Results.
40 judgments found.
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| February 2023 |
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Whether circumstantial and medical evidence can sustain a defilement conviction despite defective voir dire, and whether the sentence was excessive.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Conviction on circumstantial evidence corroborated by arresting officer and medical findings — Defective voir dire and excluded child testimony — Distinction between defilement and indecent assault — Appeal against sentence: appellate principles on manifest excess and shock.
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24 February 2023 |
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Uncorroborated in-cell identification and an unadopted out-of-court statement rendered the rape conviction unsafe.
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Criminal law — Rape — Identification evidence and corroboration — Identification from police cells regarded as poor quality; identification parade advisable — Out-of-court incriminating statements by co-accused not repeated or adopted in court cannot be relied upon — Conviction unsafe if only uncorroborated identification evidence.
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24 February 2023 |
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Denial of making a confession does not require a trial within a trial; confession and flight evidence corroborated indecent assault.
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Criminal law — Indecent assault (s.137(1) Penal Code) — Admission of confession — trial within a trial — voluntariness vs. denial — corroboration in sexual offences — flight as corroboration — medical evidence relevance.
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23 February 2023 |
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Appellant acquitted where prosecutrix’s appearance and Facebook age could reasonably suggest she was over sixteen.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Proviso to s.138(1) Penal Code — Mistake as to age — Requirement of reasonable cause and actual belief — Evidence of age: under-five card versus social-media profile — Importance of ocular findings on complainant's appearance — Conviction quashed.
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23 February 2023 |
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Provocation unavailable where accused denies loss of self-control; attempted murder set aside for lack of intent and substituted with ABH.
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Criminal law — Provocation: elements (provocative act, actual and reasonable loss of self-control, proportionate retaliation); defence unavailable where accused denies provocation or perpetration. Criminal law — Attempted murder: requires proof of actual intent to kill; where intent not proved, conviction may be substituted with lesser offence
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Sentencing — substitution of conviction and concurrent sentences
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23 February 2023 |
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Possession and sale of recently stolen property, plus failure to report, justified inference of guilt for aggravated robbery.
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Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence; recent possession of stolen property and failure to report or sale as basis for inference of guilt; aggravated robbery — requirement of violence immediately before, during or after theft to obtain or retain property.
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23 February 2023 |
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Insufficiently cogent circumstantial evidence and missing police records created reasonable doubt, requiring acquittal.
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Criminal law — circumstantial evidence — requirement of cogency to exclude reasonable doubt; non‑production of police occurrence book; benefit of doubt where multiple inferences available; acquittal on insufficient circumstantial proof.
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23 February 2023 |
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If a trial magistrate dies before completing judgment, the transferred magistrate must generally rehear the trial de novo.
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Criminal procedure — transfer of proceedings — magistrate dies before ruling — de novo rehearing required where trial not completed; High Court Act ss.23,26; Criminal Procedure Code ss.78,79,158A; credibility and demeanour — inadmissibility of relying on another adjudicator’s observations; precedents applied (Teddy Puta; Choongo Stanley Mukuma).
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23 February 2023 |
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Aggravated robbery overturned where violence was proved but no evidence of theft; substituted for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery: prosecution must prove taking (theft) and that violence was used to obtain or retain the thing stolen; admissibility of statements to witnesses (not hearsay when proving statement was made); identification and credibility of witnesses; unsworn statement may be rejected as afterthought; substitution of lesser offence where elements lacking.
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23 February 2023 |
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Circumstantial evidence, even without a body, can establish death and support a murder conviction and life sentence.
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Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Corpus delicti without body — When circumstantial evidence can prove death and support murder conviction; distinction between manslaughter and murder; malice aforethought; sentencing after repeal of mandatory capital punishment (Penal Code Amendment Act No. 23 of 2022).
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22 February 2023 |
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Failure to re-explain proviso at plea retake was not prejudicial; conviction and 20-year sentence affirmed, commencement date amended.
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Criminal law — Defilement — proviso defence (belief as to age) — plea-taking: explanation not required on retake if previously explained; plea statements not evidence — sentencing: aggravating factor (use of knife), deterrence — commencement of sentence where accused admitted to bail.
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22 February 2023 |
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Pleadings that disclose some cause of action should be amended, not struck out, where defects are curable.
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Pleadings — disclosure of cause of action; striking out — plain and obvious cases; amendment of pleadings — leave to amend and remedial preference for amendment over striking out.
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22 February 2023 |
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The respondent was unfairly dismissed without a disciplinary process or internal code; damages reduced to six months' salary.
