Results.
139 judgments found.
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| December 2007 |
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Carrier’s unexplained failure to account for located baggage can defeat Warsaw Convention liability limits against the respondent.
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Carriage by air — Warsaw Convention & Hague Protocol domesticated — Article 22 limitation vs Article 25 wilful misconduct/recklessness — Article 20 evidential burden on carrier — adverse inference from unexplained disappearance of located baggage — carrier liable beyond limits if employee theft or complicity proven
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31 December 2007 |
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A registered mediation settlement cannot be executed by writ where individual entitlements remain unquantified; claimants must prove eligibility first.
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Industrial Relations — Mediation settlement (Rule 22) — Non-appealability (Rule 27) — Enforcement — Writ of fieri facias — Requirement to quantify awards and establish individual entitlements before execution.
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20 December 2007 |
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Employee's dismissal found unlawful; award reduced to twelve months' salary with interest; fresh evidence refused.
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Employment law — unfair dismissal — evidence and procedure — admission of fresh evidence under s.25 Supreme Court Act — debarment for non-attendance/failure to file — assessment of damages for wrongful dismissal (12 months' salary) — interest on arrears.
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13 December 2007 |
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Appellate court refused fresh evidence, upheld trial findings, and dismissed appeal against reduced recovery and costs.
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Contract law — pre-financing and admission of debt; appellate review — fresh evidence requirements and deference to factual findings; amendment of writ not required where lesser sum proved; new issues cannot be raised on appeal; costs apportionment within trial court's discretion.
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13 December 2007 |
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An appeal dismissed for want of prosecution was set aside where non-attendance resulted from counsel's default and no prejudice was shown.
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Civil procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — Order 35 r 5 High Court Rules — setting aside judgment obtained in absence — default of advocate — remittal for hearing on merits — costs to abide outcome.
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4 December 2007 |
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Casual, non‑union workers did not become permanent employees nor obtain collective‑agreement benefits absent evidence of intent.
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Employment law — casual vs. permanent status — operation of law after six months — freedom of contract — applicability of collective agreement to non‑union casual employees — appellate interference where findings unsupported by evidence.
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4 December 2007 |
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A sitting tenant has no right to buy a company house absent an express purchase option and ZCCM employment.
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Tenancy agreements — no implied option to purchase; sitting tenant not automatically entitled to buy mine houses — must also be employer’s employee; rent inclusive of utilities precludes separate utility claims.
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4 December 2007 |
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Default judgment set aside for lack of proof of service and pending interpleader over disputed mortgage; matter remitted to trial.
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Civil procedure — service of process under Order X — proof required for default judgment; Default judgment — setting aside for want of valid service and on showing of explanation and defence; Interpleader — pending third‑party interest and stay of execution; Disputed mortgage documents raise triable issues.
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4 December 2007 |
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Supreme Court upheld summary dismissal for gross negligence and dismissed appeal as fact-based, not raising points of law.
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Employment law — summary dismissal for gross negligence — disciplinary investigations and right to be heard — supervision failures — discrimination claim (social status) — appellate review limited to points of law or mixed questions of law and fact.
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4 December 2007 |
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Early retirement entitles employee only to scheme benefits based on actual service and salary, not wrongful dismissal damages.
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Employment law — Early (premature) retirement — Distinction between retirement benefits and damages for wrongful termination — Benefits calculated on actual service and salary at retirement.
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4 December 2007 |
| November 2007 |
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The appellant's challenge to factual findings on dismissal dismissed; section 97 IR Act bars appeals on findings of fact.
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Employment law — unfair dismissal — credibility and findings of fact — section 97 Industrial Relations Act bars appeals on findings of fact — patrolling/record-keeping obligations of zone managers.
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30 November 2007 |
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An appeal challenging factual findings on dismissal was dismissed because section 97 bars appeals on findings of fact.
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Industrial relations — unfair/summary dismissal — credibility of witnesses — findings of fact — appeals barred by s.97 Industrial Relations Act — demotion and allegations of falsehood/negligence.
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30 November 2007 |
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Mortgaged matrimonial property is divisible; net sale proceeds to be split 66% petitioner, 34% respondent.
