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29 judgments found.
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January 2014
Plaintiff failed to prove an enforceable warranty or PDI; defendant entitled to storage charges and partial counterclaim award.
Commercial law — vehicle repair and warranty
— burden of proof for warranty and PDI
— enforceability of warranty between non-party dealer and consignee
— limitation period computed from receipt of demand
— privity of contract
— repair order terms and storage charges
30 January 2014
Tribunal need not re-inspect locus or re-hear witnesses on appeal; allocation documents and corroboration proved ownership.
Land law — proof of allocation and ownership — documentary evidence and corroborating witness testimony.* Appeals — scope of appellate fact-finding — role of District Tribunal on locus in quo and calling witnesses on appeal.* Civil procedure
30 January 2014
Failure to hold a preliminary hearing after joinder is not automatically fatal; sufficiency of circumstantial evidence determines conviction validity.
Criminal procedure — Preliminary hearing — Non‑compliance with s.192 and joinder
— depends on whether failure causes failure of justice
— omission not automatically fatal
Evidence — Circumstantial evidence and chain of events — sufficiency to sustain conviction for cattle theft
29 January 2014
Affidavits supporting stay and leave-to-appeal applications met formal requirements; preliminary objections dismissed.
Civil procedure — preliminary objection — formal defects in affidavits
29 January 2014
Court overruled objections, finding affidavits properly endorsed, signed and verified; stay application set for hearing.
Legal profession — Advocates act s.44(2) — endorsement/identification of preparer of legal instruments
Legal profession — Civil Procedure Code Order VI r.14 — signature of deponent
Legal profession — VI r.15
— jurat/verification formalities
— preliminary objections to affidavit formalities
— stay of execution pending appeal
29 January 2014
An appeal from a Primary Court is filed when fees are paid; late filing without leave is dismissed.
Limitation of appeals — Appeal from Primary Court — Filing date is date of payment of filing fees — Section 25(1)(b) Magistrates' Court Act (30 days) — Law of Limitation Act ss.43(f),46 — Section 19(2) does not exclude time to obtain copy of judgment — Appeal dismissed as time-barred.
24 January 2014
Court upheld visual-identification evidence under portable-lamp illumination; procedural joinder irregularity for second appellant was raised.
Criminal law — Visual identification — reliability where identification occurred at night under illumination by a three-battery Chinese lamp during a prolonged struggle
Criminal procedure — joinder of accused after trial commencement — whether failure to read charge and take plea vitiates trial of the later-joined accused
Evidence — witnesses naming suspects during commotion — probative value for identity
16 January 2014
Appeal allowed: convictions unsafe where forgery relied on interested witnesses and lacked expert/audit corroboration.
Civil procedure — Procedural — convictions based on uncorroborated and incomplete documentary evidence are unsafe
Criminal law — Evidence
— chain of custody and admissibility of exhibits
— interested witnesses and corroboration
Criminal law — Forgery — identification of handwriting by interested Treasury employees
Criminal law — Theft by public servant
13 January 2014
CMA lacked jurisdiction because the dispute remained pending at the Conciliation Board, so the CMA proceedings and award were nullified.
Labour law — Jurisdiction of CMA — proceedings and awards void where matter remains pending before Conciliation Board
10 January 2014
A party must first apply to CMA to reverse an ex parte award; a premature revision application is struck out.
Labour law — Mediation and arbitration — setting aside ex‑parte award — Requirement to apply to CMA for reversal under s 87(5) ELRA and Rule 14(5) GN No. 67/2007
10 January 2014
Failure to give timely retrenchment notice and an undated representation form rendered the retrenchment unfair; only the properly represented employee awarded remedies.
Employment law — Retrenchment
— invalid undated representation notice
— Requirement of timely notice and consultation under section 38 ELRA
9 January 2014
Leave-to-appeal application struck out for lacking court leave to represent multiple applicants.
Labour law — Labour procedure — leave to appeal — multiple applicants
9 January 2014
Court set aside anonymous interest award, fixed 7% p.a., upheld principal judgment and criticized unspecific damages findings.
Civil procedure
— Assessment of Damages — appellate intervention to reduce excessive general damages where evidence of non-pecuniary harm is lacking
— Interest on judgment debts — Awarding unpleaded commercial interest rate impermissible, court may award reasonable interest for special damages — Section 29 & Order 20 Rule 21(2) CPC
— Proof and calculation of decretal sum — Calculation of outstanding principal and award of damages and interest
9 January 2014
Court overruled preliminary objection, expunged two affidavit paragraphs, and held it had jurisdiction to hear the injunction claim.
