Supreme Court of Zambia - 2000 June

15 judgments
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Results. 15 judgments found.

15 judgments
June 2000
Sheriff's statutory immunity protects officers; estoppel cannot be set up against a statute.
  • Civil procedure — Sheriffs Act s.14 — statutory immunity of sheriff and officers — execution taken at instance of party issuing process — party liable for damages — estoppel cannot be set up against statute
29 June 2000
Employer liable to pay contractual retirement benefits where retirement notices were based on mistake and pension rules differed.
  • Employment law — Retirement and pension — Conflict between collective agreement retirement provisions and pension fund rules — Employer’s liability for promised contractual retirement benefits — Wrongful retirement based on mistake of fact — Measure of damages — Repatriation benefits — Statutory Instrument No.99 of 1994.
20 June 2000
Whether a statutory amendment can extinguish the applicant's irrevocable accrued pension right without express abrogation.
  • Employment law — pensionable age — accrued contractual rights under conditions of service — statutory amendment — Interpretation and General Provisions Act (s.14(3)(c)) — express abrogation required to extinguish accrued rights — damages for wrongful termination
12 June 2000
Appeals from the Industrial Relations Court must raise a point of law or mixed law and fact; findings of fact alone are not appealable.
  • Industrial and Labour Relations Act s97 — Appeals to Supreme Court limited to points of law or mixed law and fact — Findings of fact by Industrial Relations Court not appealable in absence of legal issue — Alleged union-related discrimination raising factual findings only.
7 June 2000
An appointment conditional on board ratification does not create a binding employment contract absent ratification.
  • Administrative law — Conditional appointment — Letter stating appointment "pending reconstitution of the Board" — Requirement of board ratification before contract arises; Contract law — formation of contract of service — condition precedent; Judicial review — remedies where no valid appointment; Contempt — improper correspondence disparaging bench.
7 June 2000
An appeal from a High Court appellate decision cannot proceed without statutory leave; the premature appeal was struck out.
  • Appeal procedure — Leave to appeal required from High Court judge or, if refused, from Supreme Court — No inherent jurisdiction to bypass statutory leave — Premature appeal struck out — Costs awarded.
7 June 2000
Appellate court reduced a 12-year manslaughter sentence to six years, giving credit for guilty plea and first-offender status.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing — Manslaughter — Whether sentence excessive — Credit for guilty plea and for first-offender status — Appellate interference with sentence; domestic violence not condoned.
6 June 2000
A conditional appointment requiring board ratification did not create a binding employment contract without such ratification.
  • Contract law — conditional appointment letters — requirement of board reconstitution and ratification — whether condition precedent satisfied — no ratification, no binding contract
6 June 2000
Intoxication did not negate intent; appeal against murder conviction and mandatory sentence dismissed.
  • Criminal law — Murder by arson — Intoxication and mens rea — Child eyewitness testimony — Mandatory sentence for murder.
6 June 2000
A parent and its wholly owned subsidiary were treated as one economic entity, validating subsidiary employees’ house‑sale claims; appeal dismissed.
  • Company law — corporate veil — parent and wholly owned subsidiary treated as one economic entity; Employment law — entitlement of sitting tenants to purchase parastatal houses; Findings of fact — appellate interference limited to points of law or mixed law and fact; Remedy — enforcement and alternative relief to be considered by trial court.
6 June 2000
Appeal allowed: trial court's finding of unfair retrenchment was unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence.
  • Industrial relations — retrenchment — unfair dismissal — reinstatement — appellate review of findings of fact as questions of law where findings are unsupported or unreasonable — misapprehension of evidence.
6 June 2000
A court cannot order division or award a share of matrimonial property while the marriage remains subsisting.
  • Family law — power of court to order distribution or share of matrimonial property — Married Women’s Property Act 1882 s.17 — applicability where no dispute as to title — division not competent while marriage subsists (including customary marriages)
5 June 2000
Appeal allowed and costs awarded because the case was identical to a recently decided appeal whose reasoning was adopted.
  • Civil appeal — reliance on precedent where issues are identical — court adopts reasoning in earlier decision (Choka v Chilufya) — appeal allowed with costs.
5 June 2000
Change of shareholding alone does not create a new employer or trigger terminal benefits absent repudiatory alteration of terms.
  • Company law — transfer of shares does not change employer; Employment law — unilateral alteration of fundamental terms may amount to repudiation; Quia timet declarations for terminal benefits premature absent actual termination
5 June 2000
Council adoption of salary recommendations does not itself conclude a collective agreement; a formal agreement with the union is required.
  • Administrative law / labour law — University Act s.40 — Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee — Whether Council adoption of committee recommendations constitutes a concluded agreement with an appropriate union or association — Requirement of bilateral/concluded agreement; role of government funding in implementation.
1 June 2000