Results.
102 judgments found.
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| May 2008 |
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Delay in developer-built houses amounted to breach and liability for losses, but mesne profits awards were set aside for lack of proof.
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Contract law — construction contracts — whether time for completion was of the essence; evidence required to prove shortages; mesne profits — measure and proof; enforceability of additional undertakings (storage, security) by developer.
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16 May 2008 |
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16 May 2008 |
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Whether the plaintiff’s pleadings and furnished particulars were sufficient to enable the defendants to prepare their defence.
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Pleadings — Further and better particulars — Adequacy of particulars in commercial matters — Abuse of process by oppressive/fishing-expedition requests — Interlocutory rulings and sufficiency of reasons.
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14 May 2008 |
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Court held the plaintiff's particulars and statement of claim were adequate; defendants' appeal dismissed with costs.
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Pleadings and procedure — further and better particulars — sufficiency of particulars to enable defence; commercial list particularity; interlocutory rulings and reasons.
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14 May 2008 |
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Whether a re-enacted statutory instrument may govern forfeiture of property seized under a repealed instrument.
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Statutory interpretation — repeal and re-enactment of statutory instruments — whether re-enacted provisions retain force for earlier seizures; forfeiture of recovered property — vesting in the State once statutory conditions met; retrospective effect of legislation; Interpretation and General Provisions Act (sections on re-enactment and commencement).
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14 May 2008 |
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An applicant must show sufficient reasons for delay; a meritorious case alone does not justify late filing under section 85(3).
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Industrial Relations Court — Limitation period — Section 85(3) ILR Act — Leave to file complaint out of time — Exhaustion of administrative channels — Sufficiency of reasons for delay — Meritorious claim not a substitute for prompt action.
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14 May 2008 |
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Appeal dismissed for unreasonable delay; leave to file out of time requires sufficient reasons, merits alone insufficient.
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Industrial and Labour Relations Act s.85(3) — time limit for complaints — extension after exhaustion of administrative channels — leave to file out of time discretionary — sufficiency of reasons for delay — merits not a substitute for promptness.
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14 May 2008 |
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An arbitrator’s failure to disclose appointments that give rise to apparent bias can void an award as contrary to public policy.
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Arbitration law — apparent/perceived bias — duty of arbitrators to disclose dealings that may create impression of bias — objective test of a reasonable and informed person — public policy under s.17(2)(b)(ii) Arbitration Act — Commonwealth Coatings principle.
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14 May 2008 |
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An arbitrator’s failure to disclose another appointment created an appearance of bias, justifying setting aside the arbitral award.
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Arbitration — setting aside award — apparent/perceived bias — duty to disclose appointments or dealings — public policy (s.17(2)(b)(ii) Arbitration Act) — objective test of a fair‑minded informed observer — natural justice
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13 May 2008 |
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Whether an unauthorized director’s loan binds the company and whether subrogation/unjust enrichment can be claimed.
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Company law — Director’s authority and constructive notice (Turquand rule) — Burden of proof on claimant to show authority — Receivership: company must act through receiver — Ultra vires acts by unauthorized director — Subrogation and unjust enrichment inapplicable where no corporate benefit.
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8 May 2008 |
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Whether an unauthorized director’s loan, which did not benefit the company, gives rise to subrogation or unjust enrichment against the respondent.
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Company law — Authority of directors — Contracts binding only if entered by authorized agents; Turquand principle; Receivership — company acts only through receiver; Subrogation and unjust enrichment — require valid obligation and benefit to company; Ultra vires acts and fiduciary breach.
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8 May 2008 |
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Court reduced the applicant's 20-year defilement sentence to 18 years, citing victim's age and voir dire irregularities.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Sentence — Mandatory minimums — Aggravating factor: tender age of victim; First offender status and sentencing discretion; Voir dire and child evidence — Juveniles Act s.122(1) — Limits of appellate review on sentence-only appeals.
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6 May 2008 |
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Appeal against a 20-year defilement sentence reduced to 18 years; court noted victim’s age as an aggravating factor and criticized trial voir dire.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Sentence — Victim’s age as aggravating factor — Mandatory minimum sentence — Appeal confined to sentence — Limits on appellate review — Voir dire and child witness oath — Juveniles Act s.122(1) — Concurrent and backdated sentences
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5 May 2008 |
| April 2008 |
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The appellant cannot charge excise duty on goods imported and consumed before the tax's enactment.
