Supreme Court of Zambia - 2016 February

13 judgments
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Results. 13 judgments found.

13 judgments
February 2016
Court refused to reopen dismissal of appeal for defective record; inherent jurisdiction only for exceptional circumstances.
  • Civil procedure — Record of appeal — Defective/illegible pages and omissions — Dismissal under court rules (Rule 68(2)) — Inherent jurisdiction to reopen, rescind or vary final decisions — Exceptional circumstances required — Finality of litigation — Article 118(2)(e) (procedural technicalities).
26 February 2016
A valid employment contract obliged the employer to pay agreed salary despite not providing work; Collier applied correctly.
  • Employment law — formation and enforcement of employment contracts; salary entitlement despite absence of work; employer’s obligation to provide work; Collier v Sunday Referee principle; work permit relevance to contractual performance; unjust enrichment defence.
16 February 2016
Whether the second facility was K50,000 or K20,000 and the respective liabilities of the mortgagor and guarantor.
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16 February 2016
Interlocutory rulings of an Article 58 investigative tribunal are not ordinarily subject to judicial review except in exceptional circumstances.
  • 'Judicial review' — interlocutory rulings of investigative tribunals — restraint and exceptional cases — Article 58 tribunals — reviewability of final recommendations — stays versus curtailment of investigations
10 February 2016
Head-of-department dismissal unsupported by evidence of personal negligence is unfair; damages and accrued benefits awarded.
  • Employment law — wrongful/unfair dismissal — disciplinary power and procedure — sufficiency of facts to support dismissal — supervisory responsibility versus head-of-department liability — damages and payment of accrued benefits with interest.
4 February 2016
Review refused: out‑of‑time application without special leave; alleged post‑judgment sale not fresh evidence due to concealment.
  • Civil procedure — Review under Order 39 — 14‑day time limit and requirement of special leave — computation of time under Order 2 — fresh evidence test for review — concealment/fraud defeats review.
4 February 2016
Early retirement was by mutual agreement; terminal benefits must be recomputed using the DZ11 conditions in force at separation.
  • Labour law — early retirement — mutual agreement versus foisting retirement; conditions of service at separation govern computation of terminal benefits; applicability of corporate versus predecessor (ZIMCO) terms; discrimination under Industrial and Labour Relations Act s.108; estoppel by acceptance of benefit.
4 February 2016
Legal professional privilege does not shield advice used to conceal evidence or further improper purposes by a public body.
  • Legal professional privilege — exceptions — communications made to conceal evidence or further improper purpose — balancing public policy of confidentiality against gravity of alleged misconduct — test for displacement of privilege; Disclosure of privileged communications in context of disciplinary processes by a statutory body.
3 February 2016
Legal professional privilege is displaced where internal legal advice is used to conceal evidence or defeat justice.
  • Legal professional privilege — limits and displacement where communications further an improper purpose; public interest balancing test; documents advising a statutory body to conceal evidence not privileged; test from Derby & Co. and Halsbury; disciplinary proceedings and potential hostile witness issues.
3 February 2016
Whether a redundancy recomputation claim is statute-barred and whether fraudulent concealment delays limitation.
  • Limitation of actions — Limitation Act 1939 s.2(1)(a) and s.26(b) — fraudulent concealment — when limitation period begins; res judicata — whether earlier proceedings barred later claim for recomputation of redundancy benefits.
3 February 2016
An employer's dismissal is lawful if it reasonably concludes trust was eroded; non-production of disciplinary code immaterial when employee heard.
  • Employment law — unfair dismissal; review standard: reasonableness of employer's decision; burden of proof; non-production of disciplinary code; erosion of trust by employee.
3 February 2016
Dismissal upheld where employee's repeated disciplinary offences justified termination despite dispute over a written final warning.
  • Employment law — wrongful dismissal — disciplinary code — final warning — requirement for written notice — natural justice — validity of dismissal for poor performance given repeated disciplinary offences.
3 February 2016
Circumstantial and voice-identification evidence sufficed for murder conviction; no extenuating circumstances, mandatory death sentence imposed.
  • Criminal law — circumstantial evidence — sufficiency of cogent inference; voice identification by familiar witnesses; credibility and effect of lies; postmortem ambiguities and reasonable doubt; misdirection on extenuating circumstances and mandatory death sentence.
2 February 2016