High Court of Zambia - 2011 March

10 judgments
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Results. 10 judgments found.

10 judgments
March 2011
Retrenchment ends union membership despite office tenure; Article 11 governs tenure, not immunity from membership cessation.
  • Trade union law — Membership cessation on termination of employment (Art.4(8)) — Tenure of full-time NEC members (Art.11) not derogatory — Membership premised on employment (Art.2(1)) — Jurisdiction: High Court where employment severed vs Industrial Relations Court
31 March 2011
Employer vicariously liable for wrongful shootings of employees; summary dismissals without hearings were unlawful and damages awarded.
  • Use of firearms — excessive/unjustified force against mixed groups of workers; vicarious liability of employer for acts of mine police and a Chinese employee; employees shot while in course of employment entitled to employer medical care; summary dismissal without disciplinary hearing unlawful; employer's counterclaim against these employees not proved
29 March 2011
An appeal before sentence is premature; conviction for defilement upheld where intercourse, identity, and age were proven.
  • Criminal procedure — Premature appeal — appeal against conviction not competent before sentence (s322 CPC); Sentencing referral — High Court adopts subordinate court’s conviction when referred for sentencing (s217/218 CPC); Defilement — proof of act, identity and age; Age proof — parental testimony and clinic card as best evidence (Phiri (Macheka) v The People)
21 March 2011
Prepayment of the premium is not a condition precedent; insurer who issued cover note and debit note must indemnify then pursue unpaid premium.
  • Insurance law — Cover note as contract — Prepayment of premium not a condition precedent absent express stipulation — Debit note acknowledging indebtedness preserves cover — s.76(1) Insurance Act applies only where contract stipulates due date for premium
17 March 2011
Rape established but causation to pelvic peritonitis and death not proven; accused acquitted of murder and released.
  • Criminal law — Murder — Causation: requirement to prove an unbroken causal link between unlawful act and death; Rape — evidence and res gestae admissibility; Post‑mortem: pelvic peritonitis; Prosecutorial duty to call witnesses; Section 181 CPC — limits on convicting lesser offences
17 March 2011
Plaintiff failed to prove alleged outstanding debt; defendant awarded refund for proven overpayment with interest.
  • Contract/Commercial law — burden of proof in civil claims; non‑production of alleged written contract and omission of key witnesses; evidential lacunae to be resolved against party responsible; counterclaim for overpayment upheld
17 March 2011
Applicant entitled to distrain goods on premises for arrears absent proof the claimant was tenant or had paid rent.
  • Rent law — Distress — Warrant of distress — Seizure of movables on premises — Occupier v named debtor — Evidential burden to prove payment/tenancy — Ratification by landlord
8 March 2011
A landlord's notice substantially complying with the Act and showing genuine intention to occupy is valid.
  • Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act — Termination notice — Prescribed form and substantial conformity — s5(1),(2),(5),(6); s11(1)(g) — Landlord's own occupation — bona fide intention — availability of alternative accommodation irrelevant once statutory ground proved
4 March 2011
Court enforced a credit sale contract, awarding unpaid purchase price after plaintiff proved indebtedness on the balance of probabilities.
  • Contract Law — Sale of Goods — Existence and enforcement of credit sale contracts — Sale of Goods Act ss 1, 27
  • Civil Procedure — Adjournment — Compelling and exceptional circumstances required under Commercial List rules — Failure to file notice justifies refusal
  • Evidence — Burden of Proof — Civil claims proved on balance of probabilities to establish indebtedness
3 March 2011
Application for a new business tenancy dismissed for failure to comply with statutory notice and timing requirements.
  • Landlord and Tenants (Business Premises) Act — notice to terminate (s5) — statutory grounds for termination (s11) — requirement to notify landlord of unwillingness within two months (s10(2)) — time limits for applying for new tenancy — rent increase/refund claim not proved — interim injunction set aside
1 March 2011