Supreme Court of Zambia - 2022 June

7 judgments
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Results. 7 judgments found.

7 judgments
June 2022
Equitable assignment of an equity of redemption (s.62) can vest full title upon redemption; equitable claims are not time-barred under s.2(7).
  • Conveyancing — Equity of redemption — Assignment vs outright transfer — Applicability of Lands and Deeds Registry Act sections 61 and 62 — Registration requirements — Equity and limitation (Limitation Act s.2(7)) — Delay, laches and subrogation.
22 June 2022
Appeal dismissed: unchallenged extrajudicial confession and note confirmed motive and premeditation, warranting murder conviction and death sentence.
  • Criminal law — murder — sufficiency of proof as to cause of death — extrajudicial confession to private person — admissibility and weight — motive and corroboration — mens rea/malice aforethought — appellate review of trial judge’s evaluation of conflicting accounts.
14 June 2022
Belief in witchcraft may mitigate murder sentence but is negated by an unprompted admission of being hired to kill.
  • Criminal law — Murder — Sentence — Belief in witchcraft as possible extenuating circumstance; mitigation; effect of unsolicited admission of being hired to kill.
13 June 2022
Whether a brief voir dire showing a child knows lying is wrong suffices under s122 to receive evidence on oath.
  • Juveniles Act s122 — Child witness — Voir dire requirements — Court must be satisfied child has sufficient intelligence and understands duty to speak truth — No prescribed questionnaire — Ocular observation and brief probing may suffice — No need to show knowledge of sanctions for lying.
13 June 2022
Eyewitness identification corroborated by possession of stolen property sustained appellant's conviction for aggravated robbery and murder.
  • Criminal law — Identification evidence and recent possession — Mutual corroboration of eyewitness identification by possession of stolen property — Circumstantial evidence — Aggravated robbery and felony murder.
10 June 2022
Failure to obtain mandatory leave from the Court of Appeal deprived the Supreme Court of jurisdiction, so appeals dismissed.
  • Criminal procedure — Appeal to Supreme Court — Mandatory leave to appeal from Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal Act s.13; Supreme Court (Amendment) Act s.17) — Order XI(5) of Court of Appeal Rules cannot displace statutory leave requirement — leave substantive and jurisdictional — Rule 37 and constitutional provision not a cure.
7 June 2022
Appeal against murder conviction dismissed: malice proved, no extenuating circumstances, life sentence set aside and death penalty imposed.
  • Criminal law — Murder v manslaughter — malice aforethought (s204 Penal Code) — deadly weapon (broken bottle) — contemporaneous statements — res gestae — drunkenness not automatically extenuating — sentencing misdirection — substitution of death penalty.
7 June 2022