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890 judgments found.
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September 2006
Extension of time granted where applicant was not notified of judgment, excusing delay in filing appeal notices.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure
— diligence of applicant and counsel
— Extension of time
— grant of extension
— Leave to appeal
— non-notification of judgment
— notice of intention to appeal
25 September 2006
The appellant's attempted rape conviction was quashed because the specific statutory ingredients under section 132 were not proved.
Civil procedure — Procedure
— Burden of proof
— trial court did not shift burden
Criminal law — Attempted rape
Evidence
— Child witness
— Corroboration and credibility — relatives’ testimony not per se unreliable
25 September 2006
Applicant granted extension to appeal where certified court copies were supplied only after appeal period expired.
Civil procedure — Extension of time to appeal — Reasonable cause — Late supply of certified copies of judgment, proceedings or drawn order — computation of appeal period
25 September 2006
Land allocations are governed by land law; failure to develop justified reallocation and appeal was dismissed.
Land law
— Allocations by land authorities governed by Land Ordinance not Law of Contract
— no entitlement to overturn reallocation for lack of show‑cause notice where non‑development is established
— offers grant rights of occupancy and contain development conditions
25 September 2006
Conviction quashed where excluded evidence was relied on and identification evidence was vague and inadequate.
Criminal law
— identification evidence — first-time sightings
— theft from person — requirement that prosecution prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt
25 September 2006
Conviction quashed where identification was inadequate and excluded witness evidence was improperly relied upon.
Criminal law
— Evidence — Reliance on excluded witness testimony — Excluded evidence cannot be acted upon to convict
— Theft — Possession of stolen property — insufficiency of prosecution evidence
— identification evidence — first-time identification in court requires prior description or identification parade
25 September 2006
Theft conviction quashed for lack of proof of intent and for denying some accused opportunity to present defence.
Criminal law — Theft
— appellate intervention where conviction is unsafe
— inconsistency in trial findings
— Requirement of proof beyond reasonable doubt and intention to steal
— right of each accused to be heard/put on defence
25 September 2006
25 September 2006
Court granted extension to file for certification after illness-related delay but ignored improperly combined procedural prayers.
Civil procedure — enlargement of time to apply for certification of a point of law — procedural requirement to bring separate applications and to state specific legal provisions — combining multiple remedies in one chamber summons improper — stay and certification prayers ignored for procedural defect
25 September 2006
The applicant’s land dispute could not be heard by ordinary courts after Oct 2003; lower courts’ proceedings were nullified.
Land law
— nullification of proceedings by courts lacking jurisdiction
— ordinary courts’ loss of jurisdiction over land disputes
— requirement of proper appeal from Ward Tribunal when records exist
25 September 2006
The appellant's conviction for unnatural offence was upheld on credible child and medical evidence; sentence reduced to 12 years.
Criminal law — Sexual offence (unnatural offence) — Proof and corroboration by medical evidence (PF3)
Criminal procedure — Appeal against sentence — Appellate reduction of excessive sentence — Substitution of sentence on appeal
25 September 2006
Conviction for sodomy upheld on credible child and medical evidence; 20-year sentence quashed and replaced with 12 years.
Appellate practice — Appellate review of sentence — Whether sentence excessive
Criminal law — Sexual offence (unnatural offence) — Proof beyond reasonable doubt — Medical corroboration (PF3)
Evidence — child witness credibility — Credibility of child eye‑witness threatened at gunpoint
25 September 2006
Whether night-time visual identification and incomplete circumstantial evidence sufficed to prove the accused guilty of murder.
Criminal law
— Circumstantial evidence — burden on prosecution to link weapon to offence
— Visual identification — reliability of visual identification at night
Criminal procedure — assessors’ opinions — Trial judge may reject assessors’ views after independent evaluation of evidence
22 September 2006
Night‑time visual identification and uncorroborated circumstantial evidence (firearm) were insufficient to prove murder beyond reasonable doubt
Criminal law — Murder — visual identification and corroboration — Reliability and sufficiency of identification
22 September 2006
Court allowed amendment of a defective affidavit and ordered re-admission of the appeal in the interest of justice, dismissing the PO.
