|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| December 2004 |
|
|
Circumstantial evidence can sustain aggravated robbery convictions despite in-court identification; sentences were increased to 20 years.
Criminal law – Aggravated robbery – identification in court (dock identification) – unreliability of in-court identification – circumstantial evidence – cogent and compelling proof excluding innocent hypothesis – separate trial of co-accused does not necessarily render proceedings null – appellate increase of sentence from mandatory minimum.
|
8 December 2004 |
|
Retrenchment upheld where three months' notice was given and redundancy procedures, including circulation to other divisions, were followed.
Employment law — Redundancy/retrenchment — Compliance with notice requirement and circulation to other divisions; job-based retrenchment versus individual status; appellate exclusion of issues not raised below.
|
8 December 2004 |
|
The complainant’s dismissal for negligence (failure to inspect worksite) was upheld; appeal dismissed.
Employment law — wrongful dismissal — negligence for failure to inspect worksite; credibility of witnesses; appellate restraint on factual findings under Industrial & Labour Relations Act.
|
8 December 2004 |
|
Supreme Court dismissed appeal because it raised only factual challenges, and section 97 limits appeals to points of law or mixed law and fact.
Industrial and Labour Relations Act s97 – Appeal to Supreme Court limited to points of law or mixed law and fact; appellate court cannot re-evaluate pure findings of fact; dismissal for gross negligence upheld as matter for trial court.
|
7 December 2004 |
|
A collective agreement's repatriation entitlement on retirement applies irrespective of local recruitment.
Labour law – Collective agreement – Interpretation of Clause 6.2.3 – Repatriation allowances on retirement – Entitlement not limited by place of recruitment.
|
7 December 2004 |
|
Employer negligent for failing to evacuate employees despite known dangerous ground movements; damages recalculated and interest ordered.
Tort — Employer's duty of care to employees — Foreseeability of ground movements — Negligence for failing to evacuate personnel; Damages — Loss of expectation of life and dependency under Fatal Accidents Act — deduction of insurance and Law Reform awards; appellate review of quantum (Nance principles).
|
7 December 2004 |
|
Employer negligent for failing to evacuate employees after warned of dangerous ground movement; dependency awards recalculated.
Tort — Employer’s duty of care to employees in mining operations — Failure to evacuate after observed ground movement — Negligence; Damages — Loss of expectation of life — appropriate quantum; Fatal Accidents Act — multiplicand/multiplier method, apportionment to individual dependants; Deduction of employer-provided insurance and Law Reform Act awards; Appellate review of factual findings and quantum.
|
7 December 2004 |
|
The respondent was entitled to rescind for non‑payment; the trial judge's finding on presidential consent was unnecessary.
Contract of sale — rescission for non‑payment of purchase price — Lands Act s.5(1) — presidential/state consent — unenforceability — conditional contracts — finding on consent unnecessary where not in issue.
|
7 December 2004 |
|
|
7 December 2004 |
|
Supreme Court dismissed employer's appeal as an impermissible attack on factual findings concerning alternative employment and redundancy.
Labour law – redundancy – alternative employment offers (verbal vs written) – appellate jurisdiction limited by Section 97 of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act; appeals on findings of fact impermissible.
|
1 December 2004 |
| November 2004 |
|
|
Damages for wrongful dismissal fixed as 12 months’ pay under the 2002 scale; pension/gratuity payable as at dismissal.
Civil procedure – interpretation of judgment – wrongful dismissal – damages for wrongful dismissal computed as 12 months’ salary – applicable pay scale – pension contributions and gratuity entitlement.
|
29 November 2004 |
|
Long delay and civil service restructuring can make reinstatement unrealistic; wrongful dismissal remedied by damages.
Administrative law – wrongful dismissal – failure to afford opportunity to be heard; Employment law – reinstatement vs damages – delay and restructuring as grounds to refuse reinstatement; Civil service discipline – validity of dismissal for driving government vehicle without authority; Criminal conviction for minor offence not automatically justifying dismissal.
|
26 November 2004 |
|
Enforcement of an incomplete arbitral award filed by a party (not the arbitrator) is invalid; parties may seek court relief or appoint a new arbitrator.
