High Court of Zambia - 2011 May

15 judgments
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Results. 15 judgments found.

15 judgments
May 2011
Where a cover note and debit note are issued, an insurer cannot avoid indemnity for non-payment absent an express condition precedent.
  • Insurance law — cover note and debit note — payment of premium not a condition precedent absent express term — s.76(1) Insurance Act inapplicable where no due date stipulated — insurer’s remedy is debt recovery, not repudiation — award of damages for breach of contract
31 May 2011
Equitable mortgages require deposit of title deeds; mere mention in a facility letter does not create a mortgage.
  • Land law — equitable mortgage requires surrender of title deeds; mere mention in a facility letter does not create a mortgage; lender not bound by conditional restructuring offer absent approval; penal interest not proved; entitlement to judgment, possession, foreclosure and enforcement of debenture and guarantees
30 May 2011
Caveat removed where caveator failed to disclose an enforceable interest and did not show cause under s.81; National Parks Act does not bar all grants.
  • Lands and Deeds Registry Act s.76–77–81 — caveat requires disclosure of enforceable/beneficial interest; Zambia Wildlife Act s.13(1)(b) — grants in National Parks permitted if consistent with Act; burden on caveator to show cause why caveat should remain; exclusion of legal argument in affidavits (Order 5 Rules 15–16)
26 May 2011
Convicted appellant allowed foreign medical travel for angiography under strict bail variation conditions to prevent flight.
  • Criminal procedure — Bail pending appeal — Variation of bail conditions to permit foreign medical treatment (angiography) — Balancing right to health against flight risk — Imposition of strict safeguards including police escort and passport custody
16 May 2011
A statutory schedule may operate without an inducing section; unidentifiable consumer overpayments escheat to the State as bona vacantia.
  • Customs & excise — Validity of Schedule absent inducing section — Corrective statutory interpretation — Retrospectivity of amendment — Refunds of erroneously collected consumption tax — Bona vacantia of unidentifiable consumer overpayments — Treatment of distributor discounts in taxable value
15 May 2011
Leave to issue a writ of possession requires a final judgment or possession order; refusal of an injunction is insufficient.
  • Civil procedure — Enforcement of judgment — Leave to issue a writ of possession (Order 45 r.3) — Requires final judgment or order for possession — Refusal to confirm interlocutory injunction is not an order for possession
15 May 2011
Proceedings by a next friend require filing of written consent under Order 80; absence is fatal and leads to dismissal.
  • Civil procedure — Capacity and disability — Next friend / guardian ad litem — Order 80 RSC — Requirement to file written consent where no court appointment — Non‑compliance fatal to proceedings
15 May 2011
An unrepresented litigant may personally conduct examination‑in‑chief, cross‑examination and re‑examination in civil proceedings under Rule 24.
  • Civil procedure — Evidence — Order 5 Rule 24 High Court Rules — viva voce examination — whether unrepresented litigant may examine witnesses; Constitutional law — Article 18(2)(e) limited to criminal proceedings; Self‑representation — right of legal practitioner to appear in person; Fair hearing — due process supports examination rights in civil trials
11 May 2011
Deposit of title deeds created an equitable mortgage; foreclosure (not sale) was ordered as the appropriate remedy.
  • Equitable mortgage by deposit of title deeds; equitable mortgagee’s remedies (foreclosure and receiver) versus power of sale; burden on alleged fraudster to prove lack of consent; enforcement of equitable mortgages
11 May 2011
The defendant was held liable for a false written representation that induced the plaintiff to delay suit and extend credit, causing loss.
  • Misrepresentation (deceit) — written representation by defendant; falsity and lack of reasonable belief; inducement and alteration of position; causal link to quantifiable loss; damages awarded
8 May 2011
The applicant entitled to damages for repudiated forward contracts; regulations valid; close‑out clause permitted debiting the respondent's account.
  • Banking law — forward exchange contracts (derivatives) — validity of SI No.57 of 1996 — formation and consideration of forward contracts — ISDA Master Agreement not essential to formation — contracts not wagering — frustration inapplicable — close‑out/netting clause valid; lawful debit of client account
8 May 2011
A practising lawyer must sue in his firm’s name; misdescription of a defendant is amendable, but lack of capacity defeats the action.
  • Legal practitioners — capacity to sue — fees recoverable in firm name where practitioner practises through a firm; Pleadings — misdescription of defendant — amendment preferable to striking out; Pleadings — Order 18 r.19 — requirement of clear cause of action
8 May 2011
A landlord's notice stating premises are "earmarked" for its branch suffices as the statutory ground of intended occupation under s11(1)(g).
  • Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act — termination notice — prescribed form compliance — sections 5(1), 5(2), 5(5), 5(6) — section 11(1)(g): landlord's intention to occupy for business — validity of notice
4 May 2011
Whether unforeseen power and standby generator failure causing poultry deaths constituted an 'accident' insured under the policy.
  • Insurance law — definition of 'accident' — proximate cause — interpretation of ambiguous policy terms — contra proferentem — coverage of loss from power/generator failure
3 May 2011
Court dismissed challenge to arbitral award, finding no fraud or misrepresentation induced the award under Section 17(2)(b)(iii).
  • Arbitration — setting aside arbitral award — Section 17(2)(b)(iii) Arbitration Act — fraud, corruption, misrepresentation — estoppel — limited scope of judicial review of arbitral awards
2 May 2011