Supreme Court of Zambia - 2005 November

22 judgments
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Results. 22 judgments found.

22 judgments
November 2005
Employees on early retirement kept contractual notice entitlements; profit sharing due unless Respondent proves payment; pension and long service claims dismissed.
  • Employment law — early retirement and termination — whether employees validly waived contractual notice rights — payment in lieu of notice; Profit‑sharing entitlements — evidential burden to prove payment; Pension law — employer contributions payable only on normal retirement; Interest on awards — conformity with Judgments Act.
30 November 2005
Whether retrenched employees’ repatriation entitlements are governed by the 1993 surplus-labour circular or the 1992 ZIMCO Conditions of Service.
  • Employment law — retrenchment vs retirement — applicability of ZIMCO Conditions of Service (1992) v 1993 surplus-labour circular; interpretation of contractual repatriation entitlements; measure and rate of interest on arrears.
29 November 2005
Lands Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to cancel registered title; wrongful-seizure damages measured at value at time of loss with specified interest rates.
  • Lands law — jurisdiction of Lands Tribunal — limitation where certificate of title issued; Civil damages — wrongful seizure — measure of loss is value at time of seizure; Interest — short-term deposit rate pre-judgment, Bank of Zambia average lending rate post-judgment.
29 November 2005
Court reduced excessive solatium, remitted dependency assessment for proper multiplicand/multiplier calculation, upheld funeral expenses and corrected interest rate.
  • Fatal Accidents Act — assessment of dependency damages — need to determine multiplicand and multiplier and apportion awards to dependants; Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act — loss of expectation of life (solatium) — awards are modest; Judgment Act — appropriate interest rates on judgment; funeral expenses — oral evidence may suffice.
29 November 2005
Whether courts may award interest on unpaid solicitors' bills absent agreement and whether reopening judgment was proper.
  • Civil procedure — Order 39 review powers; Solicitors' costs — interest on unpaid bills in contentious business; Halsbury's Laws para 232; effect of taxation demand on date interest runs.
24 November 2005
Whether allowances must be included in basic pay for severance and whether a prior consent settlement extinguished related claims.
  • Employment law — computation of terminal/retirement benefits — applicability of conditions of service at separation — incorporation of cash and in-kind allowances into basic pay only where conditions so provide — effect of consent settlement extinguishing prior claims.
24 November 2005
Appellate court refused to set aside a consent judgment absent fraud, capacity or undue influence, corrected purchase price and found it paid.
  • Civil procedure — consent judgment — setting aside — will only be set aside on proper grounds (fraud, mistake); change of advocate does not vitiate consent judgment
  • Capacity — medical report and witness evidence must prove impairment at the material time to impeach consent. Undue influence/duress — requires clear evidence
  • Property/agency — unexecuted/unregistered power of attorney confers no proprietary interest. Contract interpretation — correction of currency/amount and proof of payment
22 November 2005
Appeal dismissed: Supreme Court will not revisit pure factual findings and former employee not entitled to buy company house.
  • Industrial and Labour Relations Act s97 — appeal to Supreme Court limited to points of law or mixed law and fact; appellate deference to trial court findings of fact; disciplinary dismissal — compliance with disciplinary procedures; entitlement to purchase company houses — effect of policy date and injunctional occupation; enforcement of undertakings in injunctions.
22 November 2005
Consent judgment upheld: no proven incapacity, undue influence, or fatal procedural defect; purchase price corrected and paid.
  • Civil procedure — consent judgment — setting aside — client may change advocate; consent impugned only for fraud, mistake, incapacity or undue influence; burden to prove mental incapacity; findings of fact on application of proceeds not lightly disturbed; correction of currency/amount on cross-appeal.
22 November 2005
Judgment given without notice or hearing; appeal allowed and retrial ordered to decide the matter on its merits.
  • Labour law — wrongful dismissal; procedural fairness — failure to notify parties and hearing in absence; judgment without considering respondent’s answer; retrial ordered.
14 November 2005
Appellant not validly appointed as provisional liquidator or "liquidation manager"; lower court order quashed.
  • Companies law — appointment of provisional liquidator and special manager — distinction between voluntary creditors' winding up and court-ordered winding up — validity of acts of purported liquidator — Section 280, Section 297, Section 333(1).
11 November 2005
Whether staff were entitled to higher terminal benefits under Cabinet circulars or the respondent’s own retirement circular.
  • Employment / Public sector — early retirement and terminal benefits — applicability of Cabinet Office circulars versus employer’s own retirement circular — burden and standard of proof — weight of payment vouchers and accounting explanations for schedule discrepancies.
11 November 2005
11 November 2005
Deputy Registrar improperly rubber-stamped accountants' reconciliation; fresh supervised audit required and only actual government indemnity credited.
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11 November 2005
Employer liable for negligent resumption of mining work in a known volatile area; inevitable accident defence rejected; damages awarded.
  • Employer’s duty of care in hazardous operations — breach of Mining Regulation 402 — foreseeability of industrial accidents — defence of inevitable accident/act of God and burden of proof — res ipsa loquitur — deduction of insurance payments from dependency awards.
11 November 2005
A person who merely held himself out as provisional liquidator lacked legal appointment and locus to be ordered to deliver liquidation records.
  • Companies Act — appointment of provisional liquidator (s.280) requires court order — no statutory office of "liquidation manager" (compare s.297 special manager) — acts of unappointed person not validated under s.333(1) where no accepted appointment — locus to be sued — delivery of liquidation records.
11 November 2005
Court held that a defensive pleading did not admit liability and vacated judgment on admission, ordering a retrial.
  • Civil procedure — Judgment on admission — Whether a paragraph in a defence amounts to an admission — Joining issue and later applying for judgment on admission — Retrial ordered; costs in cause.
10 November 2005
Judicial review dismissed: Board lawfully replaced an earlier recommendation and awards followed a proper evaluation process; applicants beaten on scores.
  • Administrative law — Judicial review — procurement/tender awards — procedural impropriety vs merits — replacement of confidential recommendation document — evaluation scores and responsiveness — award valid where decision-making process lawful.
9 November 2005
Appeal against murder conviction dismissed; conviction affirmed but 20-year sentence set aside and mandatory death sentence imposed.
  • Criminal law — murder — assessment of credibility — single witness conviction; accomplice/corroboration rules; accidental discharge defence; sentencing — extenuating circumstances and mandatory death penalty; prerogative of mercy.
1 November 2005
Appeal dismissed: identification by a single witness upheld where prior acquaintance, lighting and prolonged observation excluded honest mistake.
  • Criminal law — identification evidence — single identifying witness — dangers of mistaken recognition — prior acquaintance and lighting conditions — alibi defences — after‑thoughts; Appeal dismissed.
1 November 2005
Reliable single-witness identification upheld; death sentence quashed and 20-year terms imposed where firearm not proved.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Identification evidence — Reliance on single identifying witness — Opportunity to observe, prior acquaintance, identification parade and physical corroboration — Honest mistake risk — Sentence: death quashed where no proof of firearm, substituted with long term imprisonment.
1 November 2005
Single-witness identification corroborated by recovered property upheld conviction; death sentence quashed for lack of proof of firearm.
  • Criminal law — aggravated robbery — single identifying witness — identification parade — corroboration by recovery of stolen property — insufficiency of proof of firearm under Firearms Act — death sentence quashed — substitution of term of imprisonment.
1 November 2005