Results.
13 judgments found.
|
|
|
| March 2024 |
|
|
Court affirmed that a purported will was forged; appellant failed to rebut forgery or call attesting witnesses.
-
Wills — Allegation of forgery — Standard of proof higher than ordinary civil balance — Handwriting expert report inadmissible weight without oral testimony — Court entitled to its own comparison of signatures — Burden on proponent to prove due execution — Revocation of probate and intestacy.
|
28 March 2024 |
|
First appellant’s conviction upheld on cogent circumstantial proof despite improper confession admission; second appellant’s conviction quashed for insufficient evidence.
-
Criminal law — murder; admissibility and voluntariness of warned-and-caution/confession statements; circumstantial evidence — cogency and ‘odd coincidences’; corroboration of suspect witnesses; forensic linkage by weapon measurements and shoeprints; contaminated scene considerations.
|
28 March 2024 |
|
Uncorroborated accomplice testimony and evidential gaps rendered the murder convictions unsafe.
-
Criminal law — murder — accomplice evidence — requirement of corroboration — Machobane principle; identification of vehicle and victim; evidential gaps and absence of phone records render convictions unsafe.
|
26 March 2024 |
|
Inclusion of irrelevant earlier proceedings and late service rendered the record defective but curable; court expunged materials, allowed service out of time, and ordered costs.
-
Civil procedure — Record of appeal — Inclusion of irrelevant proceedings — Defective but curable record; Court of Appeal Rules Order X r.9(5)(i) — Service of record and heads out of time — Regulatory rule — Curable delay; Expunction of extraneous materials; Grant of leave to serve out of time; Costs against defaulting appellant.
|
21 March 2024 |
|
Leave to amend defence refused where proposed fraud claim introduced new cause of action after respondent closed her case.
-
Civil procedure — Amendment of pleadings — Discretion to allow amendments at any stage — Late amendments introducing new cause of action (fraud) — Prejudice from reopening closed case — Order 20 RSC; relevant authorities.
|
19 March 2024 |
|
Redacted electronic messages are admissible; redaction affects evidential weight, not automatic exclusion.
-
Evidence — relevance of electronic documents; Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (s.9) — admissibility of data messages and assessment of evidential weight; redaction affects integrity/weight not admissibility; pre-trial objections to admissibility may properly be reserved for trial.
|
19 March 2024 |
|
Electronic communications are admissible as data messages; integrity issues affect weight, not admissibility, and the matter proceeds to trial.
-
Evidence — Electronic evidence — Admissibility and weight of data messages — Electronic Communications and Transactions Act s9 — Original-document rule and Evidence Act s3 — Redaction affects weight, not admissibility — Relevance of electronic communications to duress claims.
|
19 March 2024 |
|
An express admission in defence precludes disputing demolition; unpleaded title cancellation requires specific pleading and proof.
-
Pleadings and admissions — express admission in defence binds party and removes issue from controversy; Wrongful demolition — failure to consult customary owners when converting land (s3(4)(c) Lands Act) can render demolition wrongful and give rise to damages; Reliefs not pleaded — cancellation or rectification of title requires specific pleading and proof (fraud/impropriety) under Lands and Deeds Registry Act; Appellate review — appellate court will not disturb trial judge's factual/credibility findings absent perversity.
|
19 March 2024 |
|
Appellant employer successfully appealed: employee only acted intermittently as SOU Manager and failed to prove entitlement to KCM 6 remuneration.
-
Employment law — acting appointments versus substantive promotion — proof required to convert repeated acting appointments into substantive appointment; evidential burden to show pay-grade upgrade; appellate review of factual findings where unsupported by evidence.
|
18 March 2024 |
|
Whether contested factual issues and counsel disqualification may be determined at the leave stage of a derivative action.
-
Companies Act s331 — Derivative actions — leave to bring derivative claim — two-stage procedure — prima facie assessment at leave stage; Foss v Harbottle exception; limits on resolving contested factual issues at leave stage; professional conflict of interest and Legal Practitioners’ Practice Rules.
|
15 March 2024 |
|
Leave-stage for derivative actions focuses on prima facie case; contested facts and counsel conflicts are not finally determined.
-
Companies Act s331 — Derivative actions — leave stage is a prima facie inquiry; Foss v Harbottle exception; limitation/ statute‑barred defence at leave stage; professional conflict and Legal Practitioners' Practice Rules re conflicts and confidentiality; improper reliance on contested affidavit evidence at permission stage.
|
15 March 2024 |
|
Court of Appeal reversed unfair dismissal finding, holding disciplinary tribunal's decision was supported by sufficient evidence.
-
Employment law — disciplinary proceedings — unfair dismissal — judicial restraint — court must assess whether disciplinary tribunal had jurisdiction and properly exercised power, not rehear merits; substratum of fact — witness testimony vs post-hearing documentary evidence.
|
15 March 2024 |
|
Renewals were incompetent where no formal High Court ruling existed and permission to appeal was required.
-
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal; jurisdiction of Supreme Court post-establishment of Court of Appeal; requirement of permission to appeal; competence of renewals; need for a formal High Court order or ruling before renewal or appeal.
|
11 March 2024 |