Results.
133 judgments found.
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| June 2000 |
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A court cannot order division or award a share of matrimonial property while the marriage remains subsisting.
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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)
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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.
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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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Change of shareholding alone does not create a new employer or trigger terminal benefits absent repudiatory alteration of terms.
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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
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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.
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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 change to redundancy terms without consent terminates employment and preserves prior separation benefits.
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Employment law — unilateral adverse variation of employment terms — redundancy benefits — whether treated as fundamental term — effect of privatization on employer obligations — consent and acquiescence
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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.
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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 to merge allowances is binding; directors cannot qualify it and inability to pay is no defence.
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Company law — Shareholder supremacy — Unqualified shareholder directive to merge allowances into salary binds holding company and subsidiaries; directors/managers cannot qualify shareholder decisions; inability to pay not a defence to entitlement; court may order staged payment scheme in public interest
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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.
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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.
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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 the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to tax High Court costs; the allocatur was set aside.
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Civil Procedure — Taxation of Costs — Jurisdiction to tax costs incurred in another court — Master of the Supreme Court not a Taxing Officer for High Court costs — High Court Rules Order 40; Supreme Court Act Order 15
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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.
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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.
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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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Airway bill terms govern international air carriage; consignor must record delivery deadlines—carrier not liable for unrecorded urgency.
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Air law — airway bill as contract and evidence — consignor’s duty to specify delivery time on airway bill — Warsaw Convention (Carriage by Air Act) limits on liability — FIRAV (first available flight) bookings — res ipsa loquitur in air carriage claims — agency of forwarding agents
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5 April 2000 |
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Court upheld cancellation of a fraudulently procured certificate of title and awarded mesne profits and costs to the occupier.
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Land law — Certificate of title — Fraudulently procured — Occupier’s priority — Registrar and municipal duty to investigate title — 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.
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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.
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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.
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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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Failure to report for duty after reinstatement may be treated as desertion, entitling the employer to withdraw reinstatement.
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Employment law — Disciplinary proceedings — Reinstatement on demotion — Duty to report for work — Failure to report treated as desertion — Employer entitled to withdraw reinstatement
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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.
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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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Negligent overtaking caused paraplegia; act of God and insurer's release failed, and the damages award was upheld.
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Tort—Negligence in overtaking—Act of God defence unavailable for man-made obstruction; Joint tortfeasors—full recovery and contribution; Contract—release/accord and satisfaction requires consideration or seal; Damages—assessment for paraplegia; Appellate restraint on disturbing quantum
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7 March 2000 |
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Registration was not a condition precedent; buyers breached the cocoa contract, but damages awarded were excessive and must be reassessed under sale of goods and remoteness principles.
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Contract law — sale of goods — condition precedent — registration not a condition precedent; wrongful termination — buyer’s breach; measure of damages — Sale of Goods Act 1893 s.50; remoteness — Hadley v Baxendale, Victoria Laundry, C. Czarnikow v Koufos; excessive awards and reassessment of damages
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7 March 2000 |
| February 2000 |
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The appellant insurer was not liable for boiler damage caused by the respondent's servant's wilful/negligent act under the policy.
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Insurance — Boiler and pressure vessel policy — Definition of "collapse" — Damage caused by employee's wilful act/neglect — Policy exclusion for wilful act or wilful neglect — Insurer's repudiation upheld
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29 February 2000 |
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Eyewitness identification corroborated by possession of stolen vehicle upheld despite parade irregularity; appeal dismissed.
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Criminal law — Identification procedures — Fair, proper and independent identification; irregularities may nullify identification only in proper cases — Corroboration by possession of stolen property; doctrine of recent possession not always required — Failure to produce third-party explanation not fatal where ID and possession are overwhelming — Sentence of 21 years not excessive
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14 February 2000 |
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A court refusing an ex parte injunction must convert the application to inter partes and hear both parties.
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Civil procedure — Ex parte injunction — Where court inclined to refuse ex parte relief it must order the application to stand as inter partes summons — Procedural fairness — Appealability where procedural irregularity occurred
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10 February 2000 |
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A court may not expunge a registered trade mark without following statutory procedures; registration is prima facie valid.
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Trade Marks Act — Section 57 prima facie validity of registration — statutory expunction/rectification procedures mandatory — distinction between statutory infringement and passing off — disputed factual issues (get‑up, likelihood of confusion) require rehearing
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8 February 2000 |
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Seizure and sale of a separately purchased vehicle was wrongful; owner entitled to its value with interest; costs shared.
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Commercial law — lien and self-help — seizure and impounding of separate goods — right of resale under Sale of Goods Act — remedy of value and interest for wrongful seizure
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8 February 2000 |
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Respondents’ approved retrenchment terms cannot be unilaterally reduced; privatisation agency statutorily liable despite privity.
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Privatisation Act s.39 — proceeds to support redundancies — statutory obligation of privatisation agency; employment law — unilateral variation of conditions of service — cannot worsen terms without consent; privity of contract inapplicable where statutory duty exists
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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.
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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.
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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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Qualified privilege failed where publishers recklessly published defamatory articles; damages reduced to K30,000,000 balancing reputation and press freedom.
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Defamation — identification of claimant; qualified privilege and innocent dissemination defeated by reckless publication and omission to verify; malice inferred; exemplary damages; reduction of quantum to balance reputation protection and freedom of the 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.
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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.
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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.
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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 |