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34 judgments found.
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September 2023
Leave to appeal granted where arguable legal issues arise from alleged failure to consider criminal acquittal in malicious prosecution claim.
Appellate practice — Appellate procedure — Leave to appeal — leave discretionary, granted for points of law, public importance, or arguable appeal
Civil procedure — Procedural law
Tort — Civil tort — malicious prosecution — relevance of prior criminal acquittal to civil compensation claim
29 September 2023
High Court struck out defamation petition for lack of competent lower-court pecuniary jurisdiction; no special circumstances to retain.
Civil procedure — jurisdiction
29 September 2023
Suit struck out as premature for lack of probate/administration; court declined to determine land ownership.
Land law — adverse possession — Long uninterrupted occupation and improvements for over 12 years under Law of Limitation Act (Part I, Item 22)
Probate law — Succession/representative capacity — distinction between personal capacity and administratrix of estate — Necessity of probate/administration before heirs sue
29 September 2023
Court set aside two inconsistent execution orders, upheld original judgment, holding applicant estopped from denying party status and revision competent.
Civil procedure — Revision
Land law — execution of Tribunal decree — existence of dual inconsistent execution orders arising from same judgment — Revision
29 September 2023
Review to transfer a wrongly filed suit dismissed; striking out appropriate for incompetent filing.
Civil procedure — Territorial jurisdiction and registry competence — Incompetent filing — Power to transfer between High Court sub-registries — Striking out
29 September 2023
Court dismissed the applicants' interim injunction, finding the dispute concerned compensation and no irreparable harm.
Civil procedure
— Affidavit defects — expunction of paragraphs not within deponent’s knowledge
— res judicata and functus officio — inapplicability where prior extension was granted and subsequent application arises from events after the grant
Land law — Interim injunction — Requirements: prima facie case, irreparable harm, balance of convenience — Atilio v Mbowe
27 September 2023
Court admitted a challenged cautioned statement, finding it voluntary and recorded within statutory time limits under the Evidence Act.
Criminal procedure — recording of cautioned statements — no prohibition on recording on different days provided statutory safeguards observed
Evidence — cautioned statements/confessions — Onus on prosecution to prove voluntariness
27 September 2023
Court admitted the accused's cautioned statement, finding it recorded within statutory time and taken voluntarily.
Criminal procedure — trial-within-a-trial — admissibility of cautioned/confessional statements — Application of Paulo Maduka precedent
Evidence — Cautioned/confessional statements — voluntariness, admissibility and need for corroboration
27 September 2023
Section 58(4) allows investigator to record cautioned statement; date discrepancies and voluntariness require trial‑within‑trial.
Criminal procedure
— admissibility of cautioned statements
— matters of alleged procedural defects (date discrepancies) and voluntariness must be determined in a trial‑within‑trial — application of Court of Appeal guidance on trial‑within‑trial
25 September 2023
Court permitted late-called prosecution witness under s.289, finding notice and holding-brief consent valid.
Criminal procedure
— Amendment of s.289 by Act No.1 of 2020 — Effect of s.289(4) on admissibility of substance of evidence
— calling additional witnesses (s.289 CPA) — Calling witness whose statement was not read at committal — Requirement of reasonable notice
— Holding brief and prior consent — Validity of prior proceedings and objections
25 September 2023
Court held the accused's cautioned statement voluntary and admissible, overruling objections about timing and torture.
Criminal procedure — admissibility of cautioned statement — requirement of voluntariness — statutory time limit — procedure for trial-within-trial when voluntariness contested
25 September 2023
Accused caused a fatal assault but malice aforethought was not proven; convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to nine years.
Criminal law — Evidence
— admissibility and effect of an unsigned/written statement not read in open court
— recognition by relative, discrepancies in witness statements and their materiality
Criminal law — homicide — distinction between murder and manslaughter — application of Enock Kipela factors in determining malice aforethought
25 September 2023
Long undisturbed possession conferred ownership; plaintiff entitled to compensation equal to amount paid to third party.
Environmental law — water-source protection (60m) — non-retroactivity — Post-possession enactment cannot divest prior possessory rights
Land disputes — Compensation award — Entitlement to same sum paid to wrongly compensated party
Land law — adverse possession/long possession — Right to ownership after uninterrupted possession exceeding twelve years — Law of Limitation Act Item 22 Part I
21 September 2023
Court struck out suit for lack of jurisdiction because plaintiff's negligence claims arose from the employment relationship.
Jurisdiction
— Abuse of process — allegation requiring evidence, not a pure point of law
— Employment-related torts — ELRA s88: tortious claims arising from employment fall within CMA/Labour Division jurisdiction
— Res judicata — prior CMA and Labour Revision raised but not decided
21 September 2023
Appeal dismissed: familiar-victim identification and co-accused confession proved armed robbery.
Criminal law
— Armed robbery — Identification evidence by victims who knew the accused — Admissibility and reliability
— Evidence — cautioned statement of co-accused — Use as corroboration
— Medical evidence (PF.3) — Proof of injury consistent with assault
20 September 2023
High Court retains jurisdiction over land‑compensation disputes by landowners; Mining Commission jurisdiction limited to parties engaged in mining.
Land law — Jurisdiction — High Court original jurisdiction in civil land disputes — Mining Act s.119
20 September 2023
Applicant granted leave to defend summary suit after affidavit showed triable issues about contributions and retrenchment.
Contract law — Social security contributions
— alleged non-remittance
— challenge to penalties
— retrenchment/contractual disruption as defence
19 September 2023
Statements made at an official meeting were fair comment/privileged; the respondent failed to prove reputational harm.