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Family law — Matrimonial property settlement — Mortgaged property amenable to division if mortgagee’s rights protected — Contributions (deposit vs mortgage servicing) — Equitable apportionment (66:34) — Costs: none ordered.
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30 November 2007 |
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Mortgaged matrimonial property can be sold for settlement; proceeds split 66%/34% after mortgage satisfied.
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30 November 2007 |
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An appeal from a High Court chambers order without statutory leave is incompetent and dismissed with costs.
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Civil procedure — Appeal — Leave required to appeal from orders made in chambers — Section 24(1)(e) Supreme Court Act — Failure to obtain leave renders appeal incompetent — Dismissal with costs.
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29 November 2007 |
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Appeal allowed and retrial ordered because the trial judge failed to make essential findings on duty, breach and causation.
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Civil negligence — duty of care — employer's obligations — necessity of specific findings on role, duty, breach, causation and foreseeability; Workers' Compensation Act s.41 — statutory duty issue; procedural requirement for trial findings — retrial ordered.
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29 November 2007 |
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Circumstantial and corroborated witness evidence, including threats and scene identification, proved appellant’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
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Criminal law — Murder by arson — Circumstantial evidence — Threats as part of circumstantial chain — Identification and voice recognition — Alibi must be raised during investigation to be effective — Witness related to victim not automatically unreliable.
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28 November 2007 |
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Dismissal of a commercial action for default under Practice Direction No.12 does not bar recommencing the same claim.
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Commercial law — dismissal for want of prosecution (Order 53, Practice Direction No.12) — whether such dismissal is a decision on the merits — res judicata and estoppel — recommencement of action permitted.
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23 November 2007 |
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Appellate court reduced an excessive 20-year defilement sentence to the mandatory 15 years, recognizing mitigation for plea and first offender.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Mandatory minimum sentence — Sentencing discretion — Credit for guilty plea and first offender status — Appellate review of excessive sentence.
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8 November 2007 |
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Conviction unsafe where identification was doubtful, the identification parade was unproved and no connecting link to the offence existed.
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Criminal law — identification evidence — admissibility and weight of identification parades — courtroom identification — need for caution and corroborative connecting links where identification is weak.
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8 November 2007 |
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A guilty plea should attract leniency; appellate court reduced an excessive 20-year manslaughter sentence to 10 years.
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Criminal law — Manslaughter — Sentencing — Effect of guilty plea — Courts must give due allowance for pleas that save court time (Moses Mwiba v The People) — Appellate reduction of excessive sentence.
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8 November 2007 |
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Whether an estate administrator can validly transfer property without unanimous beneficiary consent, affecting title and possession.
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Succession law — administrator's authority — validity of transfers by administrator — beneficiary consent — land registration — title cancellation and caveat — entitlement to possession and damages.
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1 November 2007 |
| October 2007 |
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An ex‑parte injunction left in force for nine months must be promptly challenged inter‑partes; procedural missteps do not negate a correctly reached substantive outcome.
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Civil procedure — interlocutory injunctions — ex‑parte orders — requirement of notice and prompt inter‑partes hearing — review under Order 39 r 1 — procedural irregularity but substantive outcome upheld.
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30 October 2007 |
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Ex‑parte injunctions must be promptly heard inter‑parte; procedural irregularity did not defeat a substantively correct restoration of the injunction.
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Civil procedure — interim/ex‑parte injunctions — requirement for prompt inter‑parte hearing — Practice Direction No.23 and Order 37 r 5 — review of judicial ex‑parte orders under Order 39 r 1 — procedural fairness vs. correctness of substantive outcome.
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30 October 2007 |
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Court dismisses remittal request; obiter suggestion of retrial was not an order and the court will not review its own judgment.
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Civil procedure — application for remittal to High Court to determine mutual indebtedness — court’s obiter remarks do not constitute an order — appellate court cannot review its own final judgment — dismissal of misconceived motion with costs.
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11 October 2007 |
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Under Lozi customary law, long cohabitation without payment of dowry does not create marriage or succession rights.
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Civil law — Marriage — Lozi customary law — Cohabitation and children do not amount to marriage without dowry; customary-law requirements govern Local Court matters; common-law presumption of marriage not applicable; intestate succession rights not available to non-spouse.
