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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2019 |
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Appellate court upholds trial judge’s equitable award under s13 and will not disturb factual findings absent perversity.
Sale of goods; tax receipts and evidence; equitable jurisdiction—Section 13 High Court Act; appellate review of findings of fact; abandonment of cross-appeal.
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9 December 2019 |
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Appellate court upheld trial judge’s factual findings and equitable award under section 13; cross‑appeal abandoned, costs to respondents.
Equitable jurisdiction – Section 13 High Court Act – law and equity administered concurrently; Appellate review of findings of fact – limited interference absent perversity; Money had and received / tax receipts – factual evaluation; Cross-appeal abandoned for failure to prosecute.
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9 December 2019 |
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9 December 2019 |
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Appellants validly accepted varied fixed‑term contracts; no unilateral variation, duress, redundancy entitlement, or discrimination established.
Employment law – fixed-term/performance contracts – renewal at employer discretion – consent to varied written terms – economic duress not pleaded or proved – termination by effluxion of time, not redundancy – alleged nationality/age discrimination unsuccessful.
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9 December 2019 |
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Whether a suspect witness’s testimony requires corroboration and whether the appellant’s leading police provided ‘something more’ to uphold conviction.
Criminal law — suspect witness/accomplice — requirement for corroboration or ‘something more’ — evidence of accused leading police to others as ‘something more’ — misdirection and Section 15 proviso.
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9 December 2019 |
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Cogent circumstantial evidence can sustain murder and aggravated robbery convictions despite excluded child testimony and interpreter absence.
Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – Cogency and inference of guilt; Juveniles Act s.122 – reception of child evidence; requirement of sign‑language interpreter when questioning speech‑and‑hearing‑impaired accused; aggravated robbery (s.294(1)) and murder – possession, violence and odd coincidences.
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9 December 2019 |
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Tenants have no automatic common law right of first refusal; any pre-emptive purchase right must be contractually granted.
Landlord-and-tenant law – distinction between option to purchase and right of pre-emption (first refusal); no common law right to first refusal absent agreement; trustees’ duty to beneficiaries and lawful disposal of trust property; protection of bona fide purchasers; inadmissibility of fraud not pleaded below.
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9 December 2019 |
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Arson conviction upheld on circumstantial evidence; forty-year sentence for a first offender reduced to fifteen years.
Criminal law — Arson — Circumstantial evidence: threats, presence at scene, and matches found — inference of guilt; Sentencing — first offender — manifestly excessive sentence reduced from 40 to 15 years.
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9 December 2019 |
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Appeal dismissed where the record omitted material documents and grounds of appeal were ambiguous or abandoned.
Civil procedure – Appeals – Grounds of appeal must be clear and disclose the error complained of (Rule 58(2)) – Record of appeal must include documents material to the appeal (Rule 58(4)) – Incomplete record may justify dismissal of appeal (Rule 68(2)) – Parties’ submissions are not evidence.
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9 December 2019 |
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Court held prison overcrowding and inadequate diet violated the right to life and constituted inhuman, degrading treatment; State must remedy conditions.
Constitutional law — justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights; right to life includes adequate nutrition and health care; prison conditions — overcrowding and poor sanitation amount to inhuman and degrading treatment; State obligation to provide special diets for prisoners with medical needs; enforcement via Prison Rules and constitutional remedies.
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9 December 2019 |
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A 35‑year manslaughter sentence for a first‑time offender who pleaded guilty was reduced to 10 years for being excessive.
Criminal law – Manslaughter – Sentencing – Weight of guilty plea, first‑time offender status and remorse in mitigation – Aggravating factors: intoxication, domestic violence and infant victim – Appellate interference where sentence is excessive, wrong in principle or induces a sense of shock – Consistency in sentencing.
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9 December 2019 |
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9 December 2019 |
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9 December 2019 |
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Conviction upheld where accused led police to a fresh struggle site; intoxication not extenuating, death sentence imposed.