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Customs and Excise Act s191(a) — meaning of "entered for consumption" — consumption as entry for use — distinction between bonded goods and goods already used — non-retroactivity of tax statutes — ambiguity resolved in favour of taxpayer.
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28 April 2008 |
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A valid Lozi customary marriage and applicant’s interest in property were found, but the appeal was dismissed for wrong mode of commencing the suit.
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Customary marriage — proof by circumstantial evidence and lobola; Married Women’s Property Act s.17 — matrimonial property and wife’s interest; Procedure — action under s.17 must be by originating summons; Procedural irregularity fatal to substantive claim; Necessity of proper parties for declarations affecting title (Registrar)
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27 April 2008 |
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Motion to reallocate costs to club refused; officers personally liable absent club being party or express indemnity.
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Civil procedure — Rule 78 correction — Costs awarded against officers sued in official capacity; association not a party — indemnity by club depends on internal rules.
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24 April 2008 |
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Excise duty not payable on goods imported and used before imposition of the tax; taxing laws not retrospective.
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Customs and excise — Excise duty on motor vehicles — "Entered for consumption" meaning — Non-retrospectivity of tax legislation — Ambiguities resolved for taxpayer.
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24 April 2008 |
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Redundancy and pre‑retirement commutation do not entitle a member to employer pension contributions absent applicable rule or timely tax amendment.
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Pension law — Interpretation of pension scheme Rule 9(a)(iii) — Redundancy distinguished from retirement — Entitlement to employer pension contributions — Income Tax Act s.37 Fourth Schedule — 2004 amendment non‑retrospective — Misapplication of constitutional provisions.
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23 April 2008 |
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Bank may order compulsory liquidation regardless of solvency; judicial review examines legality, not the merits.
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Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Scope: review limited to legality and decision‑making process, not merits — Council of Civil Service Unions principles
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Banking Law — Regulatory Powers — Compulsory liquidation under s101 and s84B — Solvency not a prerequisite
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Company Law — Liquidation — Interaction of statutory liquidation powers and company insolvency rules
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23 April 2008 |
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Excise duty cannot be imposed on goods imported and consumed before the duty's introduction, despite a later sale.
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Tax law — Customs and Excise Act s.191(a) — meaning of "entered for consumption" — non-retrospectivity of tax statutes — excise duty not payable on goods imported and used before duty introduction
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23 April 2008 |
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Failure of flashing lights did not make railway operator primarily liable; motorists who overtook stopped vehicles were negligent.
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Roads and rail crossings — duty to provide illumination — Section 203 Roads and Road Traffic Act — alternative warnings — Operating Rules 1974 — hand lamp protection — contributory negligence by motorist overtaking stopped vehicles — apportionment of liability
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16 April 2008 |
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A first offender’s entitlement to leniency may be outweighed by the need for deterrent sentences in prevalent, serious taxi-related robberies.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Sentence on first offender — Balancing leniency for first offenders against deterrence where robbery of taxi drivers is prevalent.
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10 April 2008 |
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An interim injunction cannot dispossess a registered occupier absent fraud, mistake, or a clear balance of convenience.
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Interim injunctions; certificate of title; status quo; balance of convenience; possession vs registered title; requirement to plead fraud/mistake/misrepresentation.
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10 April 2008 |
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Violent aggravated robbery of elderly victims justified a 21-year sentence above the 15-year minimum despite first offender status.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Sentencing — Mandatory minimum 15 years — First offender leniency — Aggravating circumstances (violence against elderly victims, stabbing) justify sentence above minimum — Solomon Chilimba precedent.
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10 April 2008 |
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Court upheld a 20‑year sentence for violent aggravated robbery despite first‑offender status due to the offence's brutality.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Sentencing — First offender leniency — Violent circumstances (strangulation) — Protection of taxi drivers — Appellate review of sentence.
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10 April 2008 |
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Cutting electricity cables is likely to interfere with a necessary service; conviction and 21-year sentence upheld.
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State Security Act s.3(d) — acts likely to damage, hinder or interfere with necessary services — cutting electricity cables; evidence sufficiency; sentencing — first offenders, minimum sentence, prevalence and deterrence of cable theft.
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10 April 2008 |
| March 2008 |
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A first offender convicted under a statute with a mandatory minimum should ordinarily receive the minimum absent extraordinary aggravating features.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Mandatory minimum sentence — First offender entitlement to minimum unless extraordinary aggravating features; seriousness reflected by statutory minimum; speculative danger and prevalence not sufficient aggravation.