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11 October 2007 |
| September 2007 |
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Whether a seconded acting manager was substantively appointed and what salary/allowances form the basis of her retrenchment package.
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Employment law — secondment vs substantive appointment — retrenchment package — calculation of terminal benefits including salary increments and allowances — treatment of allowances paid to service providers — proper interest rate on award.
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28 September 2007 |
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An appeal to the Supreme Court is incompetent without a single-judge's leave where the High Court refused leave to appeal out of time.
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Civil procedure — Appealability — leave to appeal out of time — Section 24(1)(e) Supreme Court Act Cap.25 — jurisdictional requirement to obtain leave from a single Judge where High Court refuses leave — appeal incompetent without such leave.
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24 September 2007 |
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Appeal was incompetent where leave under Section 24(1)(e) was not obtained after an in‑chambers refusal by the High Court.
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Civil procedure — Appeal — Leave to appeal out of time — Ruling made in Chambers — Requirement of leave under Section 24(1)(e) Supreme Court Act — Incompetent appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
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24 September 2007 |
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Documents created after the impugned Ruling which create a new situation cannot be admitted as fresh evidence on appeal.
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Civil procedure — Application to adduce fresh evidence on appeal — Order 59 Rule 10(10) and Section 25 Supreme Court Act — Ladd v Marshall criteria — Evidence generated after the impugned Ruling cannot be used to support an appeal.
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11 September 2007 |
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A consent judgment between other parties does not estop the applicants who were non‑parties and unaware from pursuing their claim.
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Civil procedure — Consent judgment — Whether consent judgment estops non‑parties — Intervention and joinder — Abuse of process — Sitting tenants — Specific performance and vacant possession.
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11 September 2007 |
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A consent judgment between others does not estop appellants unaware of the proceedings; matter remitted to trial.
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Civil procedure — Consent judgment — Binding effect on non-parties — Estoppel — Right to intervene — Occupiers’ rights and notice — Abuse of process — Remittal to trial.
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11 September 2007 |
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Court reduced excessive 15-year trafficking sentence to mandatory 10 years, crediting guilty plea and small quantity.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Trafficking in psychotropic substances — Subsequent offender — Mandatory minimum sentence — Effect of guilty plea and small quantity as mitigating factors — Proportionality of sentence — Appellate substitution of sentence.
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6 September 2007 |
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Illegal strike justified lawful dismissals; applicants get unpaid leave assessed, respondent awarded loss-of-business damages; costs split.
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Labour law — Illegal strike — Lawful dismissal for strike action — Effect of expiry of Collective Agreement on disciplinary charges — Entitlement to accrued leave pay — Corporate status change does not create new employer for terminal benefits — Employer entitled to damages for loss of business from unlawful work stoppage — Costs discretion.
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5 September 2007 |
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Dismissal for issuing a false goods-received invoice upheld; alleged manager instruction did not absolve the applicant.
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Employment law — Dismissal for dishonesty — False goods-received invoice to conceal stock shortage — Alleged manager instruction not a defence — Appellate review of factual findings (perversity/no evidence/misapprehension).
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5 September 2007 |
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Appellant lawfully dismissed for issuing false stock documents; appellate court upheld factual findings and dismissed appeal.
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Employment law — summary dismissal for dishonest conduct — falsifying stock documents — appellate review of factual findings — unlawful instructions by superior do not absolve employee.
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5 September 2007 |
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Alleged trespasser shot on mine property; intentional shooting found, negligence claim failed and appeal dismissed.
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Tort — Negligence vs assault and battery — Liability of security and police for shooting an alleged trespasser — Appeal court deference to trial judge’s factual findings; negligence not established where shooting found to be intentional.
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5 September 2007 |
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A sentencing judge misdirected himself by refusing leniency to a first offender; sentence reduced from 20 to 18 years.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Sentence — First offender entitlement to leniency and credit — Sentencing misdirection — Appellate reduction of sentence.
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5 September 2007 |
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Appellate court dismissed challenge to five-year manslaughter sentence, finding it not excessive or legally erroneous.
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Criminal law — Sentencing discretion — Manslaughter (max life) — Role of guilty plea and first offender status as mitigatory factors — Appellate review limited to sentences wrong in principle, law, or producing a sense of shock.
