High Court of Zambia - 2017 March

18 judgments
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Results. 18 judgments found.

18 judgments
March 2017
Court struck out the action for non-attendance, granting 14 days' liberty to restore, failing which the action is dismissed.
  • Civil procedure — striking out for non-attendance — management of cause list — liberty to restore within fixed period — dismissal for failure to restore.
31 March 2017
Driver reversing without adequate observation breached duty of care; cyclist entitled to damages for permanent elbow injury.
  • Motor-vehicle negligence — duty to observe when reversing — failure to look constitutes breach; Civil causation and proof on balance of probabilities; Criminal admission of guilt not conclusive in civil liability; Assessment of general damages using Munkman guidelines and currency conversion; Estimation of special damages where documentary proof is lacking.
31 March 2017
Court struck out action for non-attendance at hearing, granting 14 days' liberty to restore, otherwise dismissed.
  • Civil procedure — strike out for non-attendance — parties absent without explanation — matter struck out with liberty to restore within 14 days, failing which dismissed.
31 March 2017
A Local Court customary marriage certificate proves marital status; dowry non-payment did not prevent equal division of matrimonial property.
  • Customary marriage — Local Court marriage certificate; admissibility and evidentiary weight — dowry non-payment not dispositive; matrimonial property — acquisition during subsistence; division of assets — contributions and court’s discretion; stewardship claim raised late.
29 March 2017
Specific performance granted where valid sale existed, time was not of essence, vendor failed to deduce title, and fraud not proven.
  • Contract of sale — offer and acceptance; time of essence — when time becomes essential; failure to deduce title; authenticity of payment ledger; fraud and conversion — burden and standard of proof; mesne profits — status change from tenant to purchaser; specific performance as equitable remedy.
27 March 2017
Default judgment not set aside where service was acknowledged and no arguable defence on the merits was shown.
  • Civil procedure — Setting aside default judgment — Service of process valid where defendant acknowledged receipt — Defence on merits required — Banking claim; RTGS payment and interest on overdrawn account.
24 March 2017
Court struck out the action for non-attendance with liberty to restore within 14 days, otherwise dismissed.
  • Civil procedure — non-attendance at hearing — striking out proceedings for want of prosecution — liberty to restore within specified period — dismissal where restoration not sought within time.
22 March 2017
Matter struck out for non-attendance, with liberty to restore within 14 days or be dismissed.
  • Civil procedure — failure to attend scheduled hearing — striking matter out of active cause list — liberty to restore within 14 days — dismissal if not restored.
22 March 2017
Court struck matter out for unexplained non-attendance, allowing 14 days to restore or face dismissal.
  • Civil procedure — non-attendance at hearing — striking matter out of active cause list — liberty to restore within 14 days — dismissal if not restored.
21 March 2017
Court held Kazembe chieftainship is Chewa matrilineal and the respondent was rightfully installed as chief.
  • Customary law — Chieftainship succession — Chewa matrilineal succession; role of paramount chief (Kalonga Gawa Undi) in recognition/installation; electoral college constituted by Mbumba; judicial deference to customary selection.
17 March 2017
Chewa matrilineal succession and Mbumba selection confirmed; respondent rightly installed as Chief; applicant disqualified.
  • Customary law — chieftaincy succession — Chewa matrilineal system; electoral college (Mbumba) — role of Paramount Chief in recognition and installation; genealogical evidence and customary inquiry; disqualification of patrilineal descendants.
17 March 2017
Whether an internal White Paper created binding share-for-service obligations; court held it did not, so the first defendant retained the shares.
  • Company law/Contract formation — Whether an internal ‘White Paper’ created binding contractual conditions for share allotment; interpretation of ambiguous terms; requirement that essential share-for-service conditions be reflected in written employment contracts; parole evidence and intention to create legal relations.
17 March 2017
Court held disputed transport invoice amounts payable, awarded statutory interest on the judgmented sum and costs to the plaintiff.
  • Contract/Commercial law — recovery of unpaid transport invoices — liability for underpaid freight charges; Interest on judgment debts — Order XXXVI r.8; Judgments Act; Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act — calculation periods and applicable rates; Costs — costs follow the event; Judicial notice of distance for assessing transport charges.
17 March 2017
Whether to confirm an ex-parte injunction over disputed land given demolished structures and a third-party purchaser.
  • Land dispute — interlocutory injunction — American Cyanamid test — serious issue to be tried — adequacy of damages — demolition of disputed structures — third‑party purchaser effect on interlocutory relief.
14 March 2017
Whether sitting tenants' counter-offers defeated a liquidator's sale and affected a bona fide purchaser's title.
  • Property law — sale by liquidator; offer and acceptance — counter-offer terminates original offer; Lands and Deeds Registry Act — certificate of title conclusive except for fraud; bona fide purchaser for value; mesne profits/standard rent.
14 March 2017
Shareholder lacks standing to challenge a company’s liquidation or debt assignment; suit struck out as abuse of process.
  • Company law — separate legal personality — shareholder has no proprietary interest in company assets; locus standi — shareholder cannot sue in own name for company in liquidation outside liquidator; civil procedure — abuse of process, striking out under Order 18 r.19(1); multiplicity of proceedings/forum shopping.
10 March 2017
Whether an all‑monies mortgage and continuing security clause covered subsequent asset‑finance and entitled foreclosure.
  • Mortgage debenture — all‑monies/continuing security — asset‑finance (liquidating lease) — restructuring/finance charges — recoverability of repossession expenses and post‑accident rentals — foreclosure and sale.
10 March 2017
Matter struck off for want of prosecution; to be dismissed unless restored within 14 days.
  • Civil procedure — want of prosecution — court may strike matter off cause list; restoration within fixed period or matter stands dismissed — High Court Rules.
2 March 2017