Civil procedure
— preliminary objection on affidavit formality — power to permit amendment in interest of justice
— Re‑admission of appeal dismissed for non‑appearance — special/peculiar circumstances allowing curative amendment
Legal profession — Advocates act s.44(1) — jurat and drawer’s name requirements in affidavits — formal defect versus fatal irregularity
21 September 2006
Court dismissed objection to defective affidavit and allowed re‑admission, ordering amendment within one month.
Civil procedure — Re‑admission of appeal — preliminary objection — defective affidavit for omission of drawer’s name
21 September 2006
Court allowed re-admission despite affidavit formal defect, permitting amendment in the interests of justice.
Civil procedure — Affidavit formalities
Civil procedure — procedural preliminary objection
— court's discretion to override procedural irregularity where special circumstances and interests of justice require
— formal defect may be cured by amendment
— re-admission of appeal permitted subject to compliance with ordered amendment
21 September 2006
Contaminated drink established and negligence inferred, but inadequate medical proof warranted reducing damages to nominal amount.
Tort — Product liability — manufacturer’s duty of care
Evidence — Medical evidence (PF3) — Requirement to produce medical/clinical records to quantify damages
Jurisdiction — Pecuniary jurisdiction determined by substantive claim, not claimed general damages — Clerical/typographical error in the prayer does not defeat jurisdiction
21 September 2006
High Court quashed judgment where magistrate enforced Labour Officer's report instead of trying disputes under section 143.
Labour law
— Labour Officer's report
— Procedure — misdirection vitiating trial
21 September 2006
Magistrate must try issues on an LO report under section 143, not enforce Labour Office decisions; retrial ordered.
Employment law
— Labour officer’s report — Magistrate to try issues as civil suit, not enforce Labour Office/Board/Minister decision
— misdirection vitiates proceedings — retrial ordered
21 September 2006
After a Labour Officer referral the court must try disputed issues as a civil suit, not enforce the Labour Office decision.
Employment law — Labour officer’s report — Magistrate to try issues as civil suit, not enforce Labour Office/Board/Minister decision — Employment Ordinance s.143 (Cap 366 R.E.2002)
Trial procedure — Statutory interpretation — Confusion between Employment Ordinance procedure and enforcement provisions of Security of Employment Act led to vitiated proceedings
21 September 2006
Appellant's post‑trial denial and conjectural bias allegations insufficient to impeach recorded admission; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — Appeal — appellate restraint in disturbing trial court credibility findings
Evidence — Admissions — Unproved assertions of language misunderstanding do not annul clear recorded admissions
Natural justice — rule against bias — Allegations of bias or relationship with assessors — Mere conjecture insufficient to vitiate proceedings
21 September 2006
Affidavit legal arguments grounded in stated beliefs are permissible in interlocutory applications; contested issues must await full hearing.
Civil procedure — Preliminary objections
— Affidavits in interlocutory applications
— contested factual or legal issues (including necessary‑party questions) are inappropriate for disposal by preliminary objection
— legal arguments in affidavit not necessarily incurable
21 September 2006
Whether legal arguments in an affidavit fatally defect an interlocutory application, and when preliminary objections are premature.
Civil procedure
— Affidavits — Inadmissibility of legal arguments, conclusions or prayers in affidavits (Order XIX r.3(1)) — Order XIX Rule 3: interlocutory applications — statements of belief with grounds admissible
— Preliminary objection — Factual disputes not to be decided on preliminary objection — Prematurity of preliminary objections where issues rest on unascertained facts or require full hearing
21 September 2006
Whether legal arguments in an interlocutory affidavit render it incurably defective under Order XIX Rule 3.
