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38 judgments found.
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December 1995
Whether a caveat under s149 RTA can be challenged by originating summons despite contested factual allegations and mis‑citation of procedure.
Registration of Titles Act s149 — Caveat removal — Originating summons v ordinary suit — Order 34 r3 and r7 CPR — Amendment of procedural citation — Requirement for oral evidence and witnesses where factual disputes alleged.
5 December 1995
November 1995
Letters of administration revoked for failure to exhibit accounts and mismanagement; new administrators appointed and defendants ordered to account.
Succession law — Revocation of letters of administration — Just cause under s.233(2) — Failure to exhibit inventory/account as required by s.280 — Grant become useless/inoperative — Mismanagement and disposal of estate assets — Appointment of new administrators — Order to account and deposit letters.
24 November 1995
Letters of administration revoked for failure to account; new administrators appointed; no general damages awarded.
Succession law — Revocation of letters of administration — Failure to exhibit inventory and account — Grant become useless/inoperative — Appointment of new administrators — No general damages without quantifiable loss.
24 November 1995
A court upheld Amin-era vesting and management of expropriated property and validated a bank encumbrance created by appointed managers, dismissing the plaintiff's claims.
Expropriation law — Amin-era decrees and Expropriated Properties Act 1982 — vesting of abandoned/ascribed assets; Government-appointed management — authority to borrow and create encumbrances; validity of bank mortgage/caveat created by state-appointed managers; remedies of former owners against lenders and State under the Expropriated Properties Act.
14 November 1995
Plaintiff's trespass claim failed because defendant's earlier-registered title established ownership; suit dismissed with costs.
Property law — title disputes — competing registered titles; evidence and priority of registration; allegations of fraud in procurement of certificate of title; trespass claims require ownership proved on a balance of probabilities.
3 November 1995
October 1995
Owner held vicariously liable for servant-driver’s negligent overtaking; plaintiff awarded special and general damages.
Negligence — unsafe overtaking on a hill/curve; vicarious liability of owner for servant-driver; proof of ownership despite non-registration; quantum of special and general damages; failure to prove contributory negligence.
18 October 1995
September 1995
Conviction for embezzlement upheld on circumstantial evidence; illegal sentence set aside and file remitted for statutory sentencing and compensation.
Criminal law — Embezzlement — Circumstantial evidence and corroboration — Appellate re-evaluation of facts — Burden of proof — Mandatory minimum sentence (s.257) and compensation order (s.259) under the Penal Code Act.
15 September 1995
15 September 1995
August 1995
Whether the applicant company required a board resolution to sue — court held the objection premature to decide.
Company law — capacity to sue — Article 80 (Table A) — board resolution not always required; affidavit by company officer and authority to litigate; preliminary objection premature; Order 33 summary procedure; unpleaded offer to deposit security inadmissible.
30 August 1995
18 August 1995
July 1995
Court convicts and sentences accused for defiling a minor, with corroborated testimony and medical evidence outweighing retracted confession.
Criminal Law — Defilement — elements of proof — admissibility of retracted confession — age determination of a minor.
12 July 1995
High Court confirms four-year sentence imposed on the accused after an unequivocal guilty plea to indecent assault.
Criminal procedure — Confirmation of sentences — Magistrates Courts Act s.167(1)(2)(a) — Plea of guilty — Conviction based on unequivocal plea and admitted facts — Indecent assault (Penal Code s.122(1))
7 July 1995
High Court confirmed a three-year imprisonment for the accused convicted of grievous harm, finding the sentence appropriate.
Criminal law — Grievous harm (s212 Penal Code Act) — Confirmation of sentence under s167 Magistrates Courts Act 1970 (as amended) — Sufficiency of evidence — Appropriateness of custodial sentence
7 July 1995
7 July 1995
High Court confirmed a three-year sentence for attempted arson after finding the guilty plea unequivocal and the conviction proper.
Criminal law — Attempted arson — Conviction on guilty plea — Acceptance of unequivocal plea — Sentencing — Confirmation of sentence under s.167 Magistrates’ Courts Act 1970 (as amended) where imprisonment exceeds two years — Grade I Magistrate.
7 July 1995
1 July 1995
June 1995
Whether the Attorney General is vicariously liable for an officer's refusal to permit entry that led to property damage.
Vicarious liability — course of employment — proof of special damages — negligence in mitigation — evidential contradictions and balance of probabilities.
10 June 1995
An individual who is neither director nor shareholder lacked authority to sue in the company’s name; proceedings were improper and costs awarded.
Company law — authority to sue — who may institute proceedings on behalf of a company — directors and shareholders; Company law — unauthorised commencement of suit — ratification and its requirements; Civil procedure — striking out actions plainly lacking capacity; Costs — solicitor-and-client and party-and-party awards for improper institution of proceedings.
6 June 1995
Proceedings in a company’s name instituted by a person without authority are a nullity unless validly ratified; costs may be ordered against the instigating party.
Company law — capacity and authority to sue — proceedings brought in a company’s name by a person who is not a director or shareholder — want of authority a nullity unless validly ratified — ratification must come from proper corporate organ — objection to authority may be struck out if defect plainly appears; costs consequences where proceedings improperly instituted.
