Results.
30 judgments found.
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January 1992
Appeal allowed: appellate court found respondents guilty of participating in theft/attempted theft at textile mill and convicted and sentenced them.
Criminal law — Theft/Attempted theft — Appeal against acquittal — Evidence of presence at scene, conduct of employees/guards and descent from roof — Conviction by substitution
31 January 1992
Appeal against acquittal allowed; respondents convicted of attempted theft for involvement in mill theft.
Criminal law — theft and attempted theft — Appeal against acquittal — Evidence placing accused at scene and showing collusion — Substitute conviction
31 January 1992
Convictions for neglect to prevent a felony quashed where accused lacked opportunity or capacity to prevent the crime.
Criminal law — Neglect to prevent a felony
— appellate revision and State Attorney non-support when evidence is insufficient
— Liability
31 January 1992
27 January 1992
25 January 1992
Appellate court set aside rescission and eviction orders as unsupported by evidence, declining to rule on consent of Commissioner of Lands.
Civil procedure — Appeals from subordinate courts — Appeal against subordinate court judgment — Setting aside orders and awarding costs when findings unsupported by evidence
Contract law — Contract of sale — alleged breach — Appellate intervention where trial findings are against weight of evidence
Land law — Commissioner for Lands’ approval — Validity of sale where consent not obtained (not decided as point not argued)
24 January 1992
Appeal dismissed where respondent's oral evidence of village land allocation was preferred and no procedural unfairness was shown.
Appellate practice — Appeal procedure — Primary Court appeals — Appellate preference for credible oral testimony
Land law — Village land allocation — evidential sufficiency of witness testimony for title determination — Effect of court site visit on land dispute findings
21 January 1992
21 January 1992
A written acceptance of a tender creates a contract and a stores officer’s receipt can bind the buyer despite absence of LPOs.
Civil procedure — Agency/authority — ostensible authority and estoppel where a stores officer ordered and received goods in the course of employment
Contract law — Contract formation
— acceptance in writing binds
— post‑acceptance price variations
Contract law — Sale of goods
— buyer’s right to reject excess or non‑contract goods
— not available where buyer accepted and signed delivery notes
Procurement law — Procurement practice — LPOs do not override a tendering contract unless expressly required by the acceptance
Procurement law — Tender law
— advertisement as invitation to treat
— contract concluded on written acceptance of offer
16 January 1992
Company not dissolved; bank must release title deeds while successor pays admitted principal debt with court interest.
Company law — Dissolution and winding up — Whether a company was lawfully dissolved and effect of purported liquidation on corporate existence
Contract law
— Contract/obligation — Successor liability and admission of debt
— Property/security — Bank lien — Retention of title deeds as security pending repayment of secured indebtedness
16 January 1992
Whether the shooting was accidental or intentional — court found malice, convicted of murder and imposed the death sentence.
Criminal law — Murder — Distinguishing intentional killing from accidental discharge or self‑defence — Eyewitness evidence and post‑mortem corroboration — Malice aforethought and sentence
15 January 1992
Criminal law — Bonafide claim of right
13 January 1992
Application for leave to defend and stay for arbitration dismissed where non-payment, not contractual dispute, was established.
Civil procedure
— Application for Leave to Defend
— Arbitration — scope of arbitration clause and section 6 Arbitration Ordinance — no stay where no bona fide dispute
— Form of process — wrong form of summons does not create substantive dispute where failure to pay is admitted
— Guarantees — guarantor not compelable to be joined or sued without governmental consent
12 January 1992
A bona fide sale by a trustee did not excuse failure to account; repayment of proceeds with interest ordered.
Probate and administration; sale of estate asset by trustee; duty to account; breach of trust; restitution of sale proceeds with interest.
9 January 1992
Identification evidence and a non-prejudicial charging irregularity upheld conviction and 15-year sentence; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law
— alibi — burden and credibility of alibi witnesses
— Robbery with violence — Identification evidence — reliability of first information and witness identification
— sentencing — Minimum prescribed sentence — appellate interference only when improper or excessive
Criminal procedure — Irregularity in charge (wrong statutory citation) — whether misdescription vitiates conviction — particulars conforming to statutory offence cure irregularity
6 January 1992
Recent possession and credible identification upheld convictions; consecutive sentences valid and appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure — Appeal — credibility findings of trial court entitled to deference where evidence is overwhelming
Criminal law
— Burglary — recent possession and pawning of stolen goods as evidence of guilt
— escaping lawful custody — eyewitness and police pursuit evidence
— sentencing — concurrent versus consecutive terms — proper where offences arise from separate transactions
1 January 1992
Court upheld conviction: visual identification and extrajudicial confessions were corroborative; no prejudice from magistrate change.
