Court of Appeal of Zambia - 2024 January

18 judgments
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Results. 18 judgments found.

18 judgments
January 2024
Appellant failed to prove fraud; third‑party mortgage valid, permitting foreclosure and enforcement of the personal guarantee.
  • Mortgage law — third‑party mortgage validity — allegation of forgery/fraud — standard of proof for fraud in civil cases — signature comparison and handwriting evidence — foreclosure and enforcement of personal guarantee.
31 January 2024
Costs ordinarily follow the event; interchangeable terminology did not justify denying the successful party costs.
  • Civil procedure — Costs — Judicial discretion — Costs ordinarily follow the event — Successful party may be deprived of costs only for good reason — Pleading terminology ("terminal benefits" vs "long service bonus") not improper conduct — Judgment on admission.
31 January 2024
Court refused late cross-appeal applications for insufficient, unsubstantiated reasons and procedural noncompliance.
  • Civil procedure — extension of time to file cross-appeal — Order 13 Rule 3(3) CAR — sufficiency of reasons — compliance with time limits — conflict of interest — abuse of process.
30 January 2024
Irrelevant proceedings in the record were expunged; late service was curable, leave granted, and costs ordered against the appellant.
  • Court of Appeal Rules (Order X Rule 9) — Record of appeal must contain only materials necessary for determination; extraneous proceedings curable by expunction. Service of record and heads outside 14‑day period — regulatory breach not necessarily fatal; court may grant leave to serve out of time. Procedural non‑compliance — dismissal only where defect is incurable or causes prejudice. Costs ordered against appellant
30 January 2024
Appeal dismissed for failure to file record within time; belated extension application without sufficient explanation was rejected.
  • Civil procedure — appeals — dismissal for want of prosecution — failure to file record of appeal within 60 days — reactive application for extension of time insufficient without good and convincing explanation — proof of service of requests for record — Article 118 (avoidance of technicalities) not a licence to flout procedural rules.
26 January 2024
A court granted the applicant's stay of execution pending appeal due to arguable prospects and risk of irreparable harm.
  • Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Renewal application competency — Test: prospects of success and irreparable harm — Real property risk of foreclosure.
26 January 2024
Appeal dismissed: confession to relatives upheld as credible; foreign postmortem expunged for lack of author’s evidence.
  • Criminal law — Extra‑judicial confession to relatives — Admissibility and reliability; Postmortem report from foreign jurisdiction inadmissible without author giving evidence (s.191A CPC); Alibi not disclosed to police — no duty to investigate; Confession may ground conviction without corroboration where credible.
26 January 2024
Employee entitled to prior contractual redundancy rate, but not to continued wages during litigation.
  • Employment law — redundancy — preservation of pre-acquisition contractual terms — calculation of redundancy entitlement (five months per year) — remedy for underpaid terminal benefits — limitation on awarding salaries during litigation (reliance on Mcqueen Zenzo Zaza v ZESCO).
25 January 2024
Appeal dismissed: no proven contract with respondent and no vicarious liability for employee's unauthorised acts.
  • Contract formation — requirement of agreement and proof; Agency and authority — unauthorised acts and employee acting on a private job; Vicarious liability — employer not liable where employee acted outside authority; Turquand rule — exceptions where transaction appears suspicious; Appellate review — deference to trial findings of fact.
25 January 2024
Whether quarry blasting caused respondents' property damage and whether the trial court correctly found causation on the balance of probabilities.
  • Environmental/tort — quarry blasting and property damage — causation on balance of probabilities — weight of expert evidence — appellate interference with trial findings of fact.
25 January 2024
Confession to a village headman is admissible; police confession narrated by civilians was excluded, but conviction for aiding and abetting upheld.
  • Criminal law — admissibility of confession — village headman not a 'person in authority' requiring warn-and-caution; police confessions must comply with Judges' Rules — evidence of mere presence versus aiding and abetting under section 21 of the Penal Code.
25 January 2024
Bank liable where it failed to follow verification procedures for over‑the‑counter withdrawals, despite payments claimed to be in good faith.
  • Banking law — duty of care to customers — payment on forged/unauthorised withdrawal slips — verification procedures; estoppel — requirement of evidence of reliance and prejudice; discretionary closure of trial and refusal of further adjournment; third‑party proceedings — failure to prosecute.
24 January 2024
Appellate court upheld trial finding of US$907,900 indebtedness, set aside remittal for assessment and ordered direct payment.
  • Contract and evidence — acknowledgement of debt — sufficiency and corroboration; burden of proof in civil cases; appellate review of findings of fact — perverse/unwarranted interference; procedural non-compliance — substantive consideration in interest of justice; remittal for assessment vs. direct award.
19 January 2024
Ambiguous age report required juvenile consideration; death sentence set aside and replaced with one-year probation.
  • Criminal law — murder sentencing — age determination ambiguity — possible juvenile status — misdirection by sentencing without pronouncing on age — death sentence set aside; substituted one-year probation under Probation of Offenders Act and Children's Code.
19 January 2024
Application for stay of execution dismissed for lack of prospects and because the Ruling sought to be stayed was not subject to appeal.
  • Civil procedure — stay of execution pending appeal — discretionary remedy — applicant must show good and cogent reasons and prospects of success; court entitled to preview appeal prospects; stay ordinarily requires an appeal pending and will not be granted in respect of a ruling not appealed.
19 January 2024
16 January 2024
A conditional leave to appeal imposed where no statutory leave was required is void; appeal competent, but appellant ordered to pay costs.
  • Civil procedure — Appeal jurisdiction — Right of appeal under s.22 Court of Appeal Act — Conditional leave to appeal — Void ab initio — Compliance with court orders pending vacation or variation — Costs for disobedience of order.
15 January 2024
Conditional leave to appeal imposed where no leave was required was void ab initio; appeal competent but appellant ordered to pay costs.
  • Civil appeal — final judgment — right of appeal under s.22 Court of Appeal Act — conditional leave requiring payment into court — ultra vires; nullity — effect of void orders (Macfoy) — duty to obey court orders until set aside (Majera) — conditional leave to be sparingly used — costs for disobedience of court orders.
15 January 2024