Criminal law – murder – circumstantial evidence – corroboration of interested/suspect witnesses – leading of police by accused – fresh evidence from previously unknown struggle site – drunkenness and extenuating circumstances – sentencing (mandatory death).
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9 December 2019 |
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Whether "basic salary" includes allowances for terminal benefits — court held it excludes allowances.
Contract construction — "basic salary" v. "salary" — whether allowances form part of terminal benefits — where parties defined "basic salary" as starting salary in appointment letter, allowances excluded — no ambiguity; contra proferentum inapplicable.
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9 December 2019 |
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VAT refunds upheld where Coffee Act makes Association the sole exporter, rendering VAT Rule 18 inapplicable to growers.
Tax — VAT refunds; VAT Rule 18 — documentary proof of export; Coffee Act — Association as sole exporter; inconsistency of subsidiary rules with primary statute; tax administration and implementability; interest on tax refunds (short-term deposit rate to judgment, lending rate thereafter).
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9 December 2019 |
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Whether the respondent's termination for politically-charged statements amounted to wrongful, unfair, or unlawful dismissal.
Employment law - Termination v dismissal - Section 36(3) Employment Act (amended) - Valid reasons may relate to conduct or capacity - Section 26A limited to oral contracts - Reinstatement remedy considered
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6 December 2019 |
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An appeal challenging only factual findings is incompetent under Section 97 ILR Act; lower court's wrongful and unfair dismissal award upheld.
Industrial and Labour Relations — Appeal competence — Section 97 ILR Act — Appeals limited to questions of law or mixed law and fact — Findings of fact are not reviewable on appeal; wrongful and unfair dismissal; procedural fairness and committee constitution; damages in lieu of reinstatement.
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6 December 2019 |
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Appeal dismissed as incompetent because it exclusively attacked factual findings, leaving wrongful and unfair dismissal finding intact.
Industrial and Labour Relations Act s97 — appeals limited to questions of law or mixed law and fact — appellate inadmissibility of appeals challenging only findings of fact; wrongful and unfair dismissal; disciplinary procedure and committee constitution; damages in lieu of reinstatement.
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6 December 2019 |
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Guilty plea should be considered in sentencing; appellate court reduced an excessive arson sentence.
Criminal law — Arson — Sentencing — Role of guilty plea/remorse as mitigation — Appellate interference where sentence is wrong in principle or manifestly excessive — Mandatory minimum sentences.
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3 December 2019 |
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Appellate court reduced a manifestly excessive 20-year arson sentence to 11 years after finding sentencing errors.
Criminal law – Arson – Sentencing – Plea of guilty and remorse as mitigating factors – Appellate interference with sentence: wrong in principle, manifestly excessive, exceptional circumstances – Mandatory minimum sentences.
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3 December 2019 |
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Confession excluded for lack of reasoned trial-within-a-trial ruling, but reliable identification and possession upheld the conviction.
Criminal law – admissibility of confessions – trial-within-a-trial requires a reasoned ruling; Identification – single witness evidence and connecting links; Possession of stolen property as corroboration; Evidence of 'leading' police worthless if nothing new discovered.
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3 December 2019 |
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Possession of recently stolen property and related coincidences can make circumstantial evidence sufficiently cogent to sustain convictions.
Criminal law – circumstantial evidence – possession of recently stolen property and odd coincidences – hearsay exception for investigative narration – investigative omissions not necessarily fatal to prosecution.
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3 December 2019 |
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The High Court misdirected on sentence and a wrongful committal under s217 led to a reduction of a 14-year term to 2 years.
Criminal law – Attempted arson (s329 Penal Code) – Maximum sentence 14 years – Committal for sentencing by subordinate court (s217 Criminal Procedure Code) requires recorded reasons – Wrongful remittal and excessive sentence – Reduction of sentence to reflect subordinate court jurisdiction and absence of aggravating factors.
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3 December 2019 |