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8 March 2008 |
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Absent extraordinary aggravating features, a first offender convicted of incest should receive the statutory minimum sentence.
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Criminal law — Incest — Sentencing — First offender — Statutory minimum sentence — Aggravating circumstances — Seriousness/prevalence not by itself sufficient to exceed minimum — Precedent requiring extraordinary features to justify higher sentence (Solomon Chilimba v The People).
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8 March 2008 |
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Interim rent upheld on evidential grounds; commencement date corrected to landlord’s summons and costs shared.
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Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act s16(c) — tenant’s full-repairing obligation — effect on interim rent; interim standard rent — commencement date—landlord’s summons; valuation evidence admissibility for rent fixing; appellate review of factual findings (Nkhata test).
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5 March 2008 |
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On appeal for child abduction sentence, the court reduced the appellant's term to the statutory minimum of seven years.
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Criminal law — Child abduction — Sentence — Appeal against sentence — Statutory sentencing range (minimum seven years, maximum ten years) — Mitigating factor: absence of sexual intercourse — Reduction of excessive sentence.
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4 March 2008 |
| February 2008 |
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Whether laboratory and medical evidence of caustic soda ingestion defeats an inference of drunkenness following refusal to breathalyse.
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Employment law — wrongful dismissal — proof of drunkenness at work — evidential weight of laboratory and medical evidence versus refusal to take breathalyser test — failure to address and explain discounting of employer’s witnesses.
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29 February 2008 |
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Complaint filed well beyond s85(3) time limits was statute-barred; the Act excludes Defence Force personnel.
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Industrial and Labour Relations Act s85(3) — thirty-day time limit for complaints; limited three-month extension after exhaustion of administrative channels — leave to file out of time; Zambia Defence Force exclusion — Act does not apply to Defence Force personnel (including Zambia Air Force).
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27 February 2008 |
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An unproven counter-claim is not a ground to set aside a properly entered default judgment; stay of execution pending proof is appropriate.
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Civil procedure — Default judgment — Whether an unproved counter-claim/set-off can set aside a properly entered default judgment — Proper remedy is stay of execution pending proof of counter-claim — Multiplicity of actions distinguished on facts.
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26 February 2008 |
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An unproven counter-claim cannot set aside a properly entered default judgment; stay execution pending proof instead.
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Commercial law — default judgment — tenant admitted liquidated rent arrears by failing to defend — counter-claim as set-off must be proved — unproven counter-claim cannot set aside default judgment — stay of execution pending proof appropriate — multiplicity of actions not required
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25 February 2008 |
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An application to extend time to lodge a record of appeal is incompetent in the full Court unless first refused by a single judge under Rule 12(1).
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Civil procedure — extension of time to lodge record of appeal — 'unless' order — Rule 12(1) procedure to single judge — incompetence of full Court application under Rule 48(4) where judge not first applied to.
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21 February 2008 |
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Caretaker licence did not create a right of first refusal or entitlement to refund for renovations; appeal dismissed with costs.
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Property law — caretaker arrangement construed as licence not tenancy — exclusive possession absent — no right of first refusal from advertising clause — contractual exclusion of refund for repairs — specific performance not available where no pre-existing purchasable interest — protection of bona fide purchaser
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11 February 2008 |
| January 2008 |
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Rule 42 is discretionary; debarment for default is exceptional and triable issues should ordinarily be decided on their merits.
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Industrial Relations Court Rule 42 — discretion to debar or make other orders; default and triable issues — right to hearing; debarment a drastic remedy requiring mala fides or unreasonable delay.
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31 January 2008 |
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Clerical error corrected under Rule 78 to award Stand No. 1001, Lilanda, to the applicant; no costs.
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Civil procedure — Rule 78 — correction of clerical error; Appeal — restoration of lower court award; Property award — Stand No. 1001, Lilanda; Costs — no order.
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31 January 2008 |
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An appellate court will not decide legal issues not raised in the lower court; appeal dismissed with costs.
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Administrative law — Statutory instruments vs Acts of Parliament — Issue of whether a statutory instrument can alter an Act — Appellate procedure — New issues not raised in the lower court cannot be raised for the first time on appeal — Abandonment of unargued grounds.