Civil procedure
— Affidavits — Permissible factual statements versus impermissible legal arguments (O XIX r 3(1)) — Order XIX Rule 3
— Preliminary objections — Contested factual or legal issues (including necessary‑party questions) are inappropriate for disposal by preliminary objection — Preliminary objection inappropriate where facts unascertained
Employment law — Reinstatement orders — Enforcement by execution/chamber application — Multiplicity of proceedings and need for coordinated determination
21 September 2006
An appellant may not raise a baseless preliminary objection at appellate stage; a PO must be a pure point of law.
Civil procedure
— preliminary objection — Test for a pure point of law (Mukisa Biscuit) and scope of preliminary objections — Must raise a pure point of law and not require factual inquiry
— Appellate practice — Raising a preliminary objection after filing an appeal — Not permissible where it contradicts pursuit of the appeal
19 September 2006
A purported preliminary objection raised improperly at the appellate stage and based on factual matters was dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— preliminary objection
— Procedural impropriety — Raising a preliminary objection at appellate stage after filing appeal is inconsistent and improper. Preliminary objections based on unascertained facts are inadmissible and liable to be dismissed with costs
19 September 2006
An appellant may not raise a preliminary objection at appellate stage; improperly raised PO dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — preliminary objection
— appellant improperly raising PO at appellate stage
— dismissal with costs
— meaning and timing
— PO cannot be based on unascertained facts
19 September 2006
District Court decision quashing Primary Court award was upheld; appeal dismissed and costs/enforcement to be pursued by proper procedures.
Civil procedure
— competency of compensation claim — compensation for non-use of land should be pursued as a separate action
— jurisdiction of Primary Court to award costs after matter determined by High Court — Primary Court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate those costs
— Procedural irregularity — chamber application — court may treat an improperly framed application as an appeal in the interests of substantive justice where parties are unrepresented
19 September 2006
The applicant's appeal dismissed; district court correctly held the Primary Court lacked jurisdiction to award costs and compensation requires separate suit.
Civil procedure — Inherent powers — Treating an improperly framed chamber application as an appeal where parties are unrepresented and indigent
Jurisdiction — Primary Court — Whether Primary Court may award costs after the High Court has concluded the matter
19 September 2006
High Court upholds District Court: Primary Court lacked jurisdiction over costs post‑High Court; compensation must be claimed separately.
Civil procedure — Procedural irregularity — High Court’s inherent power to treat misframed applications as appeals for substantive justice to unrepresented indigent litigants
19 September 2006
A preliminary non-joinder objection at the leave-to-appeal stage is premature; leave to appeal granted where prima facie grounds exist.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — Leave to appeal — preliminary objection for non-joinder
— duty to state points of law for appeal
— High Court should grant leave where prima facie grounds exist
— joinder issues are substantive and for appellate court
19 September 2006
High Court overruled non‑joinder objection and granted leave to appeal, leaving joinder issues for the Court of Appeal.
Appellate practice — leave to appeal — Whether preliminary objection alleging non‑joinder and lack of service must be decided at the leave stage — Court of Appeal Rules / Appellate Jurisdiction Act
19 September 2006
Appellant entitled to unpaid leave pay but not August–September salaries after ceasing employment.
Civil procedure — extension of time — Extension of time suo motu — Submissions are arguments not evidence, extension not prejudicial where findings rest on evidence
Employment law — wage claims — Entitlement to unpaid salaries and leave pay — Cessation of employment severs entitlement to later salaries, enforceability of settlement agreement (Annexure D1)
19 September 2006
The court upheld convictions and 30-year sentences because village witnesses properly identified the appellants under sufficient lighting.
Criminal law — identification evidence
— adequacy of lighting
— appellate interference with trial court credibility findings
— witnesses known to accused
Criminal law — Robbery with violence
18 September 2006
Appellate court upheld robbery with violence conviction based on reliable identification and corroborating injury evidence.
Appellate practice — Appellate review — Deference to trial court’s assessment of witness credibility where trial magistrate observed witnesses
Criminal law
— corroboration — Injuries (PF3) and immediate reporting as support for prosecution case
— Robbery with violence — Identification evidence — Reliability where witnesses were known to accused and there was adequate lighting at scene
18 September 2006
Armed robbery is non-bailable; applicants should have appealed the District Court's refusal of bail, so the bail application was rejected.
