High Court of Zambia - 2020

469 judgments
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Results. 469 judgments found.

469 judgments
August 2020
21 August 2020
21 August 2020
20 August 2020
20 August 2020
Order 47(1) permits stays only for fi. fa.; a writ of possession already executed (and sold) cannot be stayed.
  • Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Order 47(1) (White Book) applies to writs of fieri facias, not writs of possession; once possession is executed (and the property sold) there is nothing to stay; stays require good and convincing reasons; enforcement of consent settlement and foreclosure on default.
20 August 2020
Receiver appointed by equitable execution; injunction confirmed; instalment payment application dismissed for inadequate financial disclosure.
  • Equitable execution — appointment of receiver where ordinary execution is ineffective; ancillary interim injunction — confirmation; payment by instalments — burden of full financial disclosure; exhaustion of remedies not strictly required if just and convenient.
20 August 2020
20 August 2020
20 August 2020
20 August 2020
19 August 2020
Accused convicted of attempted murder and murder; evidence credible and corroborated; mandatory death sentence imposed.
  • Criminal law — Murder and attempted murder — Eyewitness credibility and corroboration — Post‑mortem evidence — Malice aforethought — Mandatory death sentence.
19 August 2020
18 August 2020
18 August 2020
18 August 2020
Court quashed termination approval for procedural impropriety and bias, holding Section 65A powers must be exercised impartially.
  • Administrative law — Judicial review of administrative action — Bias/conflict of interest and procedural fairness — Natural justice
  • Labour law — Recognition agreements — Termination procedure under statute (Section 65A) versus contractual clause (Clause 18)
  • Administrative law — Unreasonableness — Wednesbury test — Applicability and threshold for review
17 August 2020
A statutory public body cannot sue for defamation based on corruption allegations; action dismissed for want of cause of action.
  • Defamation — capacity of statutory/public bodies to sue; Malicious falsehood — imputations of corruption against corporate bodies; Strike out for failure to disclose cause of action; Application of English common law in Zambia.
17 August 2020
17 August 2020
17 August 2020
A credible single identifying witness, properly corroborated, can sustain an aggravated robbery conviction despite unrecovered property.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery (s.294(1)) — elements: theft, use/threat of actual violence, offensive weapon or company — identification evidence — reliability of single identifying witness — corroboration and unrecovered stolen property.
17 August 2020
15 August 2020
14 August 2020
Whether self‑defence negated murder and whether prosecution proved common intention against the accused.
  • Criminal law — murder — requirement to prove death, causation and malice aforethought beyond reasonable doubt — self‑defence as negating malice; suspect/ interested witness — danger of false implication and need for corroboration; common intention (s.22 Penal Code) — requirement of evidence linking co‑accused to the probable consequence of the unlawful purpose.
12 August 2020
11 August 2020
Interim injunction confirmed in land dispute where plaintiff holds prima facie title and damages are inadequate.
  • Interim injunction — American Cyanamid tests — serious question to be tried; land disputes — inadequacy of damages; balance of convenience favouring party in possession of title; confirmation of ex parte injunction.
10 August 2020
Court awarded partial repayment to the main plaintiffs; 7th plaintiff and defendants' counterclaim failed for lack of evidence.
  • Contract/Commercial law — proof on balance of probabilities — burden of proof; failure to call evidence and consequences; validity of agreements — undue influence, language/understanding, illegality; reception of witness statements and requirement for oral evidence.
10 August 2020
Whether a contractual forum-selection clause ousts Zambian High Court jurisdiction in favour of South African courts.
  • Private international law — forum-selection clause — Clause submitting disputes to Magistrates' Courts of South Africa with creditor's option to sue in South African High Court — contractual interpretation — contra proferentum — ouster of domestic jurisdiction — forum non conveniens principles (Spiliada).
10 August 2020
Allegations of fraud in affidavit upheld where pleaded in statement of claim; corporate veil cannot be pierced on a misjoinder application.
  • Civil procedure — misjoinder — allegation of fraud must be pleaded with particularity; affidavit evidence not an ambush where statement of claim gives sufficient particulars — corporate veil cannot be pierced on misjoinder application absent specific application to do so.
10 August 2020
8 August 2020
7 August 2020
7 August 2020
7 August 2020
7 August 2020
7 August 2020
7 August 2020
7 August 2020
A defendant may apply to set aside a default judgment despite judicial remarks deeming the matter closed; Registrar erred.
  • Civil procedure — setting aside default judgment — distinction between default of appearance/defence and after‑trial default judgments — Orders XII r.2 and XX r.3 HCR (and Order 19 r.9 RSC) permit setting aside without the seven‑day limit in Order 35 r.2 RSC — judge’s observational remarks do not oust jurisdiction to hear set‑aside application.
7 August 2020
6 August 2020
6 August 2020
6 August 2020
5 August 2020
5 August 2020
5 August 2020
Application to set aside judgment dismissed for failure to show sufficient cause where applicant had notice and opportunity to participate.
  • Civil procedure — Setting aside judgment obtained in absence — Order XXXV, Rules 3 and 5 — "Sufficient cause" — Notice of hearing and opportunity to participate — Failure to show compelling excuse.
5 August 2020
5 August 2020
5 August 2020
4 August 2020
4 August 2020
4 August 2020
Court upheld purchaser's registered title, found defendants' competing sale invalid, awarded mesne profits and costs.
  • Property law — validity of competing conveyances — registration and title — genuineness of title documents and duplicate titles — administratorship timing and authority to sell — mesne profits for wrongful possessors.
1 August 2020
July 2020
31 July 2020