Results.
29 judgments found.
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| December 1974 |
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Technical invalidity of detention does not reduce compensatory awards; exemplary damages require contumelious conduct.
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Tort — False imprisonment: when exemplary damages are appropriate; compensation unaffected by technical invalidity of detention; treat detention as a single period; claimant's social/economic standing material; reasonable visiting expenses recoverable
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19 December 1974 |
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Whether a political cartoon implying tribalism or foreign-funded collusion is libellous and if lack of apology warrants exemplary damages.
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Defamation — political cartoon — imputations of tribalism and foreign-funded collusion — jest defence limited — failure to apologise and exemplary damages — ordinary meaning versus innuendo and admissibility of witness understanding.
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12 December 1974 |
| October 1974 |
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A judge cannot quash the respondent's conviction and order rehearing without hearing the appeal; magistrates must keep legible longhand records.
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Appeal procedure — Judge ordering rehearing without hearing appeal — Order nullity; Criminal procedure — Record-keeping by magistrates — Longhand required; personal shorthand unintelligible to others not compliant; correction of misprints permitted
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22 October 1974 |
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Oral agreement too uncertain to create a lease; no specific performance—possession and mesne profits awarded.
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Landlord and tenant — validity of oral lease — essentials required (parties, property, term, rent, commencement date) — certainty required for specific performance
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10 October 1974 |
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Plaintiff may sue successive tortfeasors but aggregate recoveries are limited; exemplary damages punitive and reduced against State.
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Tort — Joint tortfeasors and successive actions; Law Reform Act s.9(1) — aggregate recovery limits and costs risk; Defamation Act s.12 — mitigation by prior recoveries; Exemplary damages — punitive nature, not offsettable; assessment of damages — local conditions and appellate restraint; state defendant — exemplary award to deter and induce discipline
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8 October 1974 |
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An originating summons cannot be used for contested declaratory relief requiring a writ; counsel's hearsay affidavits are inadvisable.
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High Court — Commencement of action — Originating summons applicability — Order 6, rule 2; Jurisdiction to grant declarations when writ required; Civil procedure — matters disposible in chambers; Evidence — advocates filing affidavits containing hearsay is undesirable
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8 October 1974 |
| September 1974 |
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Magistrates should not readily allow prosecutorial withdrawals; withdrawals without good reason are undesirable but may not vitiate a supported conviction.
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Criminal procedure — Prosecutorial withdrawal of charges — Magistrate's discretion to allow withdrawal — Adjournment or to stand on evidence required — Undesirability of readily granting withdrawals and adjournments; assessment of credibility and corroboration — conviction upheld
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17 September 1974 |
| August 1974 |
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Fine appropriate for death by dangerous driving from misjudgment; custody reserved for recklessness; sentence reduced for applicant.
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Roads and road traffic — causing death by dangerous driving — sentencing: fine appropriate for momentary inattention/misjudgment; custodial sentence for recklessness or wilful disregard; consideration of time already served
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20 August 1974 |
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Whether the appellant drove recklessly causing deaths and whether a custodial sentence was appropriate.
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Roads and road traffic — Causing death by dangerous/reckless driving — Identity of driver — Weight of accused’s multiple statements taken together — Offence ranges up to manslaughter — Sentencing for utter recklessness — Effect of subornation of perjury on mitigation
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20 August 1974 |
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Section 319 requires reasonable suspicion while the person is in possession; later suspicion after disposal cannot sustain conviction.
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Criminal law — possession of property reasonably suspected to be stolen — s.319 requires suspicion while the accused is in present possession; suspicion arising after disposal does not sustain conviction
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6 August 1974 |
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Where the alleged corporate employer no longer existed, theft by servant could not stand; conviction reduced to simple theft.
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Criminal law — Theft by servant: elements required (actual theft; theft from employer); cannot convict where employer ceased to exist; simple theft available as alternative; simple theft is a 'minor offence' under s.181 CPC
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6 August 1974 |
| July 1974 |
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Appellate court may decide on undisputed or real‑evidence facts but orders new trial if credibility and further evidence are required.
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Appeal — Rehearing on record — Appellate findings permissible where based on common‑cause facts or real evidence; credibility issues require deference to trial judge; remit for findings where record sufficient; new trial appropriate when further evidence is required
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15 July 1974 |
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Actual intention to kill is required for attempted murder; conviction substituted for grievous harm where only intent to maim existed.
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Criminal law — Attempted murder (s.215): actual intention to kill required; constructive malice/knowledge standard inapplicable — Evidence sufficient only for grievous harm — Substitution of conviction under s.229; s.224 not a "minor offence" under s.181 where maximum penalties equal
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9 July 1974 |
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Breach of a peremptory statutory prohibition to work without a permit is an offence; fines as alternatives to imprisonment should ordinarily be offered to first offenders unless inadequate.
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Immigration law — Employment without permit — Statutory construction: general penalty (s.30) applies to peremptory prohibitions — Breach of unambiguous prohibition as offence absent contrary intention — Sentencing: first offender and alternative fine principle
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8 July 1974 |
| May 1974 |
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The appellants' planned escape, including arming themselves, showed contemplation of lethal force, sustaining murder convictions.
