Supreme Court of Zambia - 2015 March

8 judgments
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Results. 8 judgments found.

8 judgments
March 2015
The appellant’s dismissal was contractual (notice/pay in lieu), not redundancy; no entitlement to continued salary or repatriation subsistence.
  • Employment law — termination — redundancy v contractual termination — s26B Employment Act; Repatriation expenses — s13(2)(b) relates to travel/subsistence not continued salary; Payment in lieu of notice — contractual enforcement; Recusal — consent order; Distinguishing precedent to avoid unjust enrichment.
31 March 2015
Applicant’s wrongful dismissal claim dismissed: evidence supported misconduct and procedural lapses did not render dismissal wrongful.
  • Employment law — wrongful dismissal — disciplinary procedure — evaluation of witness identification and credibility — appellate restraint on factual findings — reinstatement discretionary and exceptional.
26 March 2015
Applicant's review of dismissal dismissed: no irrationality, illegality or breach of natural justice found.
  • Judicial review — Wednesbury unreasonableness; Illegality — discretionary regulatory provisions (Reg.34); Natural justice — opportunity to be heard via documentary evidence; Administrative allocation of cases — disciplinary consequence; Consideration of prior misconduct.
26 March 2015
Where termination by pay-in-lieu conceals bad faith motivated by racial incident, the Industrial Relations Court may award compensatory damages.
  • Industrial Relations Court — power to do substantial justice — may probe motive behind termination by notice; wrongful termination in bad faith; damages for loss of employment; measure of compensation where pay-in-lieu and alternative employment exist; racial discrimination as motivating factor.
24 March 2015
Collective agreement’s maximum‑duration clause did not extend an existing fixed‑term contract; refusal to renew need not be probed.
  • Employment law — fixed‑term contracts — interpretation of collective agreement maximum duration clause; Industrial Relations Court’s jurisdiction to probe reasons for termination; freedom not to contract vs protection for union activity; non‑renewal of contract not equivalent to dismissal for union activities.
20 March 2015
Whether a trial court may vary the contractual mortgage interest rate or must enforce the agreed rate.
  • Mortgage enforcement — Consent order — Variation of contractual terms — Whether a court may substitute agreed contractual interest rate with current bank lending rate — Appellate correction of trial judge's variation of mortgage terms.
13 March 2015
Appellant's wrongful dismissal claim failed; dismissal affirmed; procedural defects immaterial where conduct warranted dismissal; new issues barred.
  • Employment law — wrongful dismissal (contractual/ procedural breach) — distinction from unfair dismissal — dismissal for offence where appropriate punishment is dismissal not rendered wrongful by procedural defects — appellate procedure: issues not raised below inadmissible on appeal.
13 March 2015
A complaint filed outside section 85(3) without leave deprived the Industrial Relations Court of jurisdiction; appeal dismissed.
  • Industrial Relations Act s85(3) — statutory limitation period — jurisdictional bar to out‑of‑time complaints; leave to file out of time required — waiver/acquiescence or filing an Answer cannot confer jurisdiction — Limitation Act acknowledgment principle not applicable to oust statutory jurisdictional requirement; acting appointments and entitlement to confirmation.
4 March 2015