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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2023 |
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Appellant acquitted where circumstantial evidence failed due to unresolved postmortem and identification discrepancies.
Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Requirement that inculpatory facts be incompatible with innocence and point to no other reasonable hypothesis — Identification and postmortem discrepancies (sex of examined body) — Trial judge’s duty when expert findings conflict with other evidence — Conviction set aside for insufficient circumstantial proof.
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29 December 2023 |
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A non-party who is materially affected may obtain a stay of a charging order pending appeal if the appeal has reasonable prospects.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Appellant/non-party/intervenor may, in exceptional circumstances, seek stay of a charging order pending appeal — court may preview prospects of success — registration of charging order does not automatically bar stay.
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29 December 2023 |
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Appellants' murder convictions and death sentences upheld where relative eyewitness and post-mortem corroborated common-intention lethal assault.
Criminal law – Evidence of relative-witness – caution but capable of acceptance if no motive to fabricate; Criminal law – murder – common intention (s.22) and joint liability for fatal assault; Criminal law – provocation/mob justice – not established where group assault shows intent to cause grievous harm; Evidence – post-mortem corroboration of fatal traumatic injuries.
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27 December 2023 |
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Whether evidence supported convictions for theft by public servant and money‑laundering, and whether sentencing, forfeiture and costs orders were lawful.
Criminal law — Theft by public servant — proof requires evidence of original theft and diversion — documentary and circumstantial corroboration; Money‑laundering — transactions in proceeds of crime — consolidation of repetitive counts into a single laundering conviction; Judicial conduct — mere prior employment with prosecution authority does not mandate recusal; Forfeiture — assets proved to derive from proceeds of crime subject to forfeiture; Sentencing — concurrent vs consecutive sentences and appellate adjustment; Statutory judgment — must account for value of forfeited assets before entry.
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22 December 2023 |
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Appeal dismissed: offer created enforceable land rights; Commissioner’s cancellation and vitiation of title upheld; counterclaim untenable.
Land law – offer by Commissioner of Lands – offer and acceptance can create enforceable proprietary rights pre‑registration; Cancellation of lot by Commissioner – effect on certificates of title; Fraud or mistake vitiating title; Admissibility and weight of private surveyor plans; Separate legal personality of company and shareholder; Absolute privilege of pleadings – cannot ground civil claims; Appellate procedure – expunging non‑compliant grounds of appeal.
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22 December 2023 |
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Appeal dismissed for want of prosecution due to inordinate delay and prejudice to the respondent.
Civil procedure — Dismissal for want of prosecution — Order X r7 Court of Appeal Rules — Failure to file Record of Appeal and Heads of Argument despite extensions — Inordinate and inexcusable delay — Prejudice to respondent — Exercise of court's discretion to dismiss.
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15 December 2023 |
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Application for leave to Supreme Court denied: no public importance, no reasonable prospects, regulatory breach deemed curable.
Civil procedure – leave to appeal to Supreme Court – public importance and prospects of success – distinction between curable breach of regulatory rule and fatal breach of mandatory rule – jurisdiction to hear extension of time after dismissal for incompetence.
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14 December 2023 |
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Whether a whistleblower may obtain judicial review and interim protection despite delay and employment-law overlap.
- Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblowers Act) – Sections 10 and 49(1) – protection from occupational detriment and right to relief
- Judicial review – leave to apply – extension of time – Order 53 rules
- Competence of renewal – ex parte prior refusal does not bar renewal under proviso to Order 53(3)(4)(b)
- Public law vs private law – employment-related reprisals arising from protected disclosures may be subject to judicial review
- Interim relief – stay of transfer and disciplinary proceedings; payment of withheld salary; provision of safe accommodation
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13 December 2023 |
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Justification and fair-comment defences upheld where unchallenged internal investigation supported respondent's statements.
Defamation — justification and fair comment; admissibility and weight of unchallenged documentary evidence; administrative investigations as basis for publication; absence of malice; causation of business loss.
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13 December 2023 |
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Registrar correctly computed three months' post-judgment interest due to the appellant; appeal dismissed.
Interest on judgment sums — computation of period and rate — Registrar’s assessment upheld — appellate court will not overturn factual findings absent perversity (Marcus Achiume).
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10 December 2023 |
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Applicant failed to show prospects of success or irreparable harm; stay of single Judge's discharge of injunction dismissed.
Civil procedure – interlocutory relief – stay of execution of single Judge’s decision – inherent appellate jurisdiction to preserve status quo pending motion under section 9(b) – whether there is something to stay – prospects of success and irreparable harm required.
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10 December 2023 |
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Registrar's dismissal for assessment was quashed for relying on the wrong judgment; matter remitted for hearing.
Civil procedure — Assessment of damages — Registrar's dismissal based on wrong prior judgment — Misdirection — Default judgment awarding punitive/exemplary damages — Matter remitted for Registrar's hearing.
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8 December 2023 |
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Where statute does not specify mode, recovery of rent arrears and notice pay may be commenced by writ of summons.
Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act — Rule 3 — mode of commencement — originating notice of motion applies only to matters specified in the Act; recovery of rent arrears and notice pay not covered — where statute silent, Order 6 High Court Rules (writ of summons) applies — appellate correction of erroneous dismissal.
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8 December 2023 |
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Whether the Administrator-General is liable for refunds from a void sale when the purchaser failed to exercise due diligence.
Succession and land law — validity of sale by revoked administrator — bona fide purchaser and constructive notice — duty to obtain court authority under s.19(2) Intestate Succession Act — Administrator-General liability and devastavit — costs follow the event.
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8 December 2023 |
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Full court dismissed motion because the applicant brought it as an appeal rather than the required renewal, so merits were not considered.
Civil procedure — Renewal of applications from single Judge to full court — Section 9(b) Court of Appeal Act and Order 10 r.2(8) CARs — Procedural competence — Application dismissed for being presented as an appeal rather than a renewal — Merits not considered.
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8 December 2023 |
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Expelled members who abandon challenge to their expulsion lack locus standi to contest association elections.
Civil procedure — Locus standi — Expelled association members — Abandonment of challenge to expulsion — Standing to challenge internal elections; Association constitution — Article 5.9 (d),(e),(f),(g) — Procedure for removal, interim administration and candidate eligibility; Appeal — Preclusion from merits where standing absent.
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8 December 2023 |
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Court of Appeal lacks jurisdiction; appeals from the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal lie to the High Court.
Civil procedure – Appealability – Jurisdiction – Whether Court of Appeal may hear appeals from Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal – Section 75 Competition and Consumer Protection Act – Appeals to High Court.
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8 December 2023 |
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Subordinate Court lacked jurisdiction over titled land; owner's title upheld and occupier's damages set aside.
Jurisdiction – Subordinate Court power over titled land; Certificate of title conclusive evidentiary weight; Possession actions — correct defendant is occupant; Occupier without title not entitled to damages; Procedural defects and nullity for want of jurisdiction.
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4 December 2023 |