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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 1991 |
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Compulsory acquisition effected in bad faith to benefit a private party is unlawful and void ab initio.
Compulsory acquisition — Land Acquisition Act — Requirement of public purpose — Bad faith/mala fides in exercise of executive discretion — Acquisition to benefit private party unlawful — Judicial orders cannot be negated by executive action — Remedies: declaration, damages, costs.
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15 December 1991 |
| October 1991 |
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An applicant who revoked a prior full grant cannot obtain an ad colligenda bona and must comply with estate duty affidavit requirements.
Succession — Grant ad colligenda bona — Temporary preservation of estate — Not to a sole individual where life or minority interests arise — Applicant who revoked full grant cannot obtain ad colligenda bona — Estate duty affidavit and Commissioners' certificate required under s.35 Estate Duty Act — Estate not a proper defendant without administrator.
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7 October 1991 |
| August 1991 |
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Petitioner failed to prove respondent’s conduct made continued cohabitation unreasonable; divorce petition dismissed.
Divorce – behaviour petition – irretrievable breakdown – objective test: conduct such that petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with respondent – timing assessed at hearing – past alcoholism and rehabilitation relevant to gravity of behaviour – effect of petitioner’s extra‑marital affairs on credibility and overall breakdown.
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1 August 1991 |
| July 1991 |
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Rescission fails where time depended on State consent and relied-upon notice was not produced or proven.
Contract of sale – time of the essence – reasonable notice to make time of the essence – duty to produce notice in evidence – completion linked to State's Consent to assign – rescission invalid without proof of consent or notice.
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18 July 1991 |
| June 1991 |
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Deportation of a Zambian by descent is invalid where citizenship-deprivation procedures and natural justice were not followed.
Administrative law – prohibition and certiorari – natural justice breach; Immigration law – citizenship by descent; nationality at independence; Deportation warrant quashed.
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26 June 1991 |
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Passport-office requirement of paternal consent and repeat affidavits unlawfully discriminated against a single mother; children's endorsements ordered.
Constitutional law – Freedom of movement – Passport as incidental right of citizenship – Sex discrimination in passport and birth-registration procedures – Single-parent family recognition – Parental consent for children's passports.
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23 June 1991 |
| April 1991 |
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Appellate court upheld forgery conviction despite State's non-support; related altering and false‑pretences counts acquitted.
Criminal law – Appeal – State declines to support conviction – appellate acquittal unless conviction compelling; Forgery – unauthorised alteration of document; Intent to defraud assessed against admission, documentary alterations and approving officer's evidence; Insufficiency of evidence for altering and obtaining money counts where employer processed transaction.
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1 April 1991 |
| February 1991 |
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Whether a presidential directive barring opposition access to government newspapers violated applicants' rights to expression and non‑discrimination.
Constitutional law — Freedom of expression (art.22) — Non‑discrimination (art.25) — Presidential directive restricting opposition coverage in government‑owned newspapers — Public ownership of media — Locus standi — Journalistic independence.
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17 February 1991 |
| January 1991 |
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A DPP's prior public statement that no charges will follow does not automatically bar later prosecution; circumstances govern reopening.
Criminal law – abuse of court process – power of Director of Public Prosecutions to reopen previously closed files – effect of prior public statement that no prosecution would follow – prejudice to accused and public interest in prosecution.
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23 January 1991 |
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Police liable for negligently killing an unarmed suspect; K5,000 awarded for loss of expectation of life.
Negligence — Duty of care of police to suspects — Anns proximity test — Unjustified use of lethal force — Exemplary damages barred by statute — Non‑pecuniary loss (loss of society) not recoverable — Conventional award for loss of expectation of life fixed at K5,000.
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16 January 1991 |