Supreme Court of Zambia - 2004 November

12 judgments
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Results. 12 judgments found.

12 judgments
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Reference to a repealed statute is not fatal if the seizure power is preserved; "property" includes money; civil courts should not arrest criminal investigations.
  • Administrative law — Judicial review of asset seizures — Effect of citing repealed statute where power re‑enacted; statutory interpretation of "property" to include money; limits on civil intervention in criminal investigations.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