Arbitration — incomplete award — reserved ruling after consent motion — death of arbitrator — Section 11(2) filing requirement — invalid registration and premature enforcement — Section 7(1)(b) remedy.
|
17 November 2004 |
|
Registration and enforcement of an incomplete arbitral award filed by a party was invalid; appeal allowed.
Arbitration law – incomplete award – reserved ruling by arbitrator who then died – registration by party contrary to s.11(2) Arbitration Act – registration and enforcement invalid – parties may appoint new arbitrator or seek court under s.7(1)(b).
|
17 November 2004 |
|
Accepting a new contract during a notice period can terminate the old contract, barring claims to later enhanced terminal benefits.
Employment law – redundancy and notice – effect of entering into a new contract with same employer during notice period; counter-notice vs mutual agreement to terminate; entitlement to post-notice salary revisions as terminal benefits.
|
17 November 2004 |
|
Reference to a repealed statute is not fatal if the seizure power is preserved; "property" includes money; civil courts should not arrest criminal investigations.
Administrative law — Judicial review of asset seizures — Effect of citing repealed statute where power re‑enacted; statutory interpretation of "property" to include money; limits on civil intervention in criminal investigations.
|
16 November 2004 |
|
Seizure and freezing of assets under narcotics legislation valid despite inadvertent reference to repealed Act; property includes money.
Narcotics law – seizure and forfeiture powers – mistaken citation to repealed statute curable where equivalent provision retained; "property" includes money; procedural fairness and legitimate expectation – courts should not use civil proceedings to arrest bona fide criminal investigations absent bad faith or unreasonableness.
|
16 November 2004 |
|
|
16 November 2004 |
|
|
9 November 2004 |
|
Appellate court upheld conviction for damaging telecommunication cables, deferring to the trial judge’s credibility findings.
Criminal law – Espionage (State Security Act s.3(d)) – Damage to telecommunication cables – Evidence and credibility – Appellate deference to trial judge’s findings.
|
3 November 2004 |
|
Conviction quashed where prosecution relied on inadmissible hearsay and unproduced statements, leaving no prima facie case.
Criminal law – murder – prima facie case; no case to answer – hearsay evidence; statements by deceased; res gestae doctrine – inadmissible where not contemporaneous – non-production of warn-and-caution/confession statements – Criminal Procedure Code ss. 206 and 291 mandatory acquittal.
|
3 November 2004 |
|
Recent possession supported robbery convictions, but absent linkage of the recovered firearm to the scene, armed robbery convictions were reduced and one appellant acquitted.
Criminal law – Robbery – Recent possession of stolen property as evidence of participation; armed robbery – necessity of linking recovered firearm to spent cartridge/scene; dock identification requires corroboration; broken chain of evidence may reduce crime from armed to ordinary aggravated robbery.
|
3 November 2004 |
| October 2004 |
|
|
Whether employees were validly retired under LASF or wrongfully made redundant during employer reorganisation.
Labour law – retirement v redundancy – LASF Act ss.26 and 28 – ZIMCO Conditions of Service – wrongful variation of basic terms (zero-grading) – entitlement to redundancy/surplus-labour compensation (Circular HRA/07/01) – retrospective salary grading for terminal benefits – interest and repatriation.
|
26 October 2004 |
|
Appeal dismissed for raising only factual findings; IRC’s factual awards on excess leave and inclusive terminal benefits upheld.
Industrial and Labour Relations Act s97 – appeals limited to points of law or mixed law and fact; employment conditions – accrued/excess leave payable where employer suspends/postpones leave; calculation of terminal benefits – whether basic salary includes allowances; entitlement to purchase company vehicle on retirement; appellate jurisdiction and limits on factual reappraisal.
|
18 October 2004 |
|
An assessing judge lacked jurisdiction; assessments must not add allowances or fresh evidence beyond the original judgment.
