Supreme Court of Zambia - 2002 June

19 judgments
Skip past Court registries
Skip past years
Skip past months
Skip to results

Results. 19 judgments found.

19 judgments
June 2002
Suo motu review without hearing and after 62 days was irregular; the transaction involved partial, not total, failure of consideration.
  • Sale of Goods — implied condition as to seller’s right to sell — partial versus total failure of consideration; judicial review of own judgment — suo motu review, procedural fairness and timing; Order 39 High Court Rules.
27 June 2002
Impoundment of an exchanged vehicle was a partial, not total, failure of consideration; unnotified judicial review was irregular.
  • Sale of Goods — implied right to sell — failure of consideration — distinction between total and partial failure — Rowland v Divall considered; Civil procedure — review of judgment by judge sua sponte — requirement to hear parties — procedural irregularity (Order 39).
27 June 2002
A party aggrieved by a single-judge decision proceeds by renewal, and non-working days are excluded when computing filing time.
  • Civil procedure — Single-Judge decisions — Renewal to full court (not appeal); computation of time — exclusion of Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; discretionary enlargement of filing time
20 June 2002
Court upheld award for unserved service, quashed unexplained 10% interest, ordered short-term interest, costs, and salary-scale differential payment.
  • Assessment of damages — wrongful termination — compensation for unserved period of service — parties' negotiated quantum; Interest on assessed sums — need for reasons; substitution with short-term deposit rate; Costs on assessment where liability admitted; Salary scale differential (S8 v PF5) payable as part of terminal benefits.
13 June 2002
Appellants’ forgery and no-consent allegations were inadequately proved; appellee’s interest claims upheld due to defendants’ acquiescence.
  • Civil procedure — appeal against findings of fact — appellate restraint unless findings are perverse or unsupported by evidence; Evidence — allegations of forgery and improper acquisition of title require clear proof; Banking law — acquiescence to interest charges may be inferred from account statements and lack of timely protest; Contract — cancellation of facility for non-payment does not amount to frustration of mortgage obligation.
11 June 2002
Appeal allowed with costs because the case was identical to a recent precedent; respondent absent.
  • Civil appeal — reliance on recent precedent — case on all fours with earlier decision — adoption of reasoning in Choka v Chilufya — appeal allowed with costs.
5 June 2002
Appeal dismissed for lack of leave; storing Kwacha judgments in foreign currency impermissible; 100% interest awarded.
  • Civil procedure — appeals from interlocutory/Chambers orders — leave required under s.24(1)(e); Currency law — judgments in domestic currency — impermissibility of notionally storing Kwacha in foreign currency and reconverting; Damages/enforcement — accounting for internal devaluation and delay; interest — 100% p.a. simple interest awarded in prolonged-delay context.
5 June 2002
Whether a contractual forfeiture and repossession clause is enforceable or contrary to public policy and unjust enrichment.
  • Contract law — forfeiture clause in land sale — enforceability vs public policy — unjust enrichment — remedies for purchaser’s breach.
5 June 2002
An innocent purchaser cannot acquire title to a stolen vehicle; the remedy is against the seller, not retention of the vehicle.
  • Sale of Goods Act s.22 (market overt) — stolen goods — bona fide purchaser — nemo dat quod non habet — Rowland v Divall — remedy against seller for purchase price.
5 June 2002
Appeal allowed by application of the prior identical decision; appellants awarded costs.
  • Precedent — Application of a recently decided identical case (Choka v Chilufya) — Appeal allowed on same grounds — Award of costs to appellants.
5 June 2002
Order 113 summary eviction is not available against lawful employee occupants with genuine claims; it is confined to squatters.
  • Civil procedure — Order 113 (White Book) — Summary procedure for possession — Inapplicable to lawful occupants/tenants or employee occupants (incidence of employment) — Suitable only for squatters or occupiers without licence or consent — Summary eviction inappropriate where real dispute exists
4 June 2002
Deputy Registrar lacked jurisdiction to assess pension benefits payable under the 1993 staff pension scheme; post-termination schemes do not apply.
  • Employment law — wrongful dismissal — pension benefits payable under employer's staff pension scheme — assessment jurisdiction; Post-termination benefits — entitlement to schemes introduced after dismissal; Interest on judgments — requirement that party was wrongfully kept out of money; Mitigation — subsequent earnings do not reduce pension benefits under the scheme.
4 June 2002
Non-production of firearm not fatal where shot fired and spent cartridge accounted for; daylight single-witness ID upheld; appeal dismissed.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Proof of firearm: hearing a shot and the presence of a spent cartridge can suffice; Identification — single-witness daylight identification and reliability; Corroboration — not required where possibility of honest mistake is excluded; Mandatory sentence — appeal against prescribed death sentence.
4 June 2002
4 June 2002
Doctrine of recent possession properly applied to convict appellant for aggravated robbery based on conduct and possession evidence.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Doctrine of recent possession — Circumstantial evidence and credibility findings — Whether possession weeks after theft can support inference of guilt.
4 June 2002
4 June 2002
Buyer of a stolen vehicle in good faith cannot acquire title absent market overt; remedy is claim against seller.
  • Sale of Goods — market overt — defined as open, public and legally constituted — purchaser in good faith does not acquire title from a thief absent market overt — thief cannot pass title — remedy against seller (Rowland v Divall)
4 June 2002
Contractual conditions governed repatriation, housing and uniform entitlements; no entitlement to cash repatriation, housing or uniform refund.
  • Employment law — Conditions of service — Interpretation of contractual clause requiring employer to ‘bear the cost of repatriation by road or rail’ — Does not imply separate cash repatriation allowance; housing entitlement claims depend on retirement-date documentation and conduct; uniform deductions enforceable where conditions limit supplied items.
4 June 2002
Excessive force defeats provocation; a stable non‑marital intimacy can mitigate sentence but not negate a murder conviction.
  • [Criminal Law] Murder — Provocation — Stable non‑marital intimate relationships treated like marriage — Proportionality of reaction — Excessive force defeats provocation — Failed provocation may mitigate sentence
3 June 2002