordinate delay – costs awarded.
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31 March 2021 |
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Court granted a 21‑day extension to file appeal documents due to COVID‑19 closures, finding delay not inordinate.
Court of Appeal Rules (Order 13 Rule 3) – extension of time – sufficient reason – COVID‑19 related closure of law firm – inordinate delay – filing deadline and automatic dismissal.
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31 March 2021 |
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Whether a statutory derivative action is available once liquidation commences under the new Companies and Corporate Insolvency Acts.
Corporate insolvency — Liquidation — Availability of statutory derivative action post‑liquidation — Interaction between Companies Act s331 and the Corporate Insolvency Act — Leave to appeal — Applicability of Avalon Motors authority.
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31 March 2021 |
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Guideline 8(iv) obliges the Secretariat to notify a complainant in writing of refusal to withdraw, but that omission did not prejudice the investigated party.
Administrative law – interpretation of regulator's procedural guidelines – Guideline 8(iv) requires Secretariat to inform complainant in writing of refusal to accept withdrawal; duty owed to complainant not investigated party – right to be heard and legitimate expectation not established where investigated party failed to take available opportunities to respond.
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31 March 2021 |
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Whether a 30-year sentence for defiling a 12-year-old who became pregnant was excessive despite guilty plea and first‑offender status.
Criminal law — defilement — sentencing — first offender and plea of guilty — aggravating factors (victim aged 12, night ambush, mouth covered, resulting pregnancy) — appellate interference standard (wrong in principle or shock) — precedent reliance (Hara).
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31 March 2021 |
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Leave to appeal refused: no reasonable prospect or point of law of public importance concerning VAT or breach of contract.
Civil procedure – Leave to appeal to Supreme Court (s.13 Court of Appeal Act) – threshold of reasonable prospect and public importance; VAT on settlement following premature termination of lease – interpretation of finance agreement and VAT Act; costs awarded.
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31 March 2021 |
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Sections 23–24 of the Companies Act protect third parties and prevent automatic invalidation of proceedings for lack of a board resolution.
Company law – capacity and authority to litigate – Sections 23 and 24 Companies Act displace common-law requirement for board resolution; indoor management rule; procedural irregularities – curable vs fatal; interlocutory injunction – prima facie case and irreparable harm.
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30 March 2021 |
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Appeal dismissed: vendor withheld title and subdivided land; specific performance and costs awarded to respondents.
Contract for sale of land – title delivery versus payment – time of the essence – notice to complete – concealment and subdivision – specific performance and costs.
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30 March 2021 |
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Delay of six months and 25 days was inordinate; applicant failed to adequately account, so extension denied with costs.
Civil procedure – extension of time – inordinate delay – duty to apply promptly – adequacy of explanation – COVID-19/quarantine not automatically good cause – Court of Appeal discretion under Order X r.2(8) and s.9(b) Court of Appeal Act.
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30 March 2021 |
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Registered title and valid transfer by an administrator prevail over unregistered equitable claims; appeal dismissed with costs.
Land law – registered title v. unregistered/equitable interests – protection of persons dealing with registered proprietors (s.58 Lands and Deeds Registry Act) – bona fide purchaser for value without notice – administrators’ power to transfer intestate property by deed of gift/assent – effect of formal deviations from prescribed transfer forms.
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30 March 2021 |