Supreme Court of Zambia - 2015

110 judgments
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Results. 110 judgments found.

110 judgments
August 2015
4 August 2015
July 2015
Appellant's bus-hire claim failed for lack of invoices and credible evidence respondent contracted with a third party.
  • Evidence — contract for services — requirement of documentary proof (invoices/payment vouchers) to establish periodic hire; Burden of proof — claimant must prove liability on balance of probabilities; Civil procedure — evidence of unpleaded matters may be considered if not objected to; Company law — separate corporate personality (Salomon principle) prevents attributing another company’s obligations to the respondent due to common directorship/shareholding.
27 July 2015
Circumstantial evidence, identification parade and ballistic matches sustained convictions and sentences for aggravated robbery.
  • Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — circumstantial evidence — odd coincidences — identification parade — admissibility of silence and adverse inference — possession of stolen property and ballistic matching.
22 July 2015
Appellant's non-payment repudiated the contract; respondents entitled to standby, demobilisation and mobilisation fees; fuel valuation and post-payment credited.
  • Contract law — schedule-of-rates/severable contract — non-payment as repudiatory breach — termination under contractual notice clause — entitlement to standby time and demobilisation where stoppage caused by payer's default — mobilisation fee entitlement — liquidated damages not recoverable where claimant's own breach caused delay — apportionment and assessment of shared fuel costs — post-termination payment credit.
13 July 2015
June 2015
25 June 2015
25 June 2015
24 June 2015
9 June 2015
2 June 2015
Medical corroboration and proven opportunity upheld a defilement conviction despite absence of accused’s HIV test.
  • Criminal law — Defilement — Corroboration by medical evidence (torn hymen, HIV result) — Proof of age — Identity and opportunity — Absence of accused’s HIV test not fatal to prosecution — Accused’s silence and inferences.
2 June 2015
2 June 2015
2 June 2015
2 June 2015
2 June 2015
Possession of large concealed cash may ground reasonable suspicion under s71; prosecution need not prove a predicate offence.
  • Forfeiture of Proceeds of Crime Act s71 — 'may reasonably be suspected' standard — possession plus articulable facts — no need to prove predicate offence — s71(2) defence shifts evidentiary burden (balance of probabilities) — s78 indicates lower standard for factual issues
1 June 2015
May 2015
A government circular cannot retrospectively reduce an employee’s accrued gratuity entitlement without consent.
  • Employment law — gratuity — construction and effect of administrative circulars — accrued rights — unilateral retrospective variation of conditions of service impermissible — discrimination in benefit allocation — Industrial and Labour Relations Act s.85(5).
29 May 2015
25 May 2015
25 May 2015
25 May 2015
20 May 2015
20 May 2015
18 May 2015
Whether an arbitral tribunal may sua sponte determine document authentication and terminate proceedings without denying a party its case.
  • Arbitration — jurisdiction ratione materiae — competence‑competence; Arbitration Act s.17(2)(a)(ii) — construction disjunctive (Interpretation & General Provisions Act s.4(4)); Party autonomy — procedural limits where parties choose governing substantive law; Authentication of Documents Act — place of execution; Ultra petita — tribunal exceeding mandate; Setting aside and remittal to arbitration.
15 May 2015
14 May 2015
An appeal against a Deputy Registrar’s interlocutory decision made in exercise of assessment jurisdiction properly lies to the Supreme Court.
  • Civil procedure — jurisdiction of appeal — Order 30/10(1) and (4) HCR — appeals from Deputy Registrar on assessment of damages lie to the Supreme Court — Statutory Instrument No.71 of 1997 clarifies sub‑rule (4) — subpoena duces tecum issued in assessment proceedings.
14 May 2015
Court corrected a clerical error on applicable circular and dismissed a separate appeal for want of prosecution.
  • Civil procedure — Interpretation of prior judgment — correction of clerical slip — reference to Circular B3 of 1965 corrected to Circular No. B9 of 1985 governing baggage allowance; Criminal procedure — dismissal for want of prosecution — failure to prosecute and failure to file grounds and heads of argument after undertaking
13 May 2015
Arbitral award upheld: arbitrator acted within mandate and damages clause not contrary to public policy.
  • Arbitration — setting aside award — scope of arbitrator’s mandate — court may examine award, pleadings and affidavits where submission agreement absent; arbitrator’s implication of contractual term upheld
  • Contract — liquidated damages — penalty/public policy — award not contrary to public policy
2 May 2015
April 2015
Non-compliance with s13 Lands Act rendered re-entry invalid; administrator entitled to claim and compensation for demolished improvements.
  • Lands Act s13 — failure to serve notice of intention to re-enter invalidates re-entry; inchoate interest vests rights for administrator; bona fide lessee doctrine; entitlement to compensation for demolished improvements; certificate of title cancellation.
24 April 2015
15 April 2015
Rape conviction quashed where complainant's testimony was uncorroborated and prosecution failed to prove absence of consent.
  • Criminal law — Rape — Elements: carnal knowledge and lack of consent — Corroboration required in sexual offences — Early complaint and corroboration on consent — Failure to call available witness (early compliant uncle) constitutes dereliction of duty and permits adverse inference — Burden on prosecution to prove absence of consent beyond reasonable doubt — Conviction unsafe where twin dangers of false complaint and implication not eliminated.
14 April 2015
1 April 2015
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
February 2015
A certificate of title is conclusive ownership; community school registration and donor funding do not divest title absent pleaded, proved fraud.
  • Property law — Conclusive effect of certificate of title; Fraud allegations — must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved; Community schools — registration/financing does not transfer legal title; Management by PTA vs proprietary ownership; Subdivision of titled land — statutory procedure required; Locus standi and waiver by failure to raise preliminary objection.
22 February 2015
18 February 2015
12 February 2015
10 February 2015
Dismissal substituted with prescribed discharge where misconduct proven but employer imposed wrong penalty.
  • Employment law — disciplinary procedures — unauthorised absence/desertion — distinction between dismissal and discharge under employer's disciplinary code — appellate review of factual findings.
6 February 2015
Dismissal of a director for losses caused by a subordinate was wrongful where evidence showed supervisory failures at lower levels, not the director.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal — sufficiency of facts to justify disciplinary dismissal — imputation of negligence to head of department — reliance on disciplinary proceedings and audit reports — remedies: damages, accrued benefits and interest.
4 February 2015
3 February 2015
2 February 2015
2 February 2015
2 February 2015
January 2015
Appeal stayed until appellants pay K10,000 security for costs due to likely inability to meet adverse costs.
  • Civil procedure — Security for costs — Rule 56 Supreme Court Rules — stay of appeal pending payment — casual employees' financial incapacity — respondent's costs secured.
23 January 2015