Supreme Court of Zambia - 1989 January

13 judgments
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Results. 13 judgments found.

13 judgments
January 1989
Application to join appellant as party dismissed; no proven contract or valid power of attorney; caveat not properly before the court.
  • Procedure — Joinder of parties (Order 16 and Order 15) — Property law — alleged oral contract and part performance for sale of land — Power of Attorney unregistered — caveat not properly before court.
31 January 1989
Whether registrable title defeats adverse possession claims and whether an injunction or representative action was properly justified.
  • Land law — Adverse possession / prescription under Limitation Act — Effect of provisional/full certificate under Land and Deeds Registration Act — Interlocutory injunction (American Cyanamid test) — Representative action improperly instituted.
19 January 1989
A provisional or full certificate of title prevents subsequent acquisition of title by adverse possession; claimants must show twelve years' possession before registration.
  • Land law — Adverse possession — Effect of registration — Lands and Deeds Registration Act s.35 bars acquisition of rights by adverse possession once land is subject to a certificate of title (including provisional certificate); Limitation Act twelve-year possession must be completed before issue of certificate; representative action improper for multiple distinct possessory claims
18 January 1989
Procedural rule requiring delay before issuing fi. fa. construed as affording a grace period, not rendering every early praecipe void.
  • Civil procedure — Execution — Writs of fi. fa. — Order 42 rule 5 High Court Rules — Construction of "shall" in procedural rules — Grace period for payment — Validity of praecipe and re‑issue of fi. fa. — Wrongful detention claims — Weight of bank statements and promissory notes evidence.
18 January 1989
An employer may terminate by notice or pay in lieu without proving the reason given; disciplinary procedure not required.
  • Employment law — Termination by notice or pay in lieu — Employer may terminate for any reason or no reason — Reason given need not be substantiated unless summary dismissal — Disciplinary code does not preclude termination by notice — No mandatory union consent for notice.
17 January 1989
By consent the court allowed joinder, set aside dismissal for want of prosecution, reinstated the appeal, and directed fresh pleadings and trial.
  • Civil procedure — Joinder of parties — Reinstatement of appeal dismissed for want of prosecution — Conversion of originating summons to writ — Case management directions — Suspension of writs of possession.
17 January 1989
An employer may lawfully terminate employment by notice without proving a stated reason; disciplinary procedures only matter for summary dismissal.
  • Employment law — Termination by notice versus summary dismissal — Employer may give notice without proving stated reason — Disciplinary code does not bar termination by notice — No obligatory union consultation absent agreement clause
16 January 1989
A vague counterclaim cannot defeat summary judgment; defendant must plead specific facts or sue separately.
  • Civil procedure — Summary judgment (Order 13) — Defendant must disclose specific facts to raise triable issues; vague counterclaim for 'unknown services' disallowed and may be pursued only in a separate action
16 January 1989
Failure to file heads of argument and to serve the record amounted to want of prosecution; criminal conviction and sentence upheld.
  • Civil procedure — appeal struck out for want of prosecution for failure to file heads of argument and to serve record; Criminal law — appellate review of credibility and recent possession; Sentence review — standard of interference (manifestly excessive/induces shock); Bail pending appeal — circumspection required.
13 January 1989
Leave granted to abandon appeal; no appellate right to Supreme Court; matter remitted for trial, bail continued.
  • Criminal procedure — multiplicity of counts — interlocutory refusal to reduce counts — right of appeal — abandonment/withdrawal of appeal — remittal to Subordinate Court — continuation of bail.
12 January 1989
Confessions excluded and juvenile status recognised; convictions for aggravated robbery substituted with receiving stolen property and four-year sentences.
  • Criminal law — aggravated robbery — confessions improperly admitted — exclusion; Juveniles Act — sentencing a juvenile; Possession of stolen goods shortly after offence — inference of receiving stolen property versus participation in robbery; Substitution of conviction and sentence.
10 January 1989
Identification and corroborative evidence upheld murder conviction; absence of fingerprint tests and accused’s silence did not vitiate conviction.
  • Criminal law — Murder — Identification evidence — Last seen with deceased — Corroboration by circumstantial facts — Failure to take fingerprint tests requires proof of opportunity — Single police witness need not be compulsorily corroborated — Judicial comment on accused’s silence permissible as factual observation — Juvenile status established by medical and registration evidence — Mandatory death sentence.
10 January 1989
Conviction for striking a superior officer quashed for conflicting evidence; original discharge with ignominy replaced by fines and default imprisonment.
  • Military discipline — Court Martial convictions — conflicting prosecution evidence — conviction quashed for striking a superior officer; sentence reduced where most serious count fails.
10 January 1989