Industrial and Labour Relations Act (s.3(1), s.89(2)) – composition and jurisdiction of IRC – assessing court must act within scope of substantive judgment – assessment cannot introduce fresh evidence or allowances not ordered – improper to draw adverse inference from non-production of payroll where payroll irrelevant – remittal to full bench.
|
15 October 2004 |
|
The appeal was withdrawn by consent and the respondent ordered to bear the appeal costs, agreed or in default taxed.
Civil procedure – Withdrawal of appeal by consent – Court records withdrawal and makes costs order – Costs to be agreed or, failing agreement, taxed.
|
12 October 2004 |
| September 2004 |
|
|
|
30 September 2004 |
|
|
30 September 2004 |
|
Whether termination by notice or pay in lieu under a collective agreement requires a prior hearing and charge of alleged misconduct.
Employment law – wrongful dismissal – Collective agreement clause allowing termination by one month's notice or pay in lieu – scope of employer’s right to terminate without a hearing – rules of natural justice and requirement to charge employee before deduction for missing employer property.
|
30 September 2004 |
|
SI 171 applied; six retrenched employees entitled to redundancy under clause 10 with recalculation including 30% increments; 1st respondent not entitled under clause 7 but due recalculation.
Labour law — Statutory Instruments — SI 171 superseding SI 99 — applicability to non‑union employees; collective agreements and s.74 — limits of binding non‑parties; entitlement to redundancy/medical discharge benefits — clause 10 and clause 7 of SI 171; calculation to include contractual 30% annual increments and allowances; entitlement to purchase company houses as sitting tenants; recalculation and interest; bona fide purchaser protection.
|
21 September 2004 |
|
A consent order can only be varied for fraud, illegality or mistake; rehearing was proper where no prior judicial decision had varied the order.
Civil procedure – Consent orders – Variation of consent judgments – Consent judgments can be varied only for fraud, illegality or mistake; Mediation referral does not constitute final determination; Rehearing by another judge not unlawful where no prior decision to vary existed; Evidentiary burden to prove fundamental mistake or fraud.
|
16 September 2004 |
|
An employer may terminate employment by contractual notice without criminal-standard identification or giving reasons.
Employment law – wrongful dismissal – termination by contractual notice – investigatory suspicion in financial institutions – civil standard of proof (not criminal) – identification parade not required.
|
14 September 2004 |
|
Appellate court increased inadequate general damages awards, set interest from service of writ, and allowed appeal with costs.
Damages — Assessment of general damages for personal injuries — Appellate interference where award is wholly erroneous — Date of assessment for inflation — Substitution of quantum and interest.
|
9 September 2004 |
|
Rehearing refused: unheards presidential pronouncements did not justify reopening a finalized appeal.
Civil procedure – rehearing of appeal – Order 59/1/157 RSC – lacuna in rules – slip rule inapplicable; Evidence – alleged Presidential pronouncements; Housing law – sale of government/parastatal houses – requirement of employment connection; Stare decisis – Muimui precedent affirmed.
|
8 September 2004 |
|
An appeal against a costs-only order made in Chambers is incompetent without prior leave; belated leave cannot cure it.
Civil procedure — Appeal against costs-only order made in Chambers — Requirement of prior leave under s.24(1)(d) and (e) Supreme Court Act — Leave obtained after filing does not cure incompetence — Appeal refused.
|
7 September 2004 |
|
|
7 September 2004 |
|
Court held female convicts should receive simple imprisonment where hard labour cannot lawfully be enforced.
Criminal law – Murder – Sentencing – Extenuating circumstances (belief in witchcraft); Sentencing of female prisoners – Imprisonment with hard labour vs simple imprisonment – Prisons Act s.75(2); Liability and deterrence for witch‑finders; Enforcement of sentences.
|
7 September 2004 |
|
Court upheld deterrent sentence for witch-finder, directed simple imprisonment for female convicts where hard labour is unenforceable.
