Results.
13 judgments found.
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| January 1993 |
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An advocate cannot withdraw informally; court leave and consideration of 'sufficient cause' are required before setting aside default judgments.
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Civil procedure — Advocate’s withdrawal — Formal leave of court required; informal cessation of retainer improper. Default/ex parte judgment — Setting aside — Court must consider 'sufficient cause' under Order 35 Rule 5
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Costs — retrial ordered due to procedural unfairness caused by former advocates
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29 January 1993 |
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Specific performance ordered for proven sale of land; alternative refund improper absent impossibility; no retrial despite defendant not heard.
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Contract — sale of land — part performance and proof of agreement by payment and signed offer; Remedy — specific performance preferred; alternative refund inappropriate absent impossibility; procedural fairness — failure to hear defendant not fatal where pleaded defenses bound to fail.
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28 January 1993 |
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Identification evidence upheld; conviction and sentence for aggravated robbery against the appellant affirmed.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Identification evidence — Reliability and opportunity to observe — Corroboration not required where independent witness supports complainant — Recent possession and associated items — Sentence appropriateness for brutal robbery.
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25 January 1993 |
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Lump-sum awards combining pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages are erroneous; pecuniary loss must be proved.
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Damages — Separation of pecuniary and non-pecuniary heads; necessity to prove net pecuniary loss; aggravated conduct reflected in compensatory award; interest from issue of writ where appellate award alters damages
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21 January 1993 |
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The appellant's dismissal was justified; reinstatement of the respondent after long absence was inappropriate.
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Employment law — dismissal for unauthorised absence — contractual requirement for medical evidence — effect of non‑compliance with Employment Act s.36 and Special Provisions Regulations — reinstatement as discretionary remedy and inappropriateness after long delay
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21 January 1993 |
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A trial court must not substitute an expert handwriting opinion for its own conclusion; conviction quashed, other convictions upheld and re-sentenced.
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Criminal law — Espionage — Expert handwriting evidence as guide not substitute for court's conclusion — Misreliance on expert opinion vitiates conviction; corroboration and sufficiency of evidence for communication and information-gathering offences; re-sentencing after quashing a count.
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20 January 1993 |
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Doubt over provocation resolved for the appellant; murder conviction quashed and substituted with manslaughter sentence.
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Criminal law — Murder v. manslaughter — Provocation and cooling-off period — Appellate substitution of conviction and re-sentencing.
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19 January 1993 |
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A stay of judgment suspends doubts about the appellant’s nationality; he must not be treated as a prohibited immigrant pending appeal.
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Judgment stay — effect on citizenship questions — doubts as to nationality held in abeyance pending appeal — appellant not to be treated as prohibited immigrant pending appeal — procedural objections on personal service not decided — government non‑harassment undertaking.
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14 January 1993 |
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Appellate court remitted the case after finding the trial judge wrongly refused to consider defendants’ scheme and directed reconsideration with timelines.
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Civil procedure — appellate review and remittal — trial judge’s duty to consider rival implementation schemes — discretion as to timing of restitution — refusal to supervise running litigation — appointment of auditors and computation of compensation to handover date.
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12 January 1993 |
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Whether verbal provocation or self-defence can reduce a murder conviction where retaliation was disproportionate and there was time to cool down.
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Criminal law — Provocation — Whether verbal insults amount to provocation reducing murder to manslaughter — Disproportionate retaliation and time to cool off — Self-defence not established; conviction for murder sustained.
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6 January 1993 |
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Verbal provocation did not reduce murder to manslaughter; conviction and 25‑year sentence upheld.
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Criminal law — Murder — Provocation — Whether verbal remarks reducing relationship tension can constitute provocation — cooling time and proportionality of retaliation; admissibility of Warned and Caution statement; mitigation at sentencing.
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6 January 1993 |
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Failed provocation did not reduce murder to manslaughter; 25-year sentence upheld on appeal.
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Criminal law — Murder — Provocation — Whether verbal statements and delay created sudden provocation — Proportionality of retaliation — Self-defence — Mitigating circumstances at sentencing — Appeal against sentence.
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6 January 1993 |
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Seller liable for refund and contractual damages; court rejects dollar conversion of Kwacha award and refers damages assessment to Deputy Registrar.
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Sale of Goods Act 1893 — breach for failure to deliver — measure of damages as difference between contract price and market price at time goods should have been delivered or when action should reasonably have been brought; rejection of foreign-currency conversion of Kwacha obligations; no double recovery for conversion and breach; refund with interest; counterclaim dismissed for remoteness.
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6 January 1993 |