High Court of Zambia - 2017 July

72 judgments
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Results. 72 judgments found.

72 judgments
July 2017
31 July 2017
31 July 2017
31 July 2017
Identification, a toy pistol as an offensive weapon, and a rejected alibi led to convictions on aggravated assault and assault.
  • Criminal law — Identification evidence and reliability — aggravated assault with intent to steal — offensive weapon (toy pistol) as connecting link — alibi and corroboration of eyewitness testimony.
28 July 2017
Failure to prove an offensive weapon reduced aggravated robbery to robbery; single-witness recognition and common design supported conviction.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — requirement to prove use or threat of an offensive weapon — failure to prove weapon leads to reduction to robbery under s181(2) CPC; identification by single witness (recognition) — reliability factors; joint liability/common design (s21 Penal Code).
28 July 2017
28 July 2017
27 July 2017
27 July 2017
27 July 2017
27 July 2017
26 July 2017
26 July 2017
25 July 2017
25 July 2017
25 July 2017
25 July 2017
25 July 2017
25 July 2017
25 July 2017
24 July 2017
24 July 2017
24 July 2017
High Court confirmed juvenile reformatory and approved school orders but quashed magistrate-fixed detention periods as unlawful.
  • Juvenile law — reformatory order and approved school order — limits on detention periods — magistrate lacks power to fix detention duration — confirmation by High Court — best interests of the child.
24 July 2017
24 July 2017
Review denied where applicant alleged substantive error in limitation computation without fresh evidence; appeal is the proper remedy.
  • Civil procedure — Review under Order 39 Rule 2 — requirement of fresh material evidence or clerical error; Limitation — accrual date dispute; Review v. appeal — substantive errors require appeal; Orders 14A/33 — preliminary determination of points of law; Affidavits — admissibility and hearsay concerns.
21 July 2017
21 July 2017
21 July 2017
21 July 2017
21 July 2017
20 July 2017
20 July 2017
20 July 2017
20 July 2017
20 July 2017
20 July 2017
20 July 2017
19 July 2017
Decree nisi granted for irretrievable breakdown after two-year separation; custody, maintenance and property matters referred for determination.
  • Matrimonial Causes Act s9(1)(a) — irretrievable breakdown by two-year separation; decree nisi granted under s41; custody reserved to court; maintenance and property settlement referred to Deputy Registrar; consent order as evidence.
19 July 2017
Malicious prosecution and mental anguish claims failed; defendant entitled to repayment of mistakenly paid K32,500 with interest.
  • Malicious prosecution — elements (prosecution, favourable termination, lack of reasonable and probable cause, malice) — no prosecution established; Financial Intelligence Centre Act — reporting duty for suspicious transactions; Mistaken payment — restitution and repayment with interest; Damages for mental anguish and business loss — require medical evidence and strict proof of special damages.
19 July 2017
A four-year housebreaking sentence was reduced to two years because the appellant was a first offender and there were no aggravating factors.
  • Criminal law — Housebreaking (s.301 Penal Code) — Sentencing — guilty plea and first offender status as mitigating factors — appellate review of sentence using Alubisho three-question test — reduction of manifestly excessive sentence.
19 July 2017
The court awarded the plaintiff US$10,743,414 for unpaid 23% foreign-currency entitlement and 5% interest per annum.
  • Contract law — express terms enforceable — 23% foreign-currency repatriation entitlement — sufficiency of documentary evidence for alleged payment/reconciliation — interest on foreign-currency debt; contractual rate absent, court awarded 5% per annum — counterclaim for overpayment unproven.
19 July 2017
Whether the defendant owes the plaintiff the unpaid 23% foreign-currency contractual entitlement and appropriate interest.
  • Contract law — express terms — 23% foreign-currency repatriation entitlement — admission of debt by government officials — insufficiency of defendant's evidence to prove settlement — interest on foreign-currency claim where contract silent — 5% p.a. awarded — counterclaim for Kwacha overpayment not upheld.
19 July 2017
Applicant awarded judgment for defaulted loan secured by mortgage; allowed to foreclose and recover any shortfall from directors.
  • Mortgage enforcement — loan default — judgment for outstanding loan — interest rate (36% to judgment, then Bank of Zambia lending rate) — foreclosure and power of sale without further court recourse — recovery of deficiency from directors/beneficial owners.
19 July 2017
Claim for stolen vehicle dismissed for lack of contractual relationship and no vicarious liability established.
  • Vicarious liability — car-park operator’s liability for theft by third parties — requirement of a contractual relationship, offer, acceptance and consideration — parking at owner's risk where no duty is proved.
19 July 2017
Court granted interim matrimonial injunction to protect the applicant and child from respondent's alleged violence and interference.
  • Matrimonial law — Section 100 Matrimonial Causes Act — interim matrimonial injunction — domestic violence and child removal allegations — proximity restrictions — summary committal for breach.
18 July 2017
Court refused to order oral evidence or subpoenas where affidavit material was sufficient; discretion requires good, convincing reasons.
  • Civil procedure — Originating summons — Whether court should order cross-examination and viva voce evidence under Order 30 Rule 21 — Discretion to order oral evidence requires good and convincing reasons — Affidavit evidence may suffice to decide factual disputes.
17 July 2017
Leave for judicial review refused; applicants should have pursued relief before the Ratings Tribunal.
  • Judicial review — leave — Order 53 — Ratings Act s.23 (deemed grant after 60 days) — procedural impropriety — Wednesbury unreasonableness — alternative remedy before Ratings Tribunal — discretionary nature of judicial review.
14 July 2017
Whether the respondent's transfer of the vehicle to a company he controls was a sham to defeat execution.
  • Civil procedure — Interpleader summons — Claim to ownership of seized chattel — Fraudulent or sham transfer — Piercing the corporate veil where company used to defeat execution — Execution against vehicle.
14 July 2017
Execution creditor must identify debtor's property; wrongful seizure of third parties' animals ordered returned and damages assessed.
  • Civil procedure — Execution of judgment — Writ of fifa — Wrongful seizure of third parties' property — Interpleader — Burden to identify judgment debtor's assets — Sheriff's Act — no statutory time limit for claim to seized goods — Separate legal personality; personal property not liable absent court order.
14 July 2017
Matrimonial home held to give surviving spouse a constructive trust interest; sale set aside and purchaser not bona fide without notice.
  • Family/Property law — Matrimonial home as family property excluded from intestacy rules; Constructive trust — beneficial interest of surviving spouse; Intestate Succession Act — limited application where property is family/matrimonial home; Equity — bona fide purchaser for value without notice defeated by actual/constructive notice; Remedies — set aside sale, cancel title, revaluation and equitable sharing.
14 July 2017