Results.
21 judgments found.
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| December 1993 |
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28 December 1993 |
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The appellant must surrender lobola cattle; the High Court misdirected itself by relying on irrelevant succession statutes.
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Customary law — lobola — entitlement to cattle given as lobola — whether a stepfather who raised step-children may retain lobola — obiter remarks — misdirection by reliance on intestate succession and wills statutes — appellate confirmation of local court order — costs.
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17 December 1993 |
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Court upheld award of damages in lieu of specific performance where vehicles had depreciated and damages were adequate.
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Specific performance — equitable discretion — adequacy of damages — damages in lieu of specific performance — pleading alternative remedies — interim injunction.
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13 December 1993 |
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Whether notification of State Consent and reasonable notice made time of the essence, permitting rescission and possession for non-payment.
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Contract law — written sale agreement binding on signatory; notice to complete — time of essence and reasonableness; State Consent to assign — commencement of completion period; rescission and possession for non-payment.
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13 December 1993 |
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Dismissal upheld where employee failed to prove delivery of missing company property; disciplinary process found procedurally fair.
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Employment law — wrongful dismissal — sufficiency of evidence to prove misappropriation of company property — disciplinary procedure — substitution of charge — natural justice — credibility of late exculpatory evidence.
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13 December 1993 |
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Leave for judicial review does not automatically stay implementation; Minister lawfully removed a Commissioner who served at pleasure.
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Administrative law — judicial review — interlocutory relief and stays — leave for judicial review does not automatically operate as stay where replacement already assumed office; Natural justice — dismissal from public statutory office — when audi alteram partem applies and adequacy of hearing; Statutory appointment — security of tenure and removal at pleasure; Ministerial powers under Workmen’s Compensation Act and Interpretation Act; Review grounds — ultra vires and procedural fairness.
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9 December 1993 |
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Ministerial dismissal of a commissioner serving at pleasure was lawful; stay and reinstatement unavailable after replacement assumed office.
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Administrative law — Judicial review — Statutory appointment and removal — Serving at pleasure — Natural justice — Interim relief (stay/injunction) against State action — Leave not automatic stay.
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9 December 1993 |
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A voluntary resignation defeats claims for contract completion benefits, but unpaid foreign allowance in equivalent Kwacha was recoverable; counter‑claims must be determined.
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Employment law — contract termination — voluntary resignation vs inducement; foreign (inducement) allowance — remittance approval and payment in local currency; entitlement to gratuity, leave and travel conditioned on completion of fixed‑term contract; trial court’s duty to adjudicate counter‑claims; assessment of damages for unlawful occupation and use of company property.
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9 December 1993 |
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A gratuitous licence to use public school premises is revocable and a three-month notice was held reasonable.
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Administrative law — gratuitous licence to occupy public school premises — considerations for enforceability — acts of upkeep and cleaning not sufficient consideration — revocability of gratuitous licence — reasonableness of notice to quit.
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8 December 1993 |
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Convictions quashed where confession was improperly relied upon and no admissible evidence linked the appellants to the robbery.
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Criminal law — Robbery vs aggravated robbery — admissibility and weight of warn-and-caution/confession statements; inadmissibility of one accused’s unsworn statement against co-accused; circumstantial evidence; safety of conviction.
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8 December 1993 |
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Second and third appellants’ convictions quashed for unreliable identification; first appellant’s conviction upheld on strong identification and corroboration.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — proof of violence versus mere force — identification evidence and corroboration — reliability of eyewitness identification — alibi discredited — appeal against minimum statutory sentence.
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8 December 1993 |
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Whether circumstantial links to a house and recovered property suffice to sustain murder convictions and death sentences.
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Criminal law — Circumstantial evidence — Sufficiency to convict — Occupation of premises as link to crime — Recovery of victims' property and conduct as corroboration — Dates of death not fatal where postmortem shows violent death.
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8 December 1993 |
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Strong circumstantial evidence linking appellants to exhumed bodies upheld murder convictions and death sentences.
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Criminal law — circumstantial evidence — proof beyond reasonable doubt — exhumation and post-mortem evidence of strangulation — proof of occupancy and connection to recovered property — sufficiency to uphold murder convictions and mandatory death sentences.
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8 December 1993 |
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Conviction on the accused’s confession was upheld, but life imprisonment was reduced to 20 years as excessive.
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Criminal law — Murder — Conviction based on accused’s confession as sole evidence — Reliability of confession where it contains implausible assertions about an 11‑year‑old — Sentence: life imprisonment reduced to fixed term for being excessive despite extenuating circumstances.
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8 December 1993 |
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Conviction for theft by public servant upheld; recusal and denial-of-counsel complaints rejected; two-year sentence suspended for 12 months.
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Criminal law — Theft by public servant — Sufficiency of evidence — Recusal of trial magistrate due to prior common employment — Right to legal representation — Sentence suspension.
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7 December 1993 |
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Spouse's confession of adultery can constitute provocation reducing murder to manslaughter; juvenile status affects sentencing.
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Criminal law — Murder reduced to manslaughter — Provocation by spouse’s confession of adultery — Heat of passion — No requirement to find parties in act — Juvenile sentencing — 'Young person' under Juveniles Act — Custodial sentence vs approved school.
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7 December 1993 |
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Conviction upheld despite procedural failure to test confession; sentence reduced to statutory minimum of 15 years' imprisonment.
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Criminal law — aggravated robbery — corroboration of complainant's account — voluntariness of confession — mandatory trial within a trial when voluntariness contested — application of proviso to section 15(1) to uphold conviction — sentencing; reduction to statutory minimum.
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7 December 1993 |
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Summary contempt convictions upheld; duress rejected; judge’s summary use of Order 52 lawful; two months’ custody credited.
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Contempt of court — summary contempt powers and RSC Order 52 — affixing signature to affidavit alleging judicial bias — statutory defence of duress (s.16, as amended) — fairness of judge‑initiated summary proceedings — credit for time spent in custody.
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2 December 1993 |
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Court increases general damages for false imprisonment due to inflation and aggravated detention; upholds exemplary damages given sufficient notice.
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False imprisonment — assessment of general damages — inflation and aggravated detention to be reflected in awards; exemplary damages — ordinarily require specific pleading but may be upheld where defendant had adequate notice; procedural fairness in pleadings.
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2 December 1993 |
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Inflation and seriousness must inform damages; exemplary damages require specific pleading but may be awarded if defendant had notice.
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Damages — false imprisonment — assessing general damages must reflect seriousness and inflation; exemplary damages require specific pleading; post-judgment statement of claim may suffice to give notice
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1 December 1993 |
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Judge properly exercised summary contempt jurisdiction; duress defence under amended s.16 not made out; sentence reduced for time served.
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Criminal law — Contempt of court — Summary jurisdiction and R.S.C
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Order 52; Duress under amended s.16
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Penal Code — elements and immediacy; Competence and immunity of serving Head of State as witness
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1 December 1993 |