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Citation
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Judgment date
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| June 2000 |
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A court cannot order division of matrimonial property while the marriage still subsists, even if spouses are separated.
Family law – Matrimonial property – Married Women’s Property Act 1882 s.17 – Applicability when no dispute as to title – Customary law marriage – Division of matrimonial property during subsistence of marriage not competent.
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5 June 2000 |
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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.
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5 June 2000 |
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A share sale does not itself terminate employment; unilateral unacceptable changes may constitute repudiation entitling employees to terminal benefits.
Company law – Change of shareholders does not create a new employer; corporate entity remains bound by existing employment contracts. Employment law – Unilateral unacceptable variation of essential terms may constitute repudiation and entitle employees to terminal benefits. Quia timet relief – Preventive declarations based on apprehension of future breach are premature absent an actual terminating event.
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5 June 2000 |
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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.
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1 June 2000 |
| May 2000 |
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Unilateral adverse alteration of redundancy terms without employee consent entitles employees to the prior, superior separation package.
Employment law – unilateral variation of terms – redundancy/separation benefits – privatization and change of ownership – consent, acquiescence and estoppel – interplay with statutory minimum conditions.
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31 May 2000 |
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Appeal dismissed: summary dismissal for dishonesty upheld; Supreme Court cannot entertain pure factual appeals under section 97.
Employment law – summary dismissal for dishonesty; discrimination – differential sanctions justified where offences differ; appellate jurisdiction – s.97 limits appeals to points of law or mixed law and fact.
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16 May 2000 |
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An unqualified shareholder directive merging allowances into salary binds subsidiaries; inability to pay does not bar judgment, but payment may be phased.
Company law – Shareholder authority – Unqualified shareholder directive to merge allowances into salary binds subsidiaries; directors/managers may not modify shareholder decisions – Terminal benefits – Inability to pay not a defence to entitlement to judgment – Public-interest phased payment scheme.
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15 May 2000 |
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Appeal dismissed where defendants failed to enter appearance and unreasonably delayed prosecution, justifying the default judgment.
Civil procedure – default judgment – failure to enter appearance – unreasonable delay and ‘‘sleeping on rights’’ – application to set aside refused; Fatal Accidents Act claim.
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9 May 2000 |
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Interlocutory injunction improperly granted as it conflicted with statutory banking liquidation procedures; appeal allowed, injunction discharged.
Banking law – compulsory liquidation under Banking and Financial Services Act – interlocutory injunction – conflict with special statutory liquidation procedure – Companies Act s.399 – principles for granting interlocutory injunctions – limits on injunctive relief against the State.
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9 May 2000 |
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Master of Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to tax High Court costs; allocatur set aside with liberty to apply appropriately.
Civil procedure – Taxation of costs – Jurisdiction of Master of the Supreme Court to tax costs incurred in the High Court – Limits on recoverable costs for litigant in person – Proceeding in absence and duty to exercise circumspection.
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2 May 2000 |
| April 2000 |
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Post‑ruling material cannot be 'fresh evidence' for review; reopening a decision on after‑the‑fact documents was impermissible.
Civil procedure – Review under Order 39 r.1 – 'Fresh evidence' must have existed at time of original ruling and been unknowable with due diligence – Evidence created after a ruling cannot ground review; extension of protection order cannot be treated as review application without fresh evidence.
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18 April 2000 |
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Court upheld liability but reduced damages: replacement value at date of accident and loss-of-use limited for mitigation.
Civil liability – motor vehicle accident – State vicarious liability – adjournment and judicial discretion – natural justice – sufficiency of evidence (police report and driver testimony) – damages for total loss of chattel: market value at date of accident – mitigation and limitation of loss-of-use awards – interest and costs.
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6 April 2000 |
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The airway bill and Warsaw Convention govern carrier liability for delay; the respondent could not invoke res ipsa loquitur.
Contract – Airway bill: contents and evidential effect; Carriage by air – Warsaw Convention/Carriage by Air Act and Air Services Act govern liability for delay; consignor's duty to state delivery time; res ipsa loquitur inapplicable where airway bill and evidence controvert urgency.
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5 April 2000 |
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A title procured by fraudulent conduct may be set aside; occupant entitled to title and mesne profits.
Land law – Certificate of title – Fraudulently procured – Priority of occupant – Duty of Lands Registry and local authority to investigate occupation – Mesne profits – Costs follow the event.
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5 April 2000 |
| March 2000 |
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Fraudulent transfer of tenancy cannot defeat the lawful tenant’s rights; title cancelled and appellant ordered to vacate.
Property law — tenancy and sub-tenancy — fraudulent change of tenancy — cancellation of title deeds — eviction order.
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25 March 2000 |
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Continuous service across related corporations can be aggregated to qualify for long-service gratuity; appeal dismissed.
Employment law – long-service gratuity – aggregation of service across related/predecessor corporations – continuity of service – entitlement to long-service bonus.
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22 March 2000 |
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Whether summary dismissals for allegedly inducing an illegal strike complied with procedural fairness and collective agreement provisions.
Labour law – summary dismissal – inducement of strike – natural justice (audi alteram partem) – collective agreements – Industrial Relations Act – illegality of strike – remedies (reinstatement or damages).
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15 March 2000 |
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Employer validly withdrew reinstatement after employee’s failure to report, constituting desertion and dismissal effective 7 March 1994.
Employment law – disciplinary proceedings – suspension and dismissal – reinstatement on demotion – employee’s failure to report – desertion/unauthorised absence – employer’s right to withdraw reinstatement – effective date of separation.
