Results.
48 judgments found.
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| March 2020 |
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31 March 2020 |
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Non-payment of premiums does not automatically void a life/keyman insurance policy; insurer entitled to time-on-risk premium.
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Insurance law — Life/keyman insurance — Effect of non-payment of premium — Tax invoice/debit note as acknowledgement of debt — Waiver by instalment agreement — Time-on-risk premium — Inapplicability of section 76(1) (general insurance) to life assurance.
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31 March 2020 |
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26 March 2020 |
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26 March 2020 |
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26 March 2020 |
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25 March 2020 |
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Reports of an LGSC suspension were not defamatory; publications were protected as fair comment on a matter of public interest.
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Defamation/libel — reporting of administrative suspensions — truth and public interest — fair comment defence — requirement to prove falsity and malice — identification by office versus personal allegation; failure to prove reputational harm.
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25 March 2020 |
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Tenant's failure to give the prescribed written request and rent arrears justified refusal of a new tenancy and validated termination notices.
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Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act — application for new tenancy — tenant's failure to give prescribed written request — persistent delay in paying rent and substantial breaches as grounds under s.11 to oppose new tenancy — statutory notice requirements and substantial compliance — termination notices valid despite non-identical form.
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23 March 2020 |
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Employee's first refusal to sign transfer warranted written warning; summary dismissal was unlawful and damages awarded.
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Employment law — wrongful summary dismissal — interplay between letter of employment and disciplinary code — prescribed penalty for first breach — employer cannot substitute harsher penalty; damages in lieu of notice.
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23 March 2020 |
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Court removed executrices for failure to administer estate, ordered property sales and vested pension in the residuary estate.
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Wills and Testate Estates — Removal/substitution of executrix under s.51(2) — Fiduciary duty and supervision of executors — Sale of estate immovable property — Construction of testamentary trust clause for pension benefits.
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23 March 2020 |
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An army officer’s dismissal for unauthorised outside employment upheld where dismissible misconduct was proven and no approval obtained.
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Military/employment law — Unauthorised outside employment by serving officer — Defence (Regular Forces) (Officers) Regulations (Reg. 91) — Procedure and natural justice in disciplinary dismissals — Where dismissible offence established, procedural non‑compliance may not render dismissal unfair; Regulation 10A (cancellation of commission).
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23 March 2020 |
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Defendant failed to prove alleged construction defects, remedial costs and lost rentals; counterclaim dismissed, costs to plaintiff.
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Contract — construction contract (oral) — alleged defective and incomplete works — patent and latent defects — evidential burden (photographs, receipts, expert/records) — Order 23 referee report — measure of damages and foreseeability of consequential loss (lost rentals).
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23 March 2020 |
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23 March 2020 |
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Unproven adultery alone does not defeat a mother's interim custody claim; the child's best interest governs.
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Family law — Interim custody — Best interests of the child paramount — Young child's placement with mother — Unproven adultery and excommunication insufficient to deny custody — Documentary evidence requires testing — Access rights to noncustodial parent.
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20 March 2020 |
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18 March 2020 |
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Subordinate Court lacked jurisdiction to order matrimonial property settlement absent a Local Court divorce order; judgment set aside.
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Family law — Property settlement ancillary to divorce — customary marriage requires Local Court divorce order before Subordinate Court adjudication; Civil procedure — judgment in absence — setting aside for want of service or opportunity to be heard; Land law — certificate of title not displaced by Subordinate Court absent proper jurisdictional basis.
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17 March 2020 |
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17 March 2020 |
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Application to restore caveat dismissed; respondents had notice and must appeal rather than seek review by another High Court judge.
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Caveat — restoration application under Order 35 Rule 5 — service and right to be heard — ex parte removal of caveat and eviction — functus officio — High Court judges’ equal jurisdiction (s.4 High Court Act) — remedy by appeal.
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17 March 2020 |
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16 March 2020 |
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16 March 2020 |
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16 March 2020 |
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16 March 2020 |
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Court upheld jurisdiction, dismissed application to set aside originating process, and struck evidential passages from the claim.
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Civil procedure — jurisdiction — non‑exclusive English jurisdiction clause does not oust domestic jurisdiction; Affidavit practice — prohibition of legal argument in affidavits (Order V); Writs — staleness and service (Order IX r.1); Pleadings — evidence must not be pleaded (Order 18 r.7); Originating process amendment (Order 20) and curable title defects (Commercial Division).
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15 March 2020 |
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13 March 2020 |
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13 March 2020 |
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13 March 2020 |
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11 March 2020 |
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11 March 2020 |
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11 March 2020 |
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11 March 2020 |
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Membership alone does not establish sufficient interest for joinder in a leadership dispute; joinder refused.
