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Citation
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Judgment date
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| April 2003 |
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Appeal dismissed: factual findings upholding demotion and dismissal were supported and appeal was incompetent under Section 97.
Employment law — demotion and withdrawal of benefits; disciplinary dismissal for alleged misappropriation and unauthorised salary increment; appellate jurisdiction — Section 97 Industrial and Labour Relations Act limits appeals to points of law or mixed law and fact; findings of fact supported by evidence.
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4 April 2003 |
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Order 53 RSC governs judicial review; only persons showing sufficient interest may be joined and public interest guides interlocutory relief.
Civil procedure — Judicial review — Adoption of Order 53 RSC under High Court Act — Parties and sufficient interest to be joined — Judicial review focuses on legality not merits — Interlocutory relief/stay in judicial review; public interest consideration.
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3 April 2003 |
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No enforceable allocation where the appellant neither contracted nor developed the farm and the transfer lacked required State consent.
Land allocation – absence of a concluded contract – development conditions for allocation – repossession for non-development – purported transfer requiring State/Presidential consent under Land (Conversion of Titles) Act.
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3 April 2003 |
| March 2003 |
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Employee not entitled to redundancy where statutory transfer preserved employment and employee refused offered alternative employment.
Employment law – redundancy – repeal of employer-establishing statute – effect on continuity of employment; Statutory transfer under s.149 preserves continuity; Offer of alternative/lateral employment and employee's refusal excludes redundancy claim; Accrued rights and effect of repeal.
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4 March 2003 |
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Dismissal upheld where employee disregarded employer's instruction to use truck meters despite calibration problems.
Employment law – wrongful dismissal – employee misconduct for failing to follow employer's measurement instructions – defective calibration/tampering as contributing factor – appellate review for misdirection by tribunal.
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4 March 2003 |
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An employee laterally transferred to a successor board continuing the same business is not entitled to redundancy if employment continued.
Employment law – redundancy – repeal of employer-establishing statute and creation of successor board – lateral transfer under s.149(1) – continuity of employment – refusal of alternative employment – entitlement to redundancy under s.26B.
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3 March 2003 |
| February 2003 |
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Leave under section 281 should not be refused by pre-judging a pending defamation claim; matter remitted for trial.
Companies Act s281 – leave to proceed against company in liquidation – requirement and scope of inquiry; civil procedure – whether leave application may adjudicate merits – prohibition on pre-judging; tort – defamation (slander) actionable per se; prior unappealed Registrar’s ruling; liquidator’s powers vs. right to trial.
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28 February 2003 |
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Whether leave under section 281 should be refused after a prior ruling that the applicant’s claim disclosed actionable slander.
Companies Act s281 – leave to proceed against company in liquidation – discretion to grant leave where dispute predates winding up – trial court must not prejudge merits – prior ruling that claim disclosed actionable slander binding absent appeal.
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28 February 2003 |
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Discovery of a contaminant in an unopened bottle does not establish actionable negligence without consumption and proven injury.
Product liability; negligence — Donoghue v Stevenson; requirement of consumption and consequent injury; Food and Drugs Act — contamination a criminal offence; statutory duty vs civil remedy; causation and proof of actual damage.
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19 February 2003 |
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Judicial review examines process not merits; Article 43(3) permits Parliament wide discretion to remove a former President’s immunity without prior formal charges.
Constitutional law – Presidential immunity – Article 43(3): scope and procedure for removal; Judicial review – scope, evidence and remedies; Illegality, Wednesbury unreasonableness and procedural impropriety; Parliamentary procedure and justiciability; Jurisdictional limits of High Court regarding parliamentary proceedings (Section 34).
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18 February 2003 |
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Applicant who did not consume contaminated drink cannot recover; s3(b) breach carries criminal penalties only.
Tort — Negligence: ingestion and actual injury required for actionable claim against manufacturers; Breach of statutory duty — Food and Drugs Act s3(b) creates criminal penalties, not an automatic civil remedy; causation and proof of damage required.
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18 February 2003 |
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Manufacturer not liable in negligence for an unopened contaminated product absent consumption and proven damage.
Tort — Manufacturer liability — contaminated food/drink — requirement of consumption and proven injury for actionable negligence — Food and Drugs Act criminalises contamination but is silent on civil remedies — no nominal damages for negligence.
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18 February 2003 |
| January 2003 |
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Whether court may order State to provide timeframe for satisfying judgment debt rather than using Section 21 certificate.
State Proceedings Act – s21(1),(4) – statutory certificate as mode of enforcing judgment debt against the State; s30(4) – court power to grant mandamus; execution against the State; functus officio; Stickrose considered.
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16 January 2003 |
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Delay in filing the record, reasonably explained, did not justify dismissal for want of prosecution.
Civil procedure – dismissal for want of prosecution – Rule 55 – delay in filing record of appeal – reasonable explanation for delay – interlocutory applications and unavailability of judge’s notes – prejudice insufficient to warrant dismissal.
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10 January 2003 |
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Change of shareholding does not constitute change of employer; the applicants failed to prove entitlement to prior benefits.
Employment law – change of shareholding v. change of employer – Section 35 Employment Act – entitlement to retire on prior terms – burden of proof – merging of allowances into salary – factual assessment of superiority/inferiority of new conditions.
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8 January 2003 |
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Change of shareholding does not constitute change of employer; section 35 Employment Act not engaged; appeal dismissed.
Employment law – change of shareholding vs change of employer – applicability of s.35 Employment Act; conditions of service – alleged less favourable changes; entitlement to retirement benefits under Statutory Instrument No.99; proof of loss; fusion of allowances into salary.
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7 January 2003 |