Results.
18 judgments found.
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| March 2022 |
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Single-witness identification upheld; unsupported community belief in witchcraft not an extenuating circumstance to reduce murder conviction.
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Criminal law — Identification: conviction on single identifying witness — danger of honest mistake; need to exclude mistake by assessing opportunity to observe, lighting, and prior acquaintance. Criminal law — Belief in witchcraft: subjective belief not ordinarily an extenuating circumstance; requires objective, verifiable circumstances to amount to provocation or mitigation
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Procedure — Alibi raised belatedly may be rejected as afterthought
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25 March 2022 |
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Appellant’s intoxication was held an extenuating circumstance, reducing death sentence to life imprisonment.
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Criminal law — Murder — Sentencing — Extenuating circumstances — Intoxication by alcohol and drugs — Medical report and witness evidence — Reduction of death sentence to life imprisonment under section 201(2) Penal Code.
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25 March 2022 |
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Circumstantial evidence was not cogent to establish murder; conviction reduced to common assault and death sentence quashed.
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Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Cogency and alternative inferences (David Zulu) — Common intention — Murder vs lesser offences — Trial court misdirection — Resolution of doubt in favour of accused.
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24 March 2022 |
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Whether custodial beatings causing a ruptured spleen establish malice aforethought and whether uncorroborated eyewitnesses could sustain a murder conviction.
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Criminal law — Murder — Custodial death from assault — Postmortem showing ruptured spleen — Witness credibility and corroboration — Suspect witnesses — Malice aforethought: foresight/knowledge of likely death or grievous harm.
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23 March 2022 |
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Conviction based on a minor's uncorroborated identification and familiar room description was unsafe and quashed.
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Criminal law — Corroboration of a minor's identification — Description of accused's premises — 'Something more' requirement — Medical proof of sexual assault insufficient to identify perpetrator.
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23 March 2022 |
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Appellate court will not disturb credibility findings absent clear error; circumstantial evidence supported the murder conviction.
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Criminal law — Murder; circumstantial evidence; credibility findings; appellate restraint where trial judge saw witnesses; novus actus interveniens; inference of guilt.
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23 March 2022 |
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Conviction for armed aggravated robbery overturned where firearm use was unproven; substituted conviction under s.294(1) and 25-year sentences imposed.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Circumstantial evidence and drawing the only permissible inference — Treatment of defences raised at trial as afterthoughts — Requirement to prove use of a firearm for s.294(2) — Substitution of conviction to s.294(1) and sentencing.
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23 March 2022 |
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Trial magistrate misapplied the no-case standard and wrongly excluded council records; acquittal set aside and retrial ordered.
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Criminal law — forgery and uttering forged documents; evidence — production of public records by public officials; standard at 'no case to answer' — prima facie test; appellate power to order retrial; leave to appeal suo motu.
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23 March 2022 |
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Publications were justified and protected by fair comment; accrued leave claims limited to the respective council.
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Defamation — reference by description — truth/justification as complete defence — fair comment: public interest, factual basis, absence of malice — local authorities as separate corporate entities; leave commutation payable by respective council.
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17 March 2022 |
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Borrower, not bank, was contractually obliged to insure mortgaged property; audit period extended to 1 Mar 2016–30 Sep 2017.
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Banking law — facility letters — interpretation of clauses allocating insurance obligation and recovery of costs; mortgagee/mortgagor duties; contra proferentum not applied where clauses unambiguous; credit reporting — obligations to submit credit data and absence of proof of inaccurate reporting; damages — requirement to prove actual loss, nominal damages appropriate; procedural — appellate review of factual findings.
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16 March 2022 |
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The appellant’s failure to file a memorandum of appearance with a defence precluded reliance on Order 14A to raise a preliminary point.
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Civil procedure — Order 14A RSC — notice of intention to defend requires memorandum of appearance with defence; conditional memorandum insufficient. Order 33(3) RSC not independent of Order 14A. Order 2(2) RSC relates to irregularity of process, not substantive disposal
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Limitation Act — whether claim is statute-barred or postponed by fraud is a triable factual issue
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15 March 2022 |
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15 March 2022 |
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An arbitration clause in a facility agreement does not automatically apply to separate mortgage or guarantee documents lacking incorporation.
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15 March 2022 |
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Appeal dismissed: respondent complied with reinstatement and medical directives; Registrar rightly refused assessment beyond awarded arrears.
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Labour law — reinstatement conditional on medical fitness; Workers Compensation Act (ss.35, 39) — medical re‑examination and discharge formalities; Industrial and Labour Relations Act s.97 — appeals limited to points of law or mixed law and fact; Registrar’s mandate — can only assess damages actually awarded; appellate procedure — cannot raise new issues or unpleaded heads of damage on appeal.
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10 March 2022 |
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Whether two appeals from the same employment transaction should be consolidated to avoid irreconcilable decisions.
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Consolidation of appeals — Order XIII Rule 11 Court of Appeal Rules (SI No. 65 of 2016) — Appeals arising from same transaction — Common questions of law and fact — Avoidance of conflicting decisions; Mukumbuta principle.
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10 March 2022 |
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Whether summary dismissal for gross negligence was unfair where disciplinary procedure was followed and evidence supported the decision.
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Employment law — unfair/wrongful dismissal; disciplinary procedure and natural justice; substratum of facts required to support summary dismissal; variation of charges; appellate review of factual findings.
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3 March 2022 |
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Appellate court upheld dismissal for gross negligence, finding proper procedure, natural justice and sufficient factual basis.
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Employment law — summary dismissal for gross negligence; disciplinary procedure; rules of natural justice; substratum of facts required to support dismissal; appellate restraint on factual findings.
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3 March 2022 |
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Application for extension of time to renew an appeal refused for lack of just and sufficient cause; costs awarded to respondent.
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Civil procedure — extension of time — discretion under Court of Appeal Rules (Order 13 Rule 3(1)) — requirement to show just and sufficient cause — counsel’s delay or inadvertence insufficient — costs awarded.
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1 March 2022 |