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Employment law — dismissal v suspension; natural justice — right to be heard; exhaustion of administrative remedies; absence of employer disciplinary code; damages for unfair dismissal (excessive award reduced).
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21 February 2023 |
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Contract became effective on signature; failure to pay advance did not void contract and the notice letter did not terminate it; appeal dismissed.
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Contract law — clause construed as payment obligation, not condition precedent — effect of last signature on contract formation — notice to terminate: letter indicating inability to honour contract not clear termination — remedy: damages appropriate; specific performance refused.
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21 February 2023 |
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Confession to police must be tested for voluntariness; intoxication failed to negate mens rea and no extenuating circumstances were proved.
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Criminal law — Murder — Confession to person in authority — voluntariness and trial within a trial — intoxication and Alcohol Dependency Syndrome — extenuating circumstances — burden on accused to prove diminished responsibility — post-mortem asphyxiation (broken neck) following sexual abuse.
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21 February 2023 |
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Trial court's knowledge of the appellants' prior guilty plea prejudiced the trial, requiring quashing of convictions and retrial.
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Criminal law — aggravated robbery and murder — fairness of trial where trial court was aware of accused's prior guilty plea/conviction — inadmissibility/prejudicial effect of prior conviction during subsisting trial — duty to record, inquire or recuse — retrial ordered.
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21 February 2023 |
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Circumstantial evidence was not cogent nor the only reasonable inference; conviction for stock theft quashed.
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Criminal law — Stock theft — Circumstantial evidence must be cogent and permit only the reasonable inference of guilt — Inconsistencies in identification and weak chain of custody undermine conviction.
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21 February 2023 |
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Appeal dismissed for want of prosecution where appellant failed to lodge record of appeal despite an extension and dilatory conduct.
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Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — Court of Appeal Rules Order X Rules 6 and 7 — failure to lodge Record of Appeal and Heads of Argument within time — extensions of time — dilatory conduct and delay in obtaining transcript — no appeal pending.
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20 February 2023 |
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Application for leave to appeal dismissed as incompetent for being filed outside the statutory fourteen-day period.
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Appeal — Leave to appeal to Supreme Court — Time limit — Section 13(2) Court of Appeal Act — Competence of out-of-time application — Preliminary objection — Costs taxed in default.
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15 February 2023 |
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A four-day, non-prejudicial delay in inspection did not justify dismissal; counterclaimants share discovery obligations and counsel’s discourteous conduct warranted personal costs.
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Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — requirement of intentional/contumelious default or inordinate, inexcusable delay causing serious prejudice; discovery and inspection — mutual obligations where a counterclaim is filed; Article 118(2)(e) — avoid undue regard to technicalities; professional conduct — duty of courtesy between advocates, personal costs for misconduct.
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15 February 2023 |
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Application for leave to the Supreme Court dismissed: issues were factual, not points of public law; amendment of cause number granted.
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Leave to appeal — section 13(3) Court of Appeal Act; point of law of public importance vs findings of fact; stay of execution; amendment of cause number; costs discretion.
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15 February 2023 |
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Stay of execution denied where appeal lacked reasonable prospects and would not be rendered academic; deference to trial findings.
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Civil procedure — stay of execution pending appeal — two-fold test: prospects of success and whether appeal would be rendered academic; appellate deference to trial court’s findings of fact; contract law — misrepresentation/ownership of part-payment vehicle; specific performance.
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15 February 2023 |
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Whether a registered mortgage was continuing security for multiple overdrafts and whether respondents proved repayment.
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Mortgage law — existence and registration of mortgage; continuing security for future overdrafts; burden/onus of proof and shift where defendant alleges repayment; admissibility of bank facility letters and account statements; appellate interference with perverse factual findings.
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15 February 2023 |
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Application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court refused for lack of public-law importance, reasonable prospects, or compelling reasons.
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15 February 2023 |
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An application for leave to appeal out of time must originate in the High Court before renewal in the Court of Appeal.
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Civil procedure — Leave to appeal out of time — Must originate in the High Court before renewal in Court of Appeal; jurisdictional limits of single judge; stay of execution cannot be sought in full Court without originating High Court application; timing of orders and effect on appeal periods.
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14 February 2023 |
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Court restored dismissed land claim, finding res judicata inapplicable and registry error denied appellant an opportunity to be heard.
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Civil procedure — Order 14A Rule 1(3) — requirement to give parties opportunity to be heard; Res judicata — effect of consent judgment; Locus standi and parties bound by prior judgment; Registry irregularity and consideration of affidavit evidence; Restoration of dismissed action; Costs ordered against successful preliminary objector.