Criminal law — identity evidence — Visual identification
Criminal procedure
— confession evidence — Role of caution statement and corroborating witness evidence in convicting
— transfer of trial magistrate — succeeding magistrate’s duty
1 January 1992
Trial without the DPP's consent under the Firearms Act is void; retrial ordered and appellant released pending DPP consent.
Criminal law — Unlawful possession of firearms — Consent of Director of Public Prosecutions — s.26(1) Act No.13/84
Criminal procedure
— Retrial (trial de novo) — ordered where original trial illegal or defective — Interests of justice
— release from custody — Re-arrest only after consent of Director of Public Prosecutions
1 January 1992
Whether long village-authorised occupancy and development entitles an occupant to compensation when an heir later claims ownership.
Land law — Village land allocation — long possession and development with village authority
— certification of point of law for third appeal
— entitlement to compensation on later assertion of hereditary ownership
1 January 1992
Unreliable evidence, failure to call key witnesses and improper sentencing considerations warranted setting aside convictions and compensation orders.
Criminal law
— Civil consequences of conviction — compensation based on untested post‑judgment invoice invalid
— evidence and credibility — contradictions in eyewitness accounts and sketch plan — duty to call material witnesses (conductor/owner) — benefit of doubt
— sentencing — inadmissible consideration of prior acquittal
1 January 1992
A plaintiff injured by soldiers ordered to traverse hazardous ground at night succeeds on negligence; disputed typed statement lacked proof.
Evidence — Proof of signature and handwriting — Admissibility and weight of disputed written statement — Onus to prove signature and authenticity
Tort
— Civil liability of state — Effect of Attorney‑General's admission of responsibility on causation and liability
— Occupiers’ liability — common duty of care — Duty to invitee and liability for injuries caused by servant's actions
1 January 1992
An occupier (state) held liable for injuries to the applicant; defendant failed to prove a contradicting statement.
Tort — Evidence
— admission of liability by Attorney General
— assessment of general and future loss damages
— authenticity of statements and burden of proof for signatures
Tort — negligence of state servants — occupier’s duty of care to invitees
1 January 1992
A private litigant lacked standing to bring a representative suit on public funds without court leave or Attorney-General involvement.
Civil procedure — Locus standi — representative suits — mandatory compliance with Order 1, rule 8 (leave and notice)
1 January 1992
Application for leave to appeal in land dispute raises issues of possession, limitation, witness credibility, assessors' signatures, and proceeding in absentia.
Land law
— Evidence — sufficiency of single witness testimony
— Limitation (prescription) of land claims
— possession and priority of occupation
— procedural fairness — proceeding in absentia of a party
— procedure — validity of judgment unsigned by assessors
1 January 1992
1 January 1992
Appeal allowed: sentence under later Act was illegal and replaced with a 15-year prison term.
Appellate practice — Appellate powers
— power to impose substituted punishment on appeal
— quashing and substituting sentence
Criminal law — Robbery with violence — Sentencing
— illegality of applying amendments enacted after commission of offence
— prohibition on retrospective increase of punishment
Criminal procedure — competence of appeal — notice of intention to appeal — benefit of doubt where record ambiguous
1 January 1992
1 January 1992
Divorce upheld despite trial court’s omission; pre‑marriage house and motor car not matrimonial assets and property orders quashed.
Family law
— Divorce
— pre‑marriage assets only included if substantially improved during marriage under s.114(3) — no improvement, no division
1 January 1992
Claim for conversion dismissed as time‑barred under the Limitation Act; plaintiff ordered to pay costs.
Limitation law — Limitation of actions — proceedings instituted after prescribed period to be dismissed regardless of defence
1 January 1992
Court held Registrar’s procedural errors and some erroneous assessments on distinctiveness/confusion justified partial appellate relief, but counter‑statement defects failed.
Trade marks — opposition proceedings — timeliness and extension of time — Registrar entertained late oppositions so timeliness point lost practical effect; counter‑statements and statutory declarations — not so defective as to be struck off; distinctiveness and likelihood of confusion — correct legal approach required; section 35 — power to expunge deceptive/confusing registered marks.
1 January 1992