Criminal procedure
— Bail pending trial — Whether offence bailable — Criminal Procedure Act, 1985 s 118(5)(a)(i)
— Appeal procedure — Refusal of bail by trial court — Proper remedy is appeal, not a fresh High Court application
18 September 2006
The applicant's conviction was upheld on credible identification and recovery of stolen property despite an inadmissible cautioned statement.
Criminal law
— admissibility of cautioned statement
— identification evidence — eyewitness police identification
— Witnesses — complainant-watchmen who reported and assisted police treated as witnesses
15 September 2006
Conviction for burglary and theft upheld: improperly recorded confession excluded, but identification and recovery evidence proved guilt.
Criminal law
— arrest versus search — warrant not required where police effect arrest after pursuit
— Burglary and stealing — identification and recovery of stolen property as proof of guilt
— co-accused who are witnesses — effect on corroboration and charging
15 September 2006
15 September 2006
Leave to appeal refused because the dispute is factual and the trial court's credibility findings are unlikely to be overturned.
Civil procedure — Appeal — leave to appeal — Refusal where intended appeal lacks real prospect of success — Factual findings and credibility determinations by trial court not readily disturbed on appeal
Land law — Village land allocation — ownership disputes turning on allocation and sale evidence
15 September 2006
Review denied for lack of error apparent on record; stay of execution dismissed as time‑barred under the Limitation Act.
Civil procedure — Review of judgment
— Applications consolidated and dismissed with costs
— review
15 September 2006
15 September 2006
Inordinate delay and unsupported illness claims do not justify extension of time to appeal; DLHT decision upheld.
Land law — extension of time to appeal — Discretionary factors: length of delay, reason for delay, prospects of success, prejudice to respondent — Inordinate delay and unsupported illness claim — Proper refusal to enlarge time
15 September 2006
Appellant’s challenge to factual findings failed; evidence established respondent had entrusted cattle to the appellant.
Civil procedure
— Appeal — appellate deference to lower courts’ factual findings and credibility assessments
— Property dispute — Entrustment/bailment and ownership of offspring — Credibility of oral evidence
14 September 2006
A temporary injunction cannot issue absent a suit pending in the same court; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure
— interlocutory orders — non-appealability
— jurisdiction — leave to file suit and proper forum for injunction applications
— Temporary injunctions
14 September 2006
Appellant’s conviction quashed where prosecution failed to tender PF3 and relied on inadmissible s.34B statement.
Criminal law
— Appeal — conviction unsafe where prosecution poorly conducted
— Evidence — Admissibility of cautioned statements under s.34B Evidence Act — Proper invocation required
— Retrial — not ordered where prosecution’s failures would be cured improperly (Fatehali Mani principle)
14 September 2006
Leave to appeal out of time refused where clerical mistake was alleged and no compelling reason or arguable success shown.
Civil procedure
— Concurrent findings of fact — appellate interference where findings are perverse or demonstrably wrong — Appellate court reluctant to disturb unless good reasons shown
— leave to appeal out of time — sufficiency of cause for delay — Clerical error not ordinarily sufficient
14 September 2006
Review of ex parte interim order dismissed for failure to prove new evidence or errors apparent on the record.
Arbitration — Stay of proceedings pending arbitration — Whether existence of foreign proceedings or arbitration clause ousts jurisdiction or precludes interim relief
Civil procedure — Review of ex parte judgment — Grounds: discovery of new and important matter
Civil procedure — Review scope
— Record not confined to initiating pleadings
— evidence and other parts of the record relevant
Civil procedure — error apparent on face of record — Order XLII r.1
14 September 2006
Appellate court upheld lower courts' finding that respondent owned land and appellants unlawfully occupied it.
Land law — ownership dispute — church returned land to owner — occupation and construction by private individuals
— appellate restraint where no compelling reason to disturb lower courts' findings
— appellate review of concurrent findings of fact
12 September 2006