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10 February 2023 |
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Employer bears evidential burden under statute; unproven misconduct made dismissal unfair and 12 months' damages were upheld.
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Employment law — Section 36(3) Employment (Amendment) Act — evidential burden on employer to prove valid reason for dismissal; disciplinary sanctions — deviation and proportionality; wrongful dismissal damages — enhanced awards, judicial notice of economic conditions, mitigation of loss.
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10 February 2023 |
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Court set aside lump‑sum dependency award, recalculated dependency using multiplicand/multiplier and apportioned proceeds among dependents.
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Tort — negligence resulting in death; computation of dependency damages; multiplicand and multiplier methodology; when a lump sum is justified; apportionment among dependents; pain and suffering; requirement to plead loss of expectation of life.
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10 February 2023 |
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Appeal dismissed: borrower failed to substantiate claims of compounded interest and res judicata; mortgage action properly before High Court despite moratorium breach.
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Banking and security law — loan moratorium — whether early deductions breach moratorium; contract interest — alleged compounding and need for counter‑figures; set‑off against Industrial Relations Court award subject to appeal; jurisdiction — mortgage/foreclosure actions in High Court not IRC; appellate procedure — raising new issues on appeal.
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10 February 2023 |
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Whether redundancy‑payment claims are debt/contractual claims for the High Court General List or exclusively industrial relations matters.
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Jurisdiction — High Court General List v Industrial Relations Division — redundancy payments as contractual debt — appropriate commencement by writ of summons — interlocutory stage does not require proof of substantive breach.
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10 February 2023 |
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High Court general list can hear redundancy payment claims; not all employment disputes are exclusively industrial relations matters.
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Jurisdiction — Industrial Relations Division v High Court general list; redundancy and terminal benefits as debt/contractual claims; appropriate mode of commencement (writ and statement of claim); interlocutory burden of proof; Industrial and Labour Relations Act limits.
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10 February 2023 |
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Whether section 13(3) of the Lands Act ousts High Court jurisdiction over re-entry and requires Supreme Court clarification.
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Lands Act s.13(3) — jurisdictional boundary between Land Tribunal and High Court — re-entry challenges; leave to appeal — point of law of public importance; stare decisis — Polythene Products v Cyclone Hardware vis-à-vis Faramco v Camel Freight; stay of execution.
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10 February 2023 |
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Quasi-contract (quantum meruit) available where party requested preparatory works and derived benefit; consultancy fee award set aside.
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Contract law — privity and separate corporate personality — quasi-contract/quantum meruit where preparatory works were done at request of counterparty; restitutionary recovery despite no final contract; award of consultancy fees set aside where witness admitted no consultant engagement; referral to Registrar for assessment of quantum.
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10 February 2023 |
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Judicial review is not the proper remedy to enforce compliance by a non‑party public body with court orders; leave refused.
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Judicial review — leave under Order 53 RSC — remedy concerned with decision‑making process not enforcement of court orders — mandamus unavailable to compel non‑party compliance — frivolous application — costs awarded.
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9 February 2023 |
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A stay of a consent judgment granted in a separate cause was set aside for abuse of process and inadequate ruling format.
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Civil procedure — stay of execution of consent order — jurisdiction and forum — abuse of process and multiplicity of actions — requirement to refer applications to court where matter originated; Judgment form and content — benchmark for proper ruling; Consolidation — invalid without application and hearing.
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8 February 2023 |
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8 February 2023 |
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6 February 2023 |
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Consent judgment cannot be varied for an alleged omitted rainy‑season moratorium absent evidence; enforcement and costs awarded to the appellant.
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Consent judgment — interpretation as contract — variation or setting aside for mistake or misrepresentation — contra proferentem inapplicable to clear documents — legitimate expectation requires clear representation — execution/foreclosure clause preserved — enforcement and costs awarded to creditor.
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6 February 2023 |
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Employer liable for unsafe wash-bay; employee held partly negligent—damages apportioned 70% employer, 30% employee.
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Employer duty of care; breach for inadequate wash-bay safety (no signage, chocks, attendant); contributory negligence by employee; apportionment of damages 70/30; trial court entitled to rely on Occupational Health and Safety Act.
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6 February 2023 |
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Appellant's threatening union video established misconduct; summary dismissal upheld and appeal dismissed with costs.
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Employment law — Disciplinary proceedings — Misconduct (threatening/intimidating via social media) — Identifiable dismissible wrong — Appropriateness of summary dismissal — Natural justice/conflict of interest (recusal/waiver).
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5 February 2023 |