Results.
3,944 judgments found.
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| March 2020 |
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27 March 2020 |
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26 March 2020 |
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Court upheld manslaughter convictions for reckless driving, rejecting challenges to juvenile witness evidence, identification and sentence.
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Criminal law — Manslaughter by negligent/reckless driving — Degree of negligence required; Juvenile witnesses — admissibility and need (or not) for voir dire/corroboration under Juveniles Act; Identification and proof of deceased — sufficiency of post‑mortems and police exhibits; Sentence — appellate interference only if shockingly excessive.
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26 March 2020 |
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26 March 2020 |
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26 March 2020 |
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20 March 2020 |
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Single judge lacked jurisdiction to dismiss an appeal filed before S.I. No.26/2012; the statutory instrument is not retrospective.
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Civil procedure — Appeal procedure — Dismissal for want of prosecution — Jurisdiction of single judge vs full court under s.4 Supreme Court Act — Statutory Instrument No.26 of 2012 non‑retrospective — Filing of heads of argument.
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18 March 2020 |
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Accumulation of procedural breaches and negligence can justify dismissal despite internal disciplinary code not specifying dismissal.
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Employment law — dismissal for misconduct — accumulation of procedural breaches and negligence — disciplinary code as part of conditions of service but not necessarily preclusive of dismissal — duty of court to assess whether disciplinary power was properly exercised.
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18 March 2020 |
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18 March 2020 |
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Whether understatement of purchase price to evade transfer tax voids a sale contract and bars specific performance.
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Property transfer tax — understatement of purchase price — illegality — effect on enforceability of contract — restitution of monies paid — specific performance — Statute of Frauds evidence.
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11 March 2020 |
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3 March 2020 |
| February 2020 |
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28 February 2020 |
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Custody upheld for the respondent on children’s best interests; maintenance set aside for means assessment.
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Family law — custody: welfare of the child paramount; reliance on Social Welfare Report and child’s wishes; maintenance: necessity of means/needs assessment where financial circumstances change; remittal for reassessment.
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25 February 2020 |
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Whether the appellant’s registered title prevails over mistaken developers and who bears liability for wrongful local authority land allocations.
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Land law — certificate of title — conclusive evidence of ownership; quiet possession and exclusion; mistaken non-owner developer — no restitution for improvements; quicquid plantatur solo solo cedit; trespass — damages and vacant possession; local authority liability for wrongful allocations; procedural — substantial compliance with record of appeal rules.
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21 February 2020 |
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Whether a mistaken non-owner developer can retain improvements against a registered titleholder.
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Land law — Certificate of title conclusive (subject to fraud) — Mistaken non-owner improver; improvements vest in registered owner (quicquid plantatur solo solo cedit) — Occupier's liability for trespass and loss of use — Municipal authority's wrongful allocation; procedural compliance with record of appeal.
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21 February 2020 |
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Committal for contempt dismissed where stay was premised on non-existent properties and applicant abused court process.
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Contempt of court — Committal proceedings — Stay of execution pending appeal — Effect of erroneous property description and renumbering — Abuse of process and forum shopping — Orders obtained ex parte — Costs awarded to contemnor.
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21 February 2020 |
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20 February 2020 |
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Application to file record of appeal out of time refused; delay and bereavement insufficient to justify extension.
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Civil procedure — Extension of time to file record of appeal — Discretionary relief — Compliance with court orders — Bereavement and delay insufficient to warrant another extension.
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11 February 2020 |
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11 February 2020 |
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11 February 2020 |
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5 February 2020 |
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4 February 2020 |
| January 2020 |
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22 January 2020 |
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14 January 2020 |
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Failed provocation and intoxication did not amount to extenuating circumstances; appeal against murder conviction and death sentence dismissed.
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Criminal law — murder — sentence — failed defences of provocation and intoxication — extenuating circumstances assessed by facts; preparation of weapon and disproportionate retaliation establish malice aforethought.
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14 January 2020 |
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9 January 2020 |
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High Court erred by ordering security for costs post-judgment; such orders require proper rule, timing, and defendant application.
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Civil procedure — Security for costs — Order 40 r.7 High Court Rules — interlocutory relief during progress of suit — Order 47 r.12 inapplicable — payment into court distinct from security for costs — Rule 56 power vested in Supreme Court only.
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9 January 2020 |
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9 January 2020 |
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9 January 2020 |
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8 January 2020 |
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2 January 2020 |
| December 2019 |
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Appellate court upholds trial judge’s equitable award under s13 and will not disturb factual findings absent perversity.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 |