Civil procedure
— Affidavits — Affidavit defects: expunge offensive paragraphs if remainder supports application
— interlocutory injunction — application under Order XXXVII Rule 1 and Section 95
Natural justice — requirement of fair hearing in disciplinary proceedings — Whether the applicant was accorded a fair hearing and whether the charge was sufficiently clear
3 January 2014
A non-national without required immigration documents cannot sustain a claim for false imprisonment arising from lawful immigration arrest.
Immigration law — requirement of valid passport, visa or residence permit — Arrest and detention by Immigration Officers lawful where statutory criteria met — Immigration Act ss.8(1), 12(1), 15(1)
Tort — False imprisonment — prima facie restraint shifts onus to defendant to show justification (reasonable and probable cause)
2 January 2014
1 January 2014
1 January 2014
Default judgment granted on an unopposed counterclaim awarding return/payment, damages, interest and costs to the fourth defendant.
Civil procedure — Default judgment — Counterclaim undefended — Relief under High Court (Commercial Division) Procedure Rules r.22(1)
Commercial law — Sale of petroleum products — Interest on debts — Mercantile practice — Commercial interest and post-judgment rates
1 January 2014
A party may pursue execution of a Ward Tribunal decision after withdrawing an appeal; the DLHT must hear and enforce such execution applications.
Land law — Execution of Ward Tribunal orders — Admissibility of unauthenticated tribunal orders
1 January 2014
1 January 2014
Court upholds CMA: termination for riding motorcycle contrary to medical advice was substantively and procedurally unfair; compensation confirmed.
Employment law — unfair dismissal
— limits on management overruling of disciplinary committee recommendations
— sanction proportionality
— substantive and procedural fairness
1 January 2014
Whether petitioners complied with s.8(2) of the Basic Rights Act and whether a defective verification clause renders the petition incompetent.
Constitutional law — Constitutional petition
Constitutional law — procedural competence
— adequacy of verification clause
— preliminary objection disposed by written submissions
1 January 2014
Appellant's conviction for possession of leopard skins upheld; eyewitness testimony and admitted exhibits proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Unlawful possession of government trophies — proof by eye-witnesses — quality not quantity of evidence
Evidence
— Admissibility of exhibits — official certificate and trophies properly tendered and admitted
— escape from lawful custody — permissible adverse inference supporting guilt
— non-production of some witnesses — not fatal where available eyewitnesses give credible direct evidence
1 January 2014
A judgment is invalid where the court record fails to show who lawfully pronounced it; file remitted for proper pronouncement.
Civil procedure
— Court records — Sanctity of attendance record unless properly contested — Whether absence of coram or attendee names vitiates judgment
— pronouncement of judgment — Successor judge's duty to pronounce predecessor's prepared judgment
1 January 2014
Prolonged abandonment and adverse possession defeat a late claim to repossession; procedural complaints insufficient to overturn tribunals.
Land law — abandonment of land and long adverse possession
— effect on later repossession claims
— evidential weight of admissions and inconsistent dates
Land law — procedural irregularity and assessors' errors
— limits on tribunal chairperson’s powers to dispossess
— when such complaints do not vitiate a tribunal’s decision
1 January 2014
Plaintiffs failed to prove lawful occupation or compensable development; registered title and court-ordered eviction rendered demolition lawful.
Land law — occupation and possession — proof on balance of probabilities
Land law — residential licences
— irregular issuance and revocation by Government Notices
— Lawful eviction/execution of court order
— Registered title as prima facie evidence
1 January 2014
Applicant's dismissal for want of prosecution was excused where counsel fell ill en route, justifying restoration of the application.
Civil procedure — Restoration of dismissed suit — Application under Rule 2(2) & (3) of High Court (Commercial Division) Procedure Rules and section 95 CPC — Sickness of advocate en route to court substantiated by medical chit — excuse for failure to appear accepted
1 January 2014
Court held respondents were employees; CSSC was payroll processor; termination was substantively and procedurally unfair.
Employment law — unfair termination — substantive and procedural fairness — Remedies for unfair termination
Labour law
— Employment status — application of section 61 LIA to distinguish employee from independent contractor — Labour Institutions Act s.61
— Secondment/payroll arrangements — Effect on employer status and liability for termination — Payroll processor does not necessarily become employer
1 January 2014
Conviction quashed where rape identification rested solely on voice at night without proven familiarity.
Criminal law — identification evidence — voice identification
— requirement of demonstrable familiarity with the voice
— Sufficiency of evidence in sexual offence convictions
1 January 2014