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31 January 2008 |
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Lands Tribunal lacks jurisdiction over District Council allocations; appellant who did not apply had no cause of action.
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Lands Act — jurisdiction of Lands Tribunal — section 15 and 22 — Tribunal’s review confined to decisions of President/Commissioner, Minister or Registrar — District Council allocations not within Tribunal’s jurisdiction; locus standi/causa of person who did not apply for subdivision
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30 January 2008 |
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High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear committal where appeal and partial stay by Supreme Court had ousted that jurisdiction; committal notice also defective.
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Civil procedure — contempt/committal — jurisdiction of inferior court where matter is pending before superior court with stay of execution; requirement of specificity in orders before contempt proceedings; procedural particularity in committal notices (Order 52 r.4(2) RSC); statutory powers of regulator (s.84B(a))
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30 January 2008 |
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Director-General may issue fresh restriction notices and direct rental payments pending corruption investigations, subject to refund if exonerated.
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Anti-Corruption Commission Act s24(1) — Restriction notices; investigation (not necessarily prosecution) sufficient — Fresh notices after expiry valid — "Dispose of or otherwise deal with" includes managing property (collecting rent) — Certificate of title defeasible for fraud — High Court review powers under s24(5)/(7)
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29 January 2008 |
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A labour complaint filed nine years late without statutory leave is statute-barred and properly dismissed.
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Industrial Relations Act s85(3) — mandatory 30-day filing period — limited three-month extension after exhaustion of administrative channels — no discretion to entertain claims filed nine years late; ignorance/misadvice by court official not an excuse; non-compliance with Supreme Court Rules for additional grounds noted.
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29 January 2008 |
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Complaint filed nine years after dismissal was statute-barred under section 85(3); appeal dismissed, no costs awarded.
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Industrial and Labour Relations Act s.85(3) — statutory 30-day filing period — complaint filed out of time — no discretion to hear plainly time-barred complaint absent application for extension — misadvice by court official does not cure failure to seek leave.
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29 January 2008 |
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A labour complaint filed nine years after dismissal without statutory leave is time-barred under section 85(3) and dismissed.
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Industrial and Labour Relations Act s85(3) — statutory 30-day limit for filing complaints — mandatory time bar — no discretion to hear out-of-time complaints without statutory extension — effect of mistaken advice by court official.
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29 January 2008 |
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Deportation for a satirical article was held disproportionate and unreasonable despite statutory breadth and no statutory right to prior hearing.
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Immigration law — section 26(2) Deportation — scope not confined to national security; Freedom of expression — Article 20(3) limits and permissible restrictions; Procedural fairness — no statutory right to prior hearing under s26(2) in these facts; Judicial review — Wednesbury/unreasonableness and disproportionality can invalidate deportation
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23 January 2008 |
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Dismissal for undisclosed conflict of interest and dishonest procurement upheld despite no specific disciplinary code listing.
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Employment law — dismissal for misconduct; conflict of interest and undeclared personal interest; discrimination in disciplinary sanctions; implied contractual duties permitting dismissal for dishonest conduct.
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17 January 2008 |
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Court affirmed petitioner’s locus standi and correct petition procedure, dismissing injunction issue as moot and both appeals.
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Constitutional law — Article 28(1) petitions — locus standi of corporate/associational applicants (Article 139) — mode of commencement of constitutional applications (Protection of Fundamental Rights Rules/Statutory Instrument No.156 of 1969) — interpretation of Electoral Act Section 25(1) vis-à-vis Article 76(1) — injunctions against the State/President and interplay with State Proceedings Act Section 16 — mootness of interlocutory constitutional relief
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15 January 2008 |
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Appellant’s title and caveat were upheld; forgery defence inadequately pleaded and proved, appeal allowed and possession granted.
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Land law — title and caveats — effect of removal of caveat by ex parte order — rectification of register — proof and pleading of fraud/forgery in title disputes — prima facie status of register entries and certificates of title
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15 January 2008 |
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Court upheld award of contractual terminal benefits as wages; late subpoena to obtain handbook was proper; appeal dismissed.
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Employment law — terminal benefits — whether terminal benefits constitute "wages" under section 3 of the Employment Act; evidence — reliance on employer handbook not produced and use of subpoena duces tecum after close of evidence; resignation and forfeiture of terminal benefits; limited scope of appellate review on findings of fact (s97 Industrial Relations Act).
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11 January 2008 |