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Civil procedure — Joinder of parties — Order XIV Rule 5(1) HCR — locus standi — membership vs leadership disputes — necessity to effectually and completely determine issues — discretion to refuse joinder.
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10 March 2020 |
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6 March 2020 |
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Execution must first target movable assets of judgment debtors; FIFA cannot directly execute on land and post-award interest must be properly determined.
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Execution — Mode of execution on money judgments — FIFA unsuitable for direct execution on land; movable assets must be exhausted before resort to immovable property — Interest after award to be determined by tribunal or court — Corporate personality and alleged director conflict of interest.
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6 March 2020 |
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Court re-opened trial due to defendant’s unavailable material witnesses, finding risk of miscarriage of justice and awarding costs against the defendant.
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Civil procedure — Re-opening trial — Discretion under s.13 High Court Act and Order 3 Rule 2 — Hearing in absence under Order 35 Rule 3 — Miscarriage of justice test — Onus on applicant — Credibility and weight of proposed evidence — Costs as compensation.
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6 March 2020 |
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Notice-to-complete not valid and vendor lacked title; specific performance dismissed, restitution of K85,961 ordered.
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Contract law — sale of land — LAZ General Conditions of Sale: mandatory notice-to-complete procedure; service on named advocates required; Property law — nemo dat quod non habet — purchaser cannot acquire better title than vendor; Equity — unjust enrichment and restitution where contract incapable of performance.
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5 March 2020 |
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Court refused to stay proceedings for Constitutional Court referral, finding the dispute contractual not constitutional.
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Constitutional procedure — stay and mandatory referral to Constitutional Court — interpretation of national values (morality, ethics) — lender’s reserved right to sell property without court recourse — contractual dispute versus constitutional question — High Court jurisdiction.
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5 March 2020 |
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Divorce granted where parties had lived apart for five years; joint custody ordered and each party to bear own costs.
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Family law — Matrimonial Causes Act s.8, s.9(1)(e) — divorce ground: five years’ continuous separation; s.9(2) duty to inquire; proof of marriage s.90; children’s welfare and s.71(1)(b)(i); decree nisi; joint custody; costs.
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5 March 2020 |
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4 March 2020 |
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Attachment of real property allowed, but sale dismissed as premature until seized personal goods are sold and proved insufficient.
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Execution of judgment — Order XLII High Court Rules — attachment of real property — sale of real property permissible only if personal property insufficient — interpleader over seized goods — premature application for sale.
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4 March 2020 |
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A section 22(1) application challenging a business rescue resolution is not caught by the moratorium and must be commenced by originating summons.
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Corporate insolvency — Voluntary business rescue — Section 22(1) application to set aside resolution — Distinction between a challenge to the decision and proceedings against the company — Moratorium (s25(1)) inapplicable to section 22(1) applications; Procedure — absence of statutory procedure for section 22(1) applications — Rules of the Supreme Court (Order 5 Rule 3) prescribe originating summons; Party captioning — business rescue does not transfer locus standi to administrator — no requirement to indicate 'under Business Rescue Proceedings' in pleadings.
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3 March 2020 |
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Whether failure to follow passport-release procedure justified retirement in public interest and entitlement to repatriation benefits.
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Employment law — wrongful dismissal — retirement in public interest — disciplinary procedure and natural justice — substratum of facts to support disciplinary action — entitlement to repatriation benefits.
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3 March 2020 |
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Applicant entitled to interim injunction restraining respondents from denying access to the bus station and collecting levies.
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Interlocutory injunction — access to public bus station — unlawful levy collection — serious question to be tried — irreparable harm — balance of convenience — failure to oppose application.
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3 March 2020 |
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Summary dismissal held unfair where employee acted on superior's instructions; entitled to pension and contractual entitlements.
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Employment law — unfair dismissal — disciplinary procedure followed but must be supported by facts — employee acted on superior's instructions — burden on employer to prove policy and misconduct — remedies: pension and contractual entitlements; costs.
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3 March 2020 |
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Writ proper where claims exceed taxation; failure to obtain leave to serve abroad cured and retrospective leave granted.
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2 March 2020 |
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2 March 2020 |
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Application for leave to apply for review out of time dismissed for failing to provide a satisfactory explanation for delay.
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Civil procedure — High Court Rules Order 39 Rule 2 — review of judgments — 14-day time limit for review applications — late applications require special leave — insufficient explanation for delay warrants dismissal.
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2 March 2020 |
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2 March 2020 |
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Court refused consent consolidation of related suits because consolidation would alter the parties' procedural positions and set a trial date instead.
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Civil procedure — consolidation of causes — consent order — where consolidation would alter parties’ procedural positions consolidation inappropriate; related SMAG patent/copyright and defamation counterclaim.
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2 March 2020 |