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5 September 2007 |
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An electricity supplier not liable for surge damage where unreported local cable wear and absence of consumer surge protection caused the loss.
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Electricity supply — Negligence — Duty to inspect and service cables — Reporting of faults by occupiers — Rylands v Fletcher (strict liability) inapplicable where no escape — Consumer duty to install surge protection.
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5 September 2007 |
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Court reduced 14-year sentence for defilement to 10 years, noting guilty plea, first‑offender status and pre-amendment timing.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Sentencing — Effect of guilty plea and first-offender status on mitigation — Temporal application of statutory amendments — Mandatory minimum sentence inapplicable to pre-amendment offences.
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4 September 2007 |
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Court upheld statutory discretion under Cap 74 to award interest where a registrar's ruling amounts to a judgment, despite ex curia repayment.
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Interest on debt — Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Cap 74) s.4 — meaning of "tried" and "judgment" — rulings by Deputy/District Registrar constitute proceedings in court of record — equitable basis for interest on reducing balance where plaintiff deprived of funds
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3 September 2007 |
| August 2007 |
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The Supreme Court, as final appellate court, cannot review or reopen its final judgments; only clerical errors may be corrected under Rule 78.
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Finality of judgments — Supreme Court’s lack of power to review or re-open its final decisions — Limited corrective power under Rule 78 for clerical errors — Rule 48(5) and section 8(ii) interpretation — restoration of adjourned appeal.
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29 August 2007 |
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An offending spouse cannot rely on the innocent spouse's reaction to adultery as unreasonable behaviour to obtain a divorce.
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Matrimonial law — Divorce — Unreasonable behaviour — Adultery — Whether an offending spouse can rely on the innocent spouse's reaction to the offence as intolerable behaviour — 'Tiredness' of marriage not a ground for dissolution.
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21 August 2007 |
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A spouse who commits adultery cannot rely on the innocent spouse’s reaction to that misconduct as unreasonable behaviour justifying divorce.
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Family law — Divorce — Unreasonable behaviour — Whether an offending spouse may rely on the innocent spouse’s reaction to the offence as ground for dissolution — Adultery; irretrievable breakdown; mere tiredness not a ground.
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21 August 2007 |
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Dismissal upheld where employee admitted misconduct; procedural lapses did not invalidate dismissal and discrimination was unproven.
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Employment law — disciplinary dismissal — natural justice and notice of charges — internal procedure non-compliance does not vitiate dismissal where misconduct established — discrimination claims require similarly circumstanced comparators — employer entitled to give truthful references
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20 August 2007 |
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Senior chief's partisan intimidation and assaults rendered the parliamentary election not free and fair, so the election was voided.
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Parliamentary election — Chief's partisan conduct — Article 129 Constitution — Electoral (Code of Conduct) Regulation 10(1)(i) — Undue influence, threats, assaults and removal of headman — Election not free and fair — Election declared void.
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19 August 2007 |
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Judicial review was the wrong procedure to impeach a subordinate court consent judgment and land reallocation.
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Civil procedure — mode of commencing actions — judicial review (Order 53 RSC) inappropriate to impeach Subordinate Court consent judgments; challenges to Registrar decisions governed by Lands and Deeds Registry Act ss.87–89; Subordinate Court judgments appealable under s.28; fresh actions to impeach consent judgments commence by writ; limited scope of judicial review (Chiluba).
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17 August 2007 |
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Interpretation application rightly read as permitting foreclosure and sale, but trial judge erred by reviewing valuation and reopening foreclosure; appeal dismissed.
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Mortgage law — foreclosure by demise and sale — interpretation of judgment — limits of interpretation applications — reopening foreclosure absolute; equity and adequacy of consideration; procedure under Order 30 r11(a)
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15 August 2007 |
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An employer may validly terminate by contractual notice clause if disciplinary proceedings were abandoned; factual findings are not appealable.
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Employment law — termination by contractual notice clause versus disciplinary dismissal — interaction between Articles of Agreement and Grievance and Disciplinary Code — scope of appeal from Industrial Relations Court; section 97 Cap 269(5) bars appeals on findings of fact.
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15 August 2007 |