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Citation
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Judgment date
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| May 2018 |
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Plaintiff’s registered title was held obtained by fraud; special certificate cancelled, suit dismissed, counterclaim succeeds with costs and damages.
Land law – Registered title – Indefeasibility subject to fraud – Special certificate issuance under Sections 70–72 Registration of Titles Act – Succession/estate rights and administration – Burden and standard of proof in fraud allegations.
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2 May 2018 |
| April 2018 |
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Official letters criticizing the applicant’s conduct were held not defamatory; claim dismissed with costs.
Defamation — libel — meaning and publication — contextual meaning of words 'stealth', 'incitement', 'sabotage' — reasonable person test — publication requirement — official communications concerning contractor conduct not defamatory; qualified privilege unnecessary where no defamatory meaning established.
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25 April 2018 |
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Beneficiaries' revocation claim partly res judicata, but action dismissed as time-barred under the Limitation Act.
Civil procedure – res judicata (Section 7 CPA) – effect of consent judgment – Explanation 6 applicability. Limitation – actions concerning deceased persons’ estates – 12-year period under Section 20 Limitation Act; Section 19(1) trust/fraud exception inapplicable where no trust pleaded. Pleading requirements – disability (minority) must be pleaded to suspend limitation (O.7 r.6 CPR); particulars of fraud must be pleaded (O.6 r.3 CPR). Procedural law – preliminary points of law (limitation) may be entertained at hearing even if not pleaded, with fair notice to parties.
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24 April 2018 |
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Termination based on an unproven retirement policy without notice was procedurally unfair; employee awarded pay in lieu, repatriation and interest.
Employment law – Termination – Retirement – absence of contractual or institutional retirement policy – employer cannot rely on unproduced standing orders. Employment law – Termination for re-organization – Section 81 Employment Act – requirement to give at least four weeks' notice or pay in lieu. Employment law – Remedies – pay in lieu of notice, repatriation under section 39, interest; refusal of general damages and payment in lieu of unclaimed annual leave. Procedural fairness – employer's burden to prove policy or contractual term relied upon for dismissal.
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13 April 2018 |
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Bank did not owe fiduciary duties to third‑party mortgagor; counterclaim for shs.4,000,000 succeeded.
Banking law – third‑party mortgage – distinction from indemnity/guarantee; bank’s duties limited and not fiduciary absent special circumstances Contracts – effect of signed mortgage deed; parol evidence rule; defences to binding signature (fraud, misrepresentation, duress, undue influence, non est factum) Civil procedure – judgment on admission; exercise of court’s discretion to enter judgment on unequivocal admission Remedies – counterclaim enforcement, general damages and post‑judgment interest at 8%
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9 April 2018 |
| March 2018 |
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Publication of a public-space photograph on a billboard without consent infringed the applicant’s privacy; injunction and nominal damages awarded.
Constitutional and international law – Right to privacy (Article 27 Constitution; Article 17 ICCPR) – Publication of images taken in public spaces – when publication for commercial gain requires consent. Balancing exercise – right to privacy versus freedom of expression/commercial speech. Remedies – nominal damages and injunctive relief for unauthorized commercial use of image.
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26 March 2018 |
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Failure to plead disability renders a proprietary land claim time‑barred; trial court misdirected on limitation.
Limitation Act (s.5, s.6, s.11, s.21(1)(c)) – actions to recover land – accrual of cause of action – disability does not postpone accrual but may extend limitation if pleaded; Pleadings – disability must be pleaded (Order 18 r.13 CPR); Adverse possession – uninterrupted hostile possession can vest title; Out‑of‑time land claims are barred and trial judgments based on unpleaded disability are liable to be set aside.
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22 March 2018 |
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A school’s use of a one-off pre-registration test to exclude promoted candidates from its UNEB centre was unfair, discriminatory and unlawful.
Administrative law – grant-aided schools – actions constituting administrative action – Article 42 (right to fair administrative action). Education law – promotion to candidate class – legitimate expectation to be registered at school UNEB centre after promotion to S.4. Assessment law – distinction between formative/interim (low-stakes) and summative/high-stakes tests; improper conversion and use of diagnostic test as pre-registration high-stakes exam. Discrimination – wrongful/animus-based discrimination by excluding lower-performing students to protect institutional reputation. Remedies – award of general damages for emotional and practical harm, interest and costs.
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22 March 2018 |
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Agreement to assist obtain replacement certificates held voluntary, lacking contractual intention and consideration; appeal dismissed.
Contract law – Intention to create legal relations – Consideration – Voluntary assistance versus enforceable agreement; First appeal – re‑hearing evidence and error of law in finding enforceable contract.