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Criminal law — Murder — Common design — Res gestae — Planned escape including acquisition and use of firearms — Contemplation of lethal force — s.204 Penal Code
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21 May 1974 |
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Court left open spouse-competence issue but upheld convictions because identification and confessions were overwhelming.
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Criminal law — Evidence — Competence of spouse/former spouse to testify about events during marriage; R v Algar referenced
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Identification parade — proper conduct and weight
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Confessions — admissibility after trial-within-a-trial. Overwhelming evidence doctrine
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21 May 1974 |
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Confessions must be proved voluntary to be admissible; probable truth alone cannot sustain a conviction.
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Criminal law — Evidence — Confession admissibility — voluntariness required; exclusion justified to protect innocent and integrity of justice; conviction set aside where voluntariness not proved
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7 May 1974 |
| April 1974 |
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Conviction quashed where no statutory duty to declare foreign currency on arrival existed.
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Criminal law — Foreign currency — Failure to declare on arrival — s.141(1)(d) Customs and Excise Act — condition precedent that person be lawfully required to report or supply information — Exchange Control Regulations (regs. 39, 22, 20) do not impose general duty to declare — conviction quashed
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9 April 1974 |
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Use of a firearm in aggravated robbery excludes the lowest sentencing category; fifteen years increased to twenty years.
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Criminal law — Sentence — Aggravated robbery — Use of firearm (pistol/rifle/revolver) elevates offence beyond lowest category — Minimum sentence inadequate — Sentence increased to twenty years' hard labour
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9 April 1974 |
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Intent to cause grievous bodily harm is insufficient for attempted murder; actual intent to kill is required.
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Criminal law — Attempted murder — mens rea — Actual intention to kill required for attempt; intention to cause grievous bodily harm insufficient — Section 204 (malice aforethought) applies to completed homicide not attempt — Substitution to section 224(a) for grievous harm to resist arrest — Sentencing increased
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9 April 1974 |
| March 1974 |
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Signing a document in an assumed name to commit fraud renders it a "false document" under s.344(d)(ii), supporting forgery convictions.
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Criminal law — Forgery — False document under s.344(d)(ii) — Signing in an assumed name to perpetrate fraud — Uttering — False pretences; authorities: R v Hassard; R v Devereux; R v Martin; Charles Phiri
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12 March 1974 |
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Counsel may not give unsworn factual evidence; ill health may mitigate only if supported by adequate medical evidence.
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Criminal law — Evidence: prohibition on counsel giving unsworn factual evidence from the bar. Sentencing: limited circumstances where ill health justifies suspension; requirement of adequate medical evidence (viva voce or certificate). Professional status not ordinarily mitigating in theft sentences
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12 March 1974 |
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The applicant failed to provide a reasonable explanation under s.319 for possession of a vehicle suspected to be stolen.
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Criminal law — Possession of goods reasonably suspected stolen — Penal Code s.319 — Onus on accused to explain possession — Explanation must be one which might reasonably be true — Unsigned/unsworn statements weaker evidence
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11 March 1974 |
| February 1974 |
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Bank liability for a forged cheque arises from unauthorised payment; customer negligence seldom creates estoppel.
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Banking law — forged cheque — bank liability arises from unauthorised payment, not bank negligence — customer negligence and estoppel — proximate cause required — no duty to inspect paid cheques
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19 February 1974 |
| January 1974 |
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Court increased a lenient fines-only sentence for bribery, imposing concurrent imprisonment and condemned misuse of s.33(6) detentions.
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Criminal law — Corrupt practices; sentencing — adequacy of fines versus custodial sentences for public-service corruption; Preservation of Public Security Regulations s.33(6) — improper detention of witnesses; trial management and undue delay
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21 January 1974 |
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Winding-up under 'just and equitable' requires deadlock; continued management and member misconduct defeat winding-up.
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Company law — Winding up under 'just and equitable' (s.137(f)) — Family company — Deadlock required for dissolution — Misconduct and exclusion of member — Company continuing business — Appeal court determining facts on affidavits
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11 January 1974 |
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Absence of recorded voir dire is not fatal where court is presumed to have found the child was not of tender years.
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Criminal procedure — Evidence — Child of tender years — Whether s.122(1) Juveniles Act applies — Voir dire requirements — Presumption that procedural matters were correctly carried out
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8 January 1974 |
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Delay or absence of an early complaint can undermine the prosecution; conviction quashed as unsafe.
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Criminal law — Evidence — Early complaint — Absence of prompt complaint must be weighed against prosecution — Failure to consider consistency of complainant’s conduct renders conviction unsafe
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8 January 1974 |
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Failure to address absence of prompt complaint may render a sexual-offence conviction unsafe.
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Criminal law — Evidence — Early complaint — Absence of prompt complaint undermining prosecution — Trial judge’s duty to weigh and explain effect on credibility — Safety of conviction
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8 January 1974 |