6 June 1995
May 1995
Accused sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for manslaughter after drunken altercation results in brother's death.
Criminal Law — Manslaughter — Plea of guilty — Sentence considerations — Intoxication as mitigating factor in sentencing.
31 May 1995
Forfeiture of recognisance, unlawful taxation/enforcement of private costs, improper attachments, and correction of excessive default sentences.
Criminal procedure — recognisance/bail forfeiture — forfeiture requires sworn evidence of breach under Magistrates’ Court Act
Costs — private prosecutor’s bill cannot be enforced absent an express costs order in judgment
Enforcement — attachment of property and arrest to enforce an unlawfully-allowed bill of costs is unlawful. Judicial power — Chief Magistrate’s attachment of complainant’s property lacked legal authority
Sentencing — default imprisonment in lieu of fines must conform to statutory scale under the Magistrates’ Court Act
31 May 1995
Forfeiture of bail, taxation and enforcement of costs without a costs order, and excessive default sentences were unlawful and corrected on revision.
Criminal procedure — forfeiture of recognisance — need for sworn evidence of breach; Costs — taxation and enforcement require an order for costs; Attachment/arrest to enforce costs unlawful absent order; Magistrates’ Courts Act s.192(d) — statutory limits on default sentences.
31 May 1995
Prima facie case requires evidence a reasonable tribunal could convict on; suspicion and hearsay insufficient; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — Forgery — Prima facie case test — burden on prosecution — evidence must be such that a reasonable tribunal could convict; hearsay and mere suspicion insufficient. Procedure — Magistrates' Courts Act s.125 — no requirement to hear prosecutor before ruling no case to answer.
12 May 1995
12 May 1995
Court stayed execution pending appeal, confirming right to appeal ex parte decree and applying Order 39 r.4 criteria.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal to Supreme Court — Right to appeal ex parte decree (s.69(1) CPA) — Inherent jurisdiction (s.101 CPA) — Order 39 r.4 criteria: risk of substantial loss, delay, security.
3 May 1995
March 1995
17 March 1995
6 March 1995
A grant of Probate/Administration vests exclusive representative authority in the grantee; others are barred from suing on the estate.
Succession law — Representative standing — Effect of grant of Probate/Letters of Administration — Only grantee may act for deceased until recall/revocation (s.264 Succession Act). Civil procedure — Preliminary objection — Competency of plaintiff to sue in respect of estate property
Registration of Titles — Estate land severance and the role of the Administrator General in actions affecting estate land
6 March 1995
A succession certificate does not authorise litigation where Probate/Administration has been granted to the Administrator General.
Succession law — representative capacity to sue; Probate/Letters of Administration vs succession certificate; s.264 Succession Act bars others from suing as representative; effect of Registration of Titles Act entry; limitation defence raised but matter determined on representative capacity.
6 March 1995
Plaintiff proved unpaid supply of petroleum; defendant’s unproven set-off failed; judgment for principal with court-rate interest.
Civil debt — sale of goods (petroleum) — proof of indebtedness — admission in writing supports plaintiff’s claim. Set-off — burden of proof — defendant failed to prove alleged loss from defective equipment
Interest — claimant’s contractual or claimed high rate must be justified; court may award statutory/court rate instead
Costs — unspecified attendant/financial costs not allowed without proof
6 March 1995
Plaintiff awarded damages after court finds driver’s negligence caused pedestrian injuries.
Tort—Road traffic accident; negligence—duty of care and breach by speeding/loss of control; causation—linking driver’s negligence to pedestrian injuries; quantum—assessment of general damages.
3 March 1995
February 1995
Revision refused where appeal lay and no record showed accused was of unsound mind when he pleaded guilty.
Criminal procedure — Revision v appeal — s.341(5) Criminal Procedure Code bars revision at instance of a party who could have appealed; Magistrate’s Court Act s.111 procedure for accused of unsound mind; plea of guilty and admitted facts suffice absent contemporaneous indication of incapacity.
28 February 1995
28 February 1995
Court corrected an illegal six-month default sentence to the one-month statutory maximum under section 192(d) MCA 1970.
Criminal revision — plea of guilty — assault occasioning actual bodily harm — sentencing — default sentence exceeding statutory maximum — section 192(d) Magistrates Courts Act 1970 — correction under section 339 Criminal Procedure Code
28 February 1995
January 1995
Administrator may sue for alleged inter vivos gift; prior caveat ruling did not finally decide ownership, so res judicata inapplicable.
Civil procedure — preliminary objection — whether plaint discloses cause of action; locus standi of administrator to sue; res judicata — scope of previous adjudication (caveat/codicil versus ownership).
31 January 1995
31 January 1995
24 January 1995
Court has jurisdiction to set aside arbitration awards and may admit supplementary affidavits with leave.
Arbitration — Setting aside arbitral awards — High Court jurisdiction to entertain challenges despite clauses asserting finality of award — statutory grounds (misconduct, improperly procured) for setting aside. Civil procedure — Supplementary affidavits — Leave of court required; court may admit on exercise of inherent/statutory powers to do justice
Practice — Advocates and registries should file and lodge affidavits and pleadings in good time
1 January 1995