Supreme Court of Zambia - 2014 January

18 judgments
Skip past Court registries
Skip past years
Skip past months
Skip to results

Results. 18 judgments found.

18 judgments
January 2014
The club, not the former parent company, was liable for retrenchment benefits; no automatic right to purchase occupied houses.
  • Employment law — employer defined; retrenchment — employer who retrenches liable for benefits; sitting tenants not automatically entitled to purchase former employer/parastatal houses; appellate deference to factual findings
29 January 2014
An application to set aside an arbitral award must be made within three months; courts cannot extend that statutory period.
  • Arbitration
    • — Setting aside arbitral awards — Statutory time limit under s.17(3) — Three‑month period mandatory; no court extension
    • — Arbitration (Court Proceedings) Rules — Saving clause does not permit use of procedural rules to displace substantive provisions of the Act
  • Civil Procedure — Extension of time — Inherent jurisdiction and court rules — Cannot override statutory mandatory time limits
29 January 2014
Appellate court reduced excessive maintenance, quashed orders for a child allegedly maintained by a third party, and upheld retrospective power.
  • Family law — Maintenance pending suit — Proof of income and resources — Parental assistance not imputable as appellant's income — Responsibility of third party listed on work permit — Retrospective maintenance under Matrimonial Causes Act s.52(2) — Affiliation and Maintenance of Children Act considerations
21 January 2014
Defamation requires pleaded words and meanings; Order 20 r.11 cannot be used to add substantive findings or awards.
  • Civil procedure — correction of judgment — Order 20 r.11 R.S.C. 1999 limited to clerical mistakes; Defamation — necessity of pleading specific words and meaning; False imprisonment — detention by police to assist investigations following a bona fide employer report not automatically actionable; Evidentiary rule — documents and reports must be produced to be relied upon in judgment.
20 January 2014
A certificate of title cannot be cancelled absent fraud; sitting tenancy does not automatically defeat registered title without involving the seller.
  • Lands and Deeds Registry Act (ss.33–34) — Certificate of title conclusive absent fraud — Sitting tenant/accrued right not automatically overriding registered title — Bona fide purchaser for value without notice — Need to join/compel seller (employer) to explain offers/withdrawals before ordering cancellation
19 January 2014
Court affirmed injury awards but varied interest to run from date of Writ to judgment, then Bank of Zambia rate thereafter.
  • Damages assessment — personal injury: categorisation of heads (pain and suffering, loss of amenities, permanent disability, special damages); proof of special damages; discretion on non‑pecuniary awards; interest — date and rate (Writ to judgment at fixed rate, thereafter Bank of Zambia rate)
19 January 2014
Judicial review unavailable for private-law tender cancellation; trial judge erred in relying on a court-obtained tender document.
  • Administrative law — Judicial review — Leave requirement — Whether cancellation of a tender engaging private law/contractual rights is amenable to judicial review — Admissibility and propriety of a judge relying on a document not produced in evidence.
16 January 2014
Whether tender cancellation is amenable to judicial review and whether a judge may rely on court-sourced evidence.
  • Judicial review — leave to apply — threshold of arguability and sufficient interest — distinction between public-law and private-law functions — tender cancellation falls within contract law — inadmissibility of court-sourced evidence in ex parte leave proceedings
15 January 2014
Specific performance granted for sale of shop; vendor could not repudiate without serving a notice to complete.
  • Contract Law
    • — Specific Performance — Sale of Land (shop) — Vendor’s refusal to accept balance and purchaser’s readiness to complete
    • — Repudiation — Requirement to serve Notice to Complete before vendor may rescind
  • Civil Procedure — Counterclaim — Sufficiency of proof and effect where main claim dismissed
15 January 2014
Deputy Registrar misapplied contract and pension rules; matter remitted for reassessment using correct contractual and scheme calculations.
  • Employment law — retirement benefits — Conditions of Service (Clause 10.1.2) — gratuity payable three months per completed year; no pro‑rata; basis of calculation monthly salary not annualised. Pension law — ZSIC Pension Scheme — incorrect splitting of employee and employer contributions; apply scheme/manager’s one‑off calculation; assume timely remittance of contributions. Remittal for reassessment
10 January 2014
Appellant failed to prove corrupt practices under Section 93; trial court’s factual findings and dismissal upheld.
  • Electoral law — Section 93 grounds to void election — burden and high standard of proof; Section 93(3) applies only after petitioner proves subsection (2) grounds; pleadings must identify agents; donations/offering at churches not proven to be corrupt practices; deference to trial court credibility and demeanour findings
9 January 2014
A respondent withholding consent to withdrawal of an appeal is entitled to costs of the discontinued appeal, taxable in default of agreement.
  • Civil procedure — Withdrawal of appeal — Rule 63(1)–(3) Supreme Court Rules — consent required for withdrawal — non‑consenting party’s right to apply on costs — costs of withdrawn appeal taxable in default of agreement — distinction from costs of dismissed interlocutory motion
8 January 2014
Appeal dismissed: trial judge rightly found a case to answer and the applicant jointly participated in aggravated robbery.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Case to answer (s.206 Criminal Procedure Code) — Credibility findings and appellate deference — Circumstantial evidence and inference of joint participation (Chimbini).
7 January 2014
Corroboration of identity may be established by independent circumstances and admissions; 35‑year sentence for defiling a three‑year‑old upheld.
  • Criminal law — Defilement — Requirement of corroboration as to both commission and identity — Corroboration may arise from independent circumstances, admissions and conduct; mere opportunity insufficient — Sentence appeal — 35 years for defilement of a three‑year‑old not excessive where aggravating factors present.
7 January 2014
Restriction on company property was reversed where investigations targeted a shareholder personally, upholding corporate separateness.
  • Anti-Corruption Act s24(1) — Restriction notices — Requirement of on-going investigation but not specification of offence; corporate personality — company property distinct from shareholders; scope of investigations relevant to validity of restriction notice.
6 January 2014
Circumstantial evidence and postmortem findings established malice aforethought; conviction upheld and life sentence replaced with mandatory death.
  • Criminal law — murder — circumstantial evidence sufficient to convict — postmortem asphyxia and broken thyroid bone as evidence of malice aforethought — intoxication must be proved to negate intent — trial court’s failure to warn on danger of false implication remedied by proviso
6 January 2014
Appellant liable for unpaid liquidator fees for itself and subsidiaries; appeal dismissed and costs awarded.
  • Company law — liquidator’s remuneration — Committee of Inspection approval — estoppel by conduct — court’s power to order payment where committee unreasonably withholds approval (Companies Act, s.321) — admissibility of time-sheets as evidence of work — waiver of procedural irregularity by participating in trial (Supreme Court Rules, Order 2).
6 January 2014
A restriction notice must target the correct legal person; company property cannot be restrained for investigations into a shareholder's shares.
  • Company Law — Corporate Personality — Restraint of Company Assets inappropriate where investigations target a shareholder’s sale of shares — Salomon principle
  • Anti‑corruption
  • Law — Restriction Notices under s.24(1) — Director‑General need only show an investigation under Part IV is ongoing; no need to specify the exact offence
  • Civil Procedure — Judicial Scrutiny of Restriction Notices — Court may examine scope and target of investigations to determine whether notice properly targets the subject
5 January 2014