Supreme Court of Zambia

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3,930 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
July 2019
Appellant failed to prove ownership; customary alienation by chief after local consultation was valid.
Customary land — Alienation by chief with headman and village committee — validity where local customary procedures followed; Civil standard of proof — balance of probabilities in competing oral evidence; Evaluation of witnesses — failure to call material witness may undermine claim; Distinction between alienation of State land and customary land (Lands Act provisions inapplicable).
23 July 2019
23 July 2019
16 July 2019
9 July 2019
9 July 2019
9 July 2019
9 July 2019
5 July 2019
June 2019
26 June 2019
A mortgagee’s lawful sale extinguishes the mortgagor’s equity of redemption; the respondent’s purchase defeats the appellants’ specific performance claim.
Contract law — good faith and fair dealing cannot override express contractual or post-agreement arrangements; Mortgage law — mortgagee in possession’s right to sell under court consent order; Equity of redemption — extinguished upon lawful sale by mortgagee in possession; Specific performance — unavailable where entire property sold to third party purchaser; Recovery of deposit — failure of consideration and unjust enrichment.
11 June 2019
11 June 2019
11 June 2019
11 June 2019
Court finds no provocation or extenuating circumstances; murder conviction and death sentence affirmed.
Criminal law – Provocation – Elements: act of provocation; actual and reasonable loss of self‑control; proportionate retaliation – Insults by a child not sufficient provocation – Extenuating circumstances not made out – Murder conviction and mandatory death sentence upheld.
10 June 2019
10 June 2019
10 June 2019
10 June 2019
7 June 2019
7 June 2019
7 June 2019
7 June 2019
5 June 2019
5 June 2019
5 June 2019
4 June 2019
4 June 2019
4 June 2019
4 June 2019
4 June 2019
May 2019
29 May 2019
28 May 2019
28 May 2019
28 May 2019
28 May 2019
28 May 2019
28 May 2019
28 May 2019
23 May 2019
Court upheld rape conviction finding sufficient corroboration and increased sentence from 20 to 35 years imprisonment.
Criminal law – Rape – Identification evidence and corroboration – Holistic assessment of witness identification (moonlight, prior acquaintance, opportunity and appellant's admissions) – Appellant's admissions as corroboration – Sentencing – aggravated circumstances and appellate increase of term.
21 May 2019
17 May 2019
16 May 2019
An employer may lawfully dismiss where a reasonable investigation yields a substratum of facts, and courts must not retry disciplinary findings.
Employment law – wrongful dismissal – substratum of facts required to support disciplinary dismissal; standard of proof lower than criminal standard. Procedural fairness – employer's investigation and opportunity to respond sufficient; disciplinary process not equivalent to criminal trial. Evidence – failure by employee to answer specific allegations may justify adverse inference. Role of appellate courts – must not retry disciplinary decisions but assess reasonableness of employer's conduct.
15 May 2019
April 2019
Dismissal upheld where employee refused to attend disciplinary hearings and procedural flaws were not sufficiently gross to invalidate dismissal.
Employment law – wrongful dismissal – disciplinary procedure – right to be heard – employee refusal to attend disciplinary hearing – ACAS guidance – procedural irregularities not automatically fatal – appeal routes and apparent bias.
18 April 2019
18 April 2019
Whether a defective schedule invalidated excise on airtime, and whether wrongful excise on data should be refunded or escheat to the State.
Tax law — Customs & Excise — Validity and effect of schedules lacking express inducing sections — Excise on telecommunications services — valuation of airtime — consumption tax borne by consumers — distributor discounts as distribution costs — treatment of erroneously collected tax (escheat).
10 April 2019
10 April 2019
1 April 2019
March 2019
28 March 2019
28 March 2019
28 March 2019