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8 March 2000 |
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Appeal dismissed: defendants liable for negligent overtaking causing paraplegia; insurer's release ineffective; damages affirmed.
Negligence — passenger injured when minibus overturned during overtaking; Act of God and sudden mechanical fault — defence rejected; Third-party release/accord and satisfaction — ineffective where insurers paid only policy liability; Quantum of damages — paraplegia and permanent disability; appellate restraint on interference with substantial awards.
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8 March 2000 |
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Act of God defence rejected; release invalid for lack of consideration; damages for paraplegia upheld and appeal dismissed.
Tort – act of God; Joint tortfeasors – right to full recovery and contribution among wrongdoers; Contract – accord and satisfaction requires a binding agreement supported by consideration or formality; Damages – appellate restraint and assessment for permanent paraplegia.
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7 March 2000 |
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Registration was not a condition precedent; buyers breached, but damages must follow the Sale of Goods Act and remoteness rules.
Contract law – sale of goods – supplier registration not a condition precedent – wrongful termination – measure of damages under Sale of Goods Act 1893 – remoteness and foreseeability (Hadley v Baxendale; Victoria Laundry; C. Czarnikow v Koufos) – mitigation of loss – awards for third‑party liabilities and speculative profits too remote.
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7 March 2000 |
| February 2000 |
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Insurer validly repudiated boiler claim: loss was not a policy “collapse” and was excluded as a wilful/neglectful act by the insured’s servant.
Insurance law – interpretation of "collapse" in boiler policy – whether damage from employee’s bridged control was insured – exclusion for wilful act or wilful neglect of insured – indemnity policy limits and consequential loss not covered unless specified.
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29 February 2000 |
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Identification irregularities do not vitiate conviction where strong eyewitness evidence and possession of stolen property corroborate it.
Criminal law – Identification parades must be fair and independent – irregularities may nullify identification in proper cases – multiple eyewitness identification and possession of stolen property can corroborate identification – recent-possession doctrine not always required – sentencing for aggravated robbery.
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14 February 2000 |
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An ex parte injunction application must be ordered to stand as inter partes if the court is inclined to refuse it.
Civil procedure – Ex parte injunction applications – Court inclined to refuse must order application to stand as inter partes – Procedural irregularity – Remittal for inter partes hearing.
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10 February 2000 |
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Court restored a trade mark registration wrongly expunged and remitted contested infringement and passing-off issues for full trial.
Trade Marks Act — registration as prima facie evidence (s.57) — wrongful expunction — statutory opposition/expunction procedure (ss.37, 38) — co-existing registrations and s.9(4) — infringement between registered proprietors — passing off independent and fact-sensitive.
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8 February 2000 |
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Seller wrongfully impounded appellants' minibus; appellants awarded its value and interest.
Commercial law — Lien and self-help — Illegal seizure/impounding of buyer’s goods — Right of resale under Sale of Goods Act — Remedy: value and interest; costs each party to bear.
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8 February 2000 |
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Privatisation proceeds may fund retrenchment payments; employers cannot unilaterally reduce established employee benefits.
Privatisation Act s.39 – proceeds of privatisation may support redundancy/retrenchment payments; statutory liability of Privatisation Agency; employment law – conditions of service cannot be unilaterally varied to employees' disadvantage; privity of contract inapplicable where statute creates payment obligation.
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8 February 2000 |
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Appeal against armed robbery conviction and death sentence dismissed despite missing exhibits and alleged police failures.
Criminal law – Armed aggravated robbery – Identification evidence and witness credibility – Recovery of weapons and money from vehicle – Missing exhibits and alleged police dereliction – Appeal against conviction and death sentence.
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1 February 2000 |
| January 2000 |
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Whether employees who accepted a prior employer offer were entitled to six months' notice and mutatis mutandis 1997 collective agreement benefits.
Collective labour agreements – withdrawal of retirement notices and offer by employer – acceptance by employees – normal versus voluntary retirement entitlements – six months' notice and clause 24.3 benefits – application mutatis mutandis of later collective agreement where notice period extends into its term.
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27 January 2000 |
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Publication identifying a public official was defamatory; qualified privilege failed due to reckless publication, damages reduced to K30,000,000.
Defamation – identification of plaintiff – qualified privilege and innocent dissemination – verification of truth – malice inferred from reckless publication – exemplary damages permitted despite limited pleading – reduction of quantum to avoid chilling effect on press.
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26 January 2000 |
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Aggravated robbery convictions set aside for lack of evidence; first appellant convicted of receiving stolen property.
Criminal law – Aggravated robbery – Insufficient evidence against co-accused – Possession of stolen motor vehicle supports conviction for receiving stolen property rather than aggravated robbery – Substitution of conviction and reduction of sentence.
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18 January 2000 |
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Whether redundancy entitles the respondent to priority in liquidation under s.346; court held no priority and respondent is unsecured.
Company law – Winding-up – Preferential claims under s.346 – Priority for wages, leave and severance limited to amounts accruing within specified periods before commencement of winding-up – redundancy accrued outside statutory periods; employee not a preferential creditor. Civil procedure – Assessment of damages – Appropriateness of nominal damages after execution and computation.
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13 January 2000 |
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Employee’s deviation from instructions constituted misuse of employer property; trial court erred in ordering unpleaded reinstatement.
Employment law – summary dismissal – misuse of employer property – employee deviation from instructed route (frolic of his own) – admissibility of reports to show basis of disciplinary decision (hearsay exception) – improper reinstatement where not pleaded.
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12 January 2000 |