Defamation — fair comment and qualified privilege — publication at official District Commissioner’s meeting — evaluation of evidence and misdirection by trial court — setting aside of excessive/unfounded damages award
19 September 2023
A trade union must prove its constitutional mandate to recruit workers in a particular sector before exercising organisation rights.
Labour law — Organisation rights
— distinction between mining and industrial sectors
— Requirement that a trade union prove its constitutional mandate and membership qualifications before recruiting workers
19 September 2023
Court accepted parties’ deed of settlement, marked the suit withdrawn, and ordered each party to bear their own costs.
Civil procedure
— Consent judgment — Recording and adoption of deed of settlement — Withdrawal of suit and costs allocation
— Costs — Parties to bear their own costs in a consent settlement
Contract law — Deed of settlement — construction and effect of payment clauses
18 September 2023
Preliminary objection overruled: res judicata inapplicable; factual disputes require evidence; plaintiff has locus to claim the plot.
Administrative law — Locus standi — entitlement to sue dependent on factual ownership established after 2022 allocation
Civil procedure — Res judicata — prior DLHT decision does not bar a new cause of action arising after issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy
Land law — preliminary objection
— factual disputes cannot be decided on PO
— requirement that a preliminary objection raise a pure point of law
14 September 2023
Parties must comply with superior court and tribunal directives to pursue land dispute resolution despite later legislative change.
Civil procedure — Revision of tribunal decisions — Scope for reviewing compliance with superior court directives and preservation of court records
Land law — Ward Tribunal — Effect of legislative amendment vis-à-vis existing superior court orders and requirement to comply
13 September 2023
Applicants failed to prove contractual continuity or provide clear payment records, so interim status‑quo relief was refused without costs.
Civil procedure
— interlocutory relief — maintenance of status quo pending expiry of 90‑day notice to sue
— Joinder
13 September 2023
Reference dismissed for failure to comply with 21‑day filing limit under Order 7(2); no extension sought.
Civil procedure
— Limitation act s.19(2) and civil procedure code s.3A — not available to cure statutory time bar in this case
— Time limitation
Evidence — evidentiary weight — official tribunal certification date preferred over unauthenticated handwritten receipt date
13 September 2023
Application to lift the corporate veil and commit the director to civil prison struck out as omnibus and premature.
Company law — Companies law
— committal to civil prison
— curable procedural defect (s3A CPC)
— legal capacity to sue
— lifting corporate veil
— omnibus application
— preliminary objection
— High Court registries nomenclature
12 September 2023
Appeal partly allowed: VAT deduction removed; exhibit admissible; appellant awarded return/payment of toner cartridges (TShs 63,525,000/=).
Contract law — breach of contract — Enforcement of oral agreement reduced to written instrument — parties bound by signed agreement
Evidence — allegations of fraud/forgery — Allegation of forged documents must be specifically pleaded and proved
Tax law — Value Added Tax — tax invoices and VAT returns as evidence of VAT paid
8 September 2023
Weapons possession conviction in national park upheld; trophy possession acquittal due to failure to hold mandated disposition hearing.
Criminal law
— Evidence — credibility of park rangers and difficulty of independent witnesses in remote park arrests
— unlawful possession of weapons in national park — proof by arresting officers and certificate of seizure
— Wildlife offences — unlawful possession of government trophy — requirement of hearing before magistrate prior to disposition/inventory
6 September 2023
A typographical error in the cited origin did not justify dismissal of a taxation; rehearing at the proper forum ordered.
Civil procedure
— Amendment — Typographical slip in case citation not fatal — Remedy: striking out/correction and rehearing
— Taxation of costs — proper forum — Overriding objective (s 3A CPC)
6 September 2023
A subsequent suit on land already finally decided is barred by res judicata and functus officio; dismissed with costs.
Land law
— Jurisdiction — when a court is barred from rehearing same cause
— ownership dispute — res judicata and functus officio — finality of judgment
— Procedural law — struck-out application — appropriate remedy is appeal
5 September 2023
Plaintiff's trespass claim was time-barred: pleaded tort (3‑year limit), no declaration sought or extension pleaded, suit dismissed with costs.
Limitation law — Limitation of actions — trespass to land characterised as a tort
5 September 2023
Insufficient and procedurally defective evidence led to quashing convictions for park entry, weapons and trophy possession.
Criminal law
— evidential doubts — benefit to accused
— National Parks Act — alleged unlawful entry
— sufficiency of evidence
— Weapons possession — linking weapons to accused
— Wildlife Conservation Act s.86(4) — admissibility and authority for trophy valuation
5 September 2023
Court recorded a deed of settlement as consent judgment, withdrew the suit and ordered each party to bear its own costs.
Civil procedure — Consent judgment — Court recording and giving effect to deed of settlement as judgment
Contract law — Contract/debt recovery — Supplier’s claim for unpaid school equipment — parties’ settlement and waiver of damages and interest
5 September 2023
Court held land acquisition and valuation disputes fall within land courts, not the Mining Commission; plaint's estimated value suffices.
Civil procedure — Pleadings — Valuation
— Sufficiency of plaint's estimated value for jurisdiction
— no requirement for scientific valuation report at filing
Limitation law — accrual of cause of action — Accrual of cause of action on event date under section 5 Limitation Act — Eviction/notice date starts limitation period
Mining law — Mining compensation — Jurisdictional boundary between Mining Commission and land courts — Compensation disputes: disturbance versus acquisition
4 September 2023
Suit dismissed because the same land dispute was pending and previously finally determined (res sub judice and res judicata).
Civil procedure
— Res judicata — Earlier final judgment on title prevents relitigation
— Res sub judice — prohibition on parallel proceedings under section 8 Civil Procedure Code
— limitation — raised but not decided as academic after res judicata
4 September 2023