Criminal law – murder – extenuating circumstances (belief in witchcraft) – sentencing – female prisoners and hard labour – Prisons Act s.75(2) – deterrence of witch-finders.
|
7 September 2004 |
| August 2004 |
|
|
Whether misdescription of polling stations and election official errors warranted nullification of the respondent's parliamentary election.
Parliamentary election petition — misdescription of polling stations — non-compliance with Electoral Act — Section 18(2)(b) and Section 18(4) — pleading requirements — heightened standard of proof in election petitions.
|
19 August 2004 |
|
|
3 August 2004 |
|
|
3 August 2004 |
| July 2004 |
|
|
Use of "fired" not defamatory where suspension and Board concerns made the report true in substance and in public interest.
Defamation — whether an article stating a public official was "fired" is libellous where he was suspended but later reinstated; justification (truth in substance), public interest defence, and appellate review of factual findings.
|
16 July 2004 |
|
Beneficiary entitled to realistic assessment of unpaid Kwacha sale proceeds; foreign-currency reconversion disallowed.
Administration of estates — duty to account — measure of damages for unpaid Kwacha proceeds — impermissibility of foreign-currency reconversion of Kwacha transactions — assessment by valuer and interest to reflect devaluation.
|
16 July 2004 |
|
Procedural time‑limit amendments do not oust the Industrial Relations Court’s discretion to allow late complaints; Section 85(6) covers IR Court decisions only.
Industrial Relations Act—Section 85(6) limited to Industrial Relations Court decisions; procedural time limits (Section 85(3)/Section 69)—retrospective application to procedure; court’s discretion to allow late filing; limitation and accrued rights.
|
1 July 2004 |
| June 2004 |
|
|
Respondent found a dependant entitled to intestate share; Local Court administration void for lack of jurisdiction; appeal dismissed.
Intestate succession — definition of 'dependant' (s.3) — maintenance and cohabitation as criteria; Local Court jurisdictional limit and validity of letters of administration; revocation/removal of administrator (s.29(2)); proof of paternity — passport applications and official consular letter; reassembly and redistribution of estate.
|
11 June 2004 |
|
In civil wrongful dismissal claims, confessions and video evidence are admissible and employer may dismiss successors for predecessor's employee theft.
Employment law – successor employer's power to investigate and dismiss for predecessor-era theft; Evidence – civil admissibility of confessions and video recordings; Standard of proof – balance of probabilities in civil claims involving alleged criminality; Voluntariness/trial within a trial not required in civil proceedings.
|
3 June 2004 |
|
Civil courts admit relevant statements and videotapes regardless of how obtained; standard is balance of probabilities.
Evidence admissibility in civil cases – illegally or unfairly obtained evidence – standard of proof in civil actions – voluntariness and trial-within-a-trial limited to criminal procedure – admissibility of videotape recordings – employer succession and disciplinary jurisdiction.
|
3 June 2004 |
|
First appellant acquitted because a reasonable innocent explanation for recent possession existed; second appellant's daylight identification affirmed.
Criminal law – recent possession of stolen property – inference of guilt not mandatory; accused's reasonably possible explanation entitles to acquittal; single-witness identification – reliability over honesty; daylight and prolonged observation plus fair identification parade can exclude honest mistake.
|
1 June 2004 |
|
Applicants’ dismissals were wrongful; court reversed factual findings and awarded six months’ salary each.
Employment law – wrongful dismissal – appellate interference with trial findings of fact – identification and credibility – use of extrajudicial statements of uncalled witnesses – damages for loss of employment; future earnings not recoverable.
|
1 June 2004 |
|
Failure to explain the statutory defence and to establish the victim’s age invalidated the defilement conviction.
Criminal law – Defilement (s138 Penal Code) – Proviso (honest belief age 16+) must be explained to unrepresented accused – Victim’s age is essential ingredient – Failure to explain or establish age fatal to conviction – Sentencing: appellate/review court should not impose sentence beyond trial magistrate’s jurisdiction.
|
1 June 2004 |