Results.
21 judgments found.
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| March 2016 |
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Withdrawal of acceptance of confirmation and non-union status precluded entitlement to collective‑agreement gratuity; termination upheld.
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Employment law — fixed-term contract and probationary confirmation — whether HR manual/collective agreement creates implied terms for non-union employees — withdrawal of acceptance as repudiation — entitlement to gratuity — appellate review of factual findings.
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24 March 2016 |
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An 'end of contract gratuity' clause does not entitle an employee to salaries or allowances for an unworked contract period.
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Employment law — Contract termination — Interpretation of 'end of contract gratuity' and 'contract termination' clauses — Gratuity calculation vs. payment of unearned salaries and allowances — Unjust enrichment — Unilateral variation of employment terms — Comparator payments and similarity of circumstances.
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10 March 2016 |
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Whether unpleaded evidence can ground relief; respondent failed to prove lost interest and repatriation entitlements.
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Employment law — pension/terminal benefits — pension scheme transfer date — lost interest on accrued benefits — repatriation allowance under s13(1) Employment Act — pleadings versus evidence — unpleaded relief admissible if raised without objection — costs discretion.
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9 March 2016 |
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Appellant failed to prove on balance of probabilities that respondent's feed was contaminated at source or caused poultry deaths.
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9 March 2016 |
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A government housing policy issued after a liquidator's completed sale cannot annul the respondent's valid title to the flats.
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Companies Act — Liquidator’s powers to advertise and sell company assets; Sale of parastatal housing — timing of government policy (Cabinet Circular No.12/1996) — policy issued after completed sale cannot annul prior transfer; Specific performance and title — completed sale and issuance of certificate of title defeats later claims by former sitting tenants.
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9 March 2016 |
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A subsequent suit for pension benefits was barred by res judicata and piecemeal litigation; entitlement accrued at termination.
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Civil procedure — Res judicata; multiplicity/piecemeal litigation; terminal employment benefits and pension accrual; effect of consent order/estoppel on subsequent claims.
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9 March 2016 |
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Whether the applicant validly charged compound interest and administrative fees under signed overdraft agreements.
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Contract law — overdraft facility — express agreement to compound interest — compound interest distinct from penal interest; Banking regulations — administrative/service charges as part of cost of borrowing; Appeal — factual findings on account statements and indebtedness; Costs — successful party entitled to costs to follow event.
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9 March 2016 |
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Compound interest agreed in writing is enforceable and distinct from unlawful penal interest; trial court’s contrary ruling reversed.
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Banking law — Compound interest enforceability where expressly agreed — Penal (penalty) interest distinct and unlawful — Freedom of contract — Reversal of trial court’s revaluation and striking out of interest — Costs awarded to successful lender.
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9 March 2016 |
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Whether a payment guarantee secured credit sales of airtime (not money‑collection services) and must be strictly construed in favour of the surety.
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Guarantee — construction; accessory nature of guarantee; strict construction in favour of surety; Payment Guarantee construed to secure credit sale of airtime; clause limiting liability to stock released on guarantor's instruction; contra proferentem applies only to genuine ambiguity in the document; appellate deference to trial court findings of fact.
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9 March 2016 |
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Procedural lapses in internal disciplinary steps do not invalidate dismissal where the employee admitted to conduct warranting dismissal.
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Employment law — disciplinary procedure — audi alteram partem — internal committees — effect of procedural irregularity where employee admits dismissible misconduct; suspension pending investigation — clause 22.6 (five‑month rule) and backdating of dismissal; appeals — inadmissibility of fresh issues raised for first time on appeal.
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9 March 2016 |
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A tenant may validly terminate a fixed-term business tenancy by notice even without an express break clause; late affidavits require prior leave.
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Landlord and Tenant (Business Premises) Act (Cap 193) — notice to quit — implied right to terminate tenancy by notice absent express break clause — common law incident of tenancy — admissibility of after-hearing affidavits without leave — new evidence requires prior application.
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9 March 2016 |
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Respondent may impose administrative merger fines under section 37 without first obtaining a mandatory Tribunal order under section 64.
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Competition law — merger remedies — s.61 investigatory and remedial powers; s.37 administrative fines for merger breaches; s.64(1) discretionary "may" provision; statutory interpretation of "offence" as civil penalty; natural justice — right to be heard.
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9 March 2016 |
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Deputy Registrar properly refused to assess unpleaded damages; Consent Order did not confer entitlement beyond pension calculation.
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Civil procedure — Pleadings — Function of pleadings to give fair notice and define issues — Consent order interpretation — Assessment proceedings — Deputy Registrar not obliged to assess unpleaded damages — Judgment need not reproduce verbatim examination/cross‑examination.
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9 March 2016 |
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Appellant unlawfully dismissed when employer terminated a renewed temporary contract for failing an unrelated-post interview; awarded damages and leave.
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Employment law — permanent versus fixed-term contracts — implied acquiescence to contractual variation; industrial relations — effluxion of time versus unfair dismissal; unfair dismissal — termination for unsuccessful application to a different post unrelated to duties; remedies — damages, accrued leave, interest; procedural — raising new issues on appeal.
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7 March 2016 |
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Credible witness testimony and corroborative conduct can sustain a murder conviction despite absent DNA results.
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Criminal law — murder — circumstantial evidence — corroboration by conduct — credibility findings — failure to produce DNA results — dereliction of duty — appellate review of factual findings.
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4 March 2016 |
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Relatives' testimony is not automatically suspect; motive or other evidence must raise doubt before corroboration is required.
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Criminal law — Defilement — Identity evidence — Witnesses related to complainant — When relatives are 'suspect witnesses' — Requirement to raise issue fit to be left to a jury — Corroboration and special and compelling grounds.
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3 March 2016 |
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A conviction cannot safely rest on a single, unreliable identification lacking corroborative connecting evidence.
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Criminal law — Identification evidence — Single identifying witness — Reliability and need for corroboration where identification quality is poor; Misapplication of burden of proof and improper characterization of defence evidence as afterthought; Identification by clothing insufficient where faces not observed.
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2 March 2016 |
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Court affirmed murder convictions based on cogent circumstantial evidence and scene investigation despite imperfect identification.
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Arson and murder — circumstantial evidence — sufficiency and cogency of circumstantial proof; Identification evidence — reliability where sightings were brief and partly inconsistent; Scenes-of-crime evidence — establishing origin of fire; Witness interest — treatment of relatives' testimony and need for corroboration.
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2 March 2016 |
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A sentencing court on referral may not reopen trial issues by ordering age determination where age was unchallenged at trial.
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Criminal procedure — referral for sentence under sections 217 and 218 CPC — limits of High Court’s role as sentencing court — improper reopening of trial issues by ordering age determination; Juvenile Act s118(1) duty to inquire into age where person appears juvenile; treatment of ambiguous age-determination reports.
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2 March 2016 |
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High Court claim for accrued pension benefits was barred by res judicata and constituted impermissible piecemeal litigation.
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Civil procedure — Res judicata and Henderson principle — Matters which could and should have been raised in earlier litigation — Multiplicity/piecemeal litigation — Accrual of pension entitlement on termination — Effect of consent orders in settling claims.
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1 March 2016 |
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On divorce, matrimonial property acquired during a customary marriage is shareable; subdivision, valuation, sale or buy-out options are legitimate remedies.
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Family law — Property adjustment on divorce — Customary-law marriages — Matrimonial property acquired during marriage subject to sharing irrespective of financial contribution or blameworthiness — Courts may order subdivision, valuation, sale or give buy-out options — Convenience of a spouse not a material consideration.
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1 March 2016 |