|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| June 2017 |
|
|
Court awarded engine replacement cost and held employer vicariously liable for employee's negligent engine wash; no compensation for loss of business.
Civil procedure — Subordinate Court may hear matter where defendant absent but plaintiff must adduce evidence; Negligence — duty, breach, damage; Vicarious liability — employer liable for employee's torts committed in course of employment; Damages — recovery allowed for proven replacement cost, insufficient proof for consequential losses.
|
29 June 2017 |
|
Withdrawal of a criminal complaint constituted consideration, making the respondent liable under the settlement agreement for K30,000.
Contract law – formation and enforceability – withdrawal of a criminal complaint as valid consideration – settlement of alleged obtaining money by false pretences – debt recovery by default writ.
|
16 June 2017 |
|
A hirer is not liable for ordinary mechanical breakdowns absent evidence of gross negligence; owner bears such risks.
Contract interpretation – vehicle-hire agreement – clause making hirer liable for "whatsoever damages" – scope does not include ordinary mechanical breakdowns; implied term that owner bears mechanical faults absent gross negligence; burden of proof on hirer to show gross negligence; default writ and insufficiency of evidence on counterclaim.
|
14 June 2017 |
|
Conviction where single-night identifying witness and corroborative circumstance proved burglary and theft beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – Burglary and theft – breaking and entering at night – elements of s.301 Penal Code – Single witness identification – mistaken identity – corroboration and circumstantial evidence.
|
8 June 2017 |
|
On rehearing the court found statements accusing the plaintiff of theft defamatory, awarded K16,000 and allowed separate actions against company and individual.
Defamation – elements: defamatory words, reference to plaintiff, publication to third parties – Malice/absence of reasonable inquiry – Subordinate Court jurisdiction on rehearing to grant equitable and legal remedies – Repetition of defamatory words creates fresh cause of action – Liability of individual and principal for separate publications.
|
8 June 2017 |
|
Courts below lack jurisdiction to appoint or remove administrators where the estate value exceeds statutory thresholds.
Succession law — jurisdictional limits under Intestate Succession Act s.43 — estate value thresholds for local and subordinate courts — nullity of letters of administration issued without jurisdiction — High Court as proper forum for large estates.
|
8 June 2017 |
| May 2017 |
|
|
Accused convicted for theft by agent after entrusted beer was diverted, proceeds not accounted for.
Criminal law – Theft by agent – Section 280(b) Penal Code – Entrusted property – Ostensible authority/holding out – Proof beyond reasonable doubt – Admissibility of caution statement.
|
18 May 2017 |
|
|
18 May 2017 |
|
|
15 May 2017 |
|
|
12 May 2017 |
|
Plaintiff failed to prove ownership or existence of an estate; claims dismissed and no accounting ordered.
Succession/Property – ownership versus registered title – evidentiary onus in civil claims – administrator accounting; long occupation and documentary evidence can rebut registration.
|
12 May 2017 |
|
Accused convicted for forging, uttering false documents and obtaining money by false pretences based on identification and corroboration.
Criminal law – Forgery (sections 342, 347) – False NRC and title deed – Uttering false documents (section 344(b)) – Obtaining money by false pretences (section 309) – Identification evidence – Corroboration by ‘odd coincidence' (photo on forged document).
|
4 May 2017 |
|
Judgment entered on an admitted K5,000 debt; court set K1,000 monthly instalments, interest from writ date, and costs to plaintiff.
Civil procedure – admitted claim – assessment of reasonable instalment payments – debtor's informal income and past default – judgment entered with instalments, interest and costs.
|
3 May 2017 |
| April 2017 |
|
|
Accused convicted of theft where guard and police evidence proved the elements beyond reasonable doubt.
Theft — elements of theft (ownership, thing capable of being stolen, fraudulent conversion, intent to permanently deprive, no claim of right) — Evidence — eyewitness security guard and police corroboration — hearsay disregarded — burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
|
28 April 2017 |
|
Subordinate court severed misdemeanour counts, ordered inquiries and reading-material access, and refused to quash treason charge lacking pleaded overt acts.
Criminal procedure — joinder and severance of counts; treason — requirement to plead overt acts; bad charge versus defective charge; limits on Subordinate Court’s power to quash indictments triable only by the High Court; mandatory Preliminary Inquiry (s.223); detainee rights — prohibition of torture and entitlement to reasonable reading material.
|
26 April 2017 |
|
Circumstantial evidence plus an admission and recovery of stolen property established the accused's guilt for breaking and entering.
Criminal law — Breaking and entering (s.303(a) Penal Code) — Elements of offence — Circumstantial evidence and admissions — Recovery of stolen property — Proof beyond reasonable doubt.
|
24 April 2017 |
|
Accused convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm based on single-witness testimony and medical corroboration.
Criminal law – Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm – elements: assault, occasioning bodily harm, identity – Single-witness evidence admissible if clear and satisfactory – Medical report corroboration – Alleged civil motive does not negate criminal liability.
|
3 April 2017 |
| March 2017 |
|
|
Whether property acquired before marriage is excluded from division and how custody and maintenance orders serve children's best interests.
Family law — division of matrimonial property — intention and timing of acquisition; exclusion of property acquired before marriage; household goods to be shared equally; vehicles as matrimonial assets; compensatory spousal payment requires proof of disparate post‑divorce income; custody determined by best interests of the child; maintenance and reviewable welfare orders.
|
30 March 2017 |
|
State failed to prove all elements of smuggling; accused acquitted due to reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – Anti‑Human Trafficking Act s.9(1) – Elements of smuggling (procurement for benefit; facilitation; lack of lawful justification) – Competence of spouse witness (Criminal Procedure Code s.151) – Travel documents v. underhand methods – Burden of proof and reasonable doubt – Acquittal.
|
30 March 2017 |
|
Medical evidence and parental documentation corroborated the prosecutrix’s testimony, supporting conviction for defilement beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – Defilement (s.138(1) Penal Code) – elements: unlawful carnal knowledge, identity, age – corroboration by medical evidence (STI, hymen injuries) – proof of age (parental evidence, under-five card) – statutory defence of reasonable belief in age not raised.
|
21 March 2017 |
|
Whether funds entrusted to an agent for vehicle purchase were fraudulently converted, establishing theft by agent.
Criminal law – Theft by agent – Conversion of entrusted funds – Intent to permanently deprive – Reliance on bank records, correspondence and witness testimony – Sections 265, 272 and 280(b) Penal Code.
|
20 March 2017 |
|
Whether prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused stole a motor vehicle using a forged cheque.
Criminal law – Theft of motor vehicle (s281A) – Elements: registrable motor vehicle; without claim of right; intention permanently to deprive – Use of forged bankers’ cheque – Proof of authorship: eyewitness evidence vs handwriting expert opinion – False identity and orchestration as indicia of guilt.
|
10 March 2017 |
|
First accused (acting PS) convicted for corruptly accepting a company‑paid borehole and abusing office; company convicted for corrupt payment as inducement.
Anti‑corruption – corrupt gratification as inducement or reward – proposed as well as actual transactions – public officer definition – abuse of office where payment contrary to contractual terms prejudices government legal rights.
|
6 March 2017 |
|
A public officer convicted for accepting K3000 as gratification to secure release of an impounded vehicle.
Anti‑Corruption Act s19(1) – corrupt practices by a public officer; gratification; s66(1) presumption where acceptance proved; bank deposit and call‑records as corroborative evidence; release of impounded vehicle as inducement/reward.
|
2 March 2017 |