|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| June 2020 |
|
|
Stay of execution granted pending appeal only if applicant deposits the decretal sum as security within 30 days.
Stay of execution pending appeal; Order 43 r.4(3) CPR — requirements of timeliness, substantial loss, and security; affidavit filing fees; balancing right to appeal and judgment creditor’s right to enforcement.
|
17 June 2020 |
|
Appellant found a bona fide occupant; respondent’s works amounted to trespass but must pay compensation rather than be evicted.
Land law – bona fide occupant: occupation and development unchallenged for 12+ years before 8 Oct 1995; Trespass – unauthorized entry and destruction of crops; Remedy – compensation in lieu of eviction where public infrastructure exists; Evidence – burden to prove title; Costs – successful party on counterclaim awarded costs.
|
17 June 2020 |
|
A suit instituted by an advocate without the client's authority is a nullity and cannot bar a subsequent suit as res judicata.
Civil procedure – res judicata – Sections 6 and 7 Civil Procedure Act – dismissal for want of prosecution under Order 9 Rule 22 – setting aside under Order 9 Rule 23(1) – effect of an advocate instituting suit without client authority; suit filed without client authority is a nullity and cannot operate as res judicata.
|
12 June 2020 |
|
Intermeddling with deceased estates and sale without letters of administration is unlawful; beneficiaries entitled to accounts, proceeds and relief.
Succession law – intermeddling with deceased’s estate – sale of estate property without letters of administration invalid – duty to render accounts and pay proceeds into court – injunctions and nominal damages for unauthorized estate management.
|
10 June 2020 |
|
Police owed a duty when deploying teargas near a hospital, but plaintiff failed to prove causation; claim dismissed.
Negligence – duty of care and foreseeability when police deploy teargas near civilian infrastructure; Use of force – proportionality and necessity in crowd control; Causation – requirement to prove on balance of probabilities that teargas exposure caused long-term injury; Humanitarian considerations – teargas as indiscriminate agent requiring operational guidelines and precautions.
|
8 June 2020 |
|
Whether photocopied sale agreements and unwitnessed customary land sales can establish title; locus in quo procedure; appeal timeliness.
Civil procedure – Appeal time computation; Evidence – Documentary evidence and authentication; Evidence Act sections on secondary evidence; Land law – customary land sale attestation and witnesses; Locus in quo inspection procedures; Damages – award in quiet-title actions.
|
8 June 2020 |
|
Stay granted pending appeal where eviction would cause substantial loss and the appeal raised arguable grounds.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Requirements: notice/record of appeal lodged, risk of substantial loss, absence of undue delay, and security — Substantial loss need not be quantified — Appeal arguable where first appellate court failed to re-appraise evidence (error of law) — Security for costs acceptable condition instead of full decretal security.
|
8 June 2020 |
|
Appellant failed to prove an ascertainable common boundary; trespass and eviction claim dismissed.
Land law – Trespass to land – requirement of an ascertained boundary for eviction; Boundary determination – natural features, monuments, recognition and acquiescence, homogeneity/heterogeneity of use; Locus in quo – scope and limits of evidence; Appellate review – reconsideration of evidence, miscarriage of justice test under Civil Procedure Act s.70 and Evidence Act s.166.
|
8 June 2020 |
|
The respondent failed to prove causation between the appellant’s negligent refuelling and the engine damage.
Tort — Negligence: duty of care of pump attendants when refuelling; breach by refuelling petrol vehicle with diesel; causation and the 'but for' test; evidential burden to prove proximate cause on balance of probabilities; appellate re‑evaluation of conflicting factual evidence.
|
8 June 2020 |
|
Applicant succeeded in libel claim; qualified privilege rebutted by express malice, awarding damages, interest, injunction and costs.
Civil procedure – plaint and cause of action – requirement to plead the words complained of in defamation suits Defamation – elements: defamatory meaning, publication, identification Publication – communication to third parties and proof thereof Qualified privilege – occasion of privilege for administrative complaints; burden shifts to plaintiff to prove express malice Malice – express malice inferred from improper motive, inadequate verification and deliberate omission of factual basis Remedies – assessment of general damages; injunction preferred to speculative punitive award
|
8 June 2020 |
|
Alleged land use and tree-felling did not constitute contempt for breaching a stay of execution; application dismissed.
Contempt of Court – definition and elements – requirement of clear, unambiguous order, personal service and warning. Civil v criminal contempt – distinctions and remedies. Execution of decrees – commencement by application and prescribed modes (delivery, attachment and sale, arrest and detention, receiver, residual measures). Stay of execution restrains enforcement processes but does not automatically prohibit ordinary use of land absent an injunction. Contempt powers discretionary and a remedy of last resort.
|
8 June 2020 |