Results.
14 judgments found.
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| April 2014 |
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Whether a sitting government tenant (not employed by the selling parastatal) may purchase a parastatal house already contracted to another purchaser.
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Property law — Sale of parastatal/quasi-government houses — Priority of eligible purchasers; eligibility requires being a sitting tenant and an employee (or qualifying status) of the selling parastatal — Competing offers: earlier valid contract precludes later sale — Appeal evidence: documents not produced below cannot be relied on
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29 April 2014 |
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A magistrate cannot transfer for lack of jurisdiction; matter remitted to High Court for retrial with fresh pleadings.
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Civil procedure — Subordinate Courts Act s.20(1) — magistrate lacks power to transfer for want of jurisdiction — proper remedy dismissal; High Court must order fresh pleadings when hearing matter afresh; procedural irregularities justify retrial; costs follow event
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28 April 2014 |
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Judicial review dismissed: Committee lawfully exercised statutory discretion to suspend practising certificate; no procedural unfairness or jurisdictional error.
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Administrative law — judicial review focuses on decision-making process not merits — disciplinary/regulatory bodies — scope of statutory power to suspend practising certificate (s.13A LAZ Act; s.22A Legal Practitioners’ Act) — functus officio and res judicata in administrative context — Wednesbury unreasonableness — procedural fairness/right to be heard
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24 April 2014 |
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Dismissal for organising a union meeting on mine premises without management consent was lawful and justified.
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Labour law — disciplinary dismissal — non-compliance with established procedures (Clause 3.2(h)) — Mining Regulations (402, 407) — union rights conditional on employer/supervisor consent — workplace safety and order.
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14 April 2014 |
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Dismissal for organising an unauthorised union meeting in a mine was lawful; disciplinary power properly exercised.
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Labour law — disciplinary dismissal for organising unauthorised union meeting on mine premises; employer Disciplinary Code Clause 3.2(h); Mining Regulations 402 & 407; employees' trade union rights subject to permission; appellate review of factual findings
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13 April 2014 |
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Appeal against indecent assault conviction dismissed; conviction upheld and sentence amended to 15 years with hard labour.
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Criminal law — Indecent assault of a child — Credibility and corroboration of child and relative witnesses — Medical report admissibility — Suspect witnesses — Flight as corroboration — Sentencing: substitution to hard labour.
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8 April 2014 |
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Whether absence of ballistics expert evidence renders an armed robbery conviction unsafe where eyewitnesses and recovered items corroborate the offence.
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Criminal law — Armed robbery — Eyewitness identification and recovery of stolen property — Empty cartridge cases at scene — Necessity (or not) of ballistics expert evidence where no firearm recovered — Appellate review of credibility
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8 April 2014 |
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Appellants' murder convictions upheld: prolonged, deliberate torture and confinement established malice aforethought; appeal dismissed.
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Criminal law — Murder vs manslaughter — Malice aforethought inferred from prolonged, violent assault and confinement; Identification — recognition of known persons in daylight reliable; Corroboration — not required where identification is sound; Sentencing — being a suspect is not an extenuating circumstance
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8 April 2014 |
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Conviction for indecent assault on a child upheld; family witness corroboration and medical report accepted; sentence varied to include hard labour.
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Criminal law — Indecent assault on a child — credibility and corroboration of family witnesses — admissibility and weight of medical report — attempted flight as corroboration — sentencing error corrected to include hard labour
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7 April 2014 |
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Identification, recent possession and circumstantial evidence upheld; failure to take fingerprints and counsel absence did not vitiate fair trial.
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Criminal law — identification evidence — opportunity and reliability; Recent possession and circumstantial evidence as linking proof; Investigative omissions — fingerprints — dereliction of duty only fatal if core evidence missing; Right to fair trial — Article 18 — entitlement to counsel not absolute where counsel’s absence causes undue delay
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7 April 2014 |
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Single-witness ID corroborated by circumstantial evidence upheld murder conviction; attempted murder sentence increased to 20 years.
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Criminal law — Murder and attempted murder — Single-witness identification — Need for corroboration — Circumstantial evidence (clothes, slippers, lighter) as corroboration — Reliability and demeanour assessment — Sentence increased for attempted murder; death sentence confirmed
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7 April 2014 |
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Conviction for defilement unsafe where child witness evidence lacked required corroboration and voir dire was defective under amended Juveniles Act.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Child witness evidence — Corroboration requirement under Juveniles Act s.122 (as amended) — Defective voire dire — Misapplication of statutory test — Identity of offender not independently corroborated
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7 April 2014 |
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Circumstantial evidence and ballistic identification sufficed to uphold convictions; appeal against aggravated robbery dismissed.
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Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Circumstantial evidence — Possession of stolen property and leading police to recover stolen items — Duty to call witnesses — Suspect witnesses — Ballistic expert evidence — Definition of firearm under Firearms Act
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7 April 2014 |
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An excessive security-for-costs order against a compelled defendant was unlawful and likely to stifle access to justice.
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Security for costs — Order 40(7) High Court Rules and Order 23 RSC — defendant compelled to defend — discretion to order security — factors: bona fides, prospects, conduct, risk of stifling litigation — excessive security undermines access to justice
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1 April 2014 |