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22 March 2018 |
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A Taxing Officer must give reasons for a taxation award; an unreasoned award was set aside and remitted for fresh taxation.
Taxation of costs – Duty of Taxing Officer to give reasons – Judicial obligation to state principles and factual conclusions – Unreasoned taxation award set aside and remit for fresh taxation.
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19 March 2018 |
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Court reversed Law Council’s imposition of extra supervised practice, ordered certificate issuance, awarded damages and costs.
Advocates Act — review of Law Council decisions — distinction between judicial review and statutory review under Advocates Act; supervised practice requirements — scope and limits of Law Council powers; recognition of foreign/postgraduate professional legal qualifications — non‑discrimination and EAC integration obligations; misfeasance in public office — remedy of damages; orders reversing administrative decision and directing issuance of certificate of eligibility.
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16 March 2018 |
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A mutual commercial reconciliation is binding absent proven duress or misrepresentation; defendant liable for reconciled debt and damages.
Commercial law – account reconciliation – binding effect of mutually signed reconciliation absent fraud, mistake, undue influence or illegitimate duress; Evidence Act – admissions; Contract law – duress, undue influence, non est factum and mistake; Remedies – damages and interest on decreed commercial debts.
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15 March 2018 |
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Court ordered taxation of advocate-client bill after the respondent failed to demand taxation within the statutory period.
Advocates Act ss.50, 57–58 – advocate-client bills – effect of written fee agreement; service and itemisation requirements; taxation by Taxing Officer; court’s power to order taxation where client fails to act; Advocates (Remuneration and Taxation) Reg.10.
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15 March 2018 |
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The respondent failed to prove customary inheritance; communal customary ownership of the land succeeded.
Customary land – proof of customary ownership and inheritance – burden on claimant to establish applicable customary rules and devolution – corporate entity cannot rely on director’s inheritance without proof – communal grazing rights and abandonment.
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15 March 2018 |
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An administration deed bars garnishee enforcement where the creditor’s claim arose prior to the deed; advocate’s fees were so bound.
Insolvency law – provisional administration – moratorium on enforcement actions under administration deed. Administration deed binds creditors as to claims arising on or before the deed’s date, including contingent claims. Advocate’s professional fees arising from instructions accepted before administration are provable contingent liabilities. Creditor bound by deed must prove its debt to the administrator or obtain court leave before enforcement.
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15 March 2018 |
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Court holds award procured in breach of PPDA was nullity; contract cancelled and awarded to appellant.
Public Procurement – evaluation criteria – substantial responsiveness to bidding document – failure to meet mandatory experience requirements renders bid non-responsive; Public Procurement – administrative review – section 90(7) PPDA Act mandatory; contract signed during review period is void; Regulations cannot validate illegally procured contracts; procedural objections (late memorandum, absence of party at Tribunal) do not bar merit review where party heard on appeal.
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13 March 2018 |
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Temporary injunction granted restraining travel ban pending trial, finding prima facie case, irreparable harm and balance of convenience in applicant’s favour.
Civil procedure – Temporary injunction – criteria: prima facie case, irreparable injury, balance of convenience. Tax law – travel ban – section 105 Income Tax Act – requirement of reasonable grounds that person may leave permanently. Constitutional law – right to practise profession (Art 40(2)) – loss of constitutional rights may constitute irreparable harm. Res judicata and pre-existing appellate findings – limitations on interlocutory relief and the need not to decide substantive issues at interlocutory stage.
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4 March 2018 |
| February 2018 |
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Civil Remedies|Costs|Taxation of Bill of Costs
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23 February 2018 |
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Court granted a temporary injunction restraining enforcement of a travel ban pending trial, finding prima facie case and irreparable harm.
Temporary injunction — travel ban — prima facie case, irreparable harm and balance of convenience — section 105 Income Tax Act (travel ban) — constitutional right to practise profession (Art. 40(2)) — res judicata and effect of prior Supreme Court finding.
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6 February 2018 |
| January 2018 |
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Administrative Law|Administrative Review
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31 January 2018 |
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Administrative Law|Administrative Review
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31 January 2018 |
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Constitutional Law|Constitutional Supremacy
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31 January 2018 |
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A magazine headline and articles wrongly accusing the plaintiff of squandering funds were defamatory; fair comment defence rejected.
Defamation – publication and headline – whether statements tend to lower plaintiff in estimation of right-thinking society; public figure – limits of fair comment; requirement of factual basis and absence of malice; remedies including general and exemplary damages, injunction and removal from web; interest and costs.
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30 January 2018 |
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A duplicative judicial review challenging the same mining decision pending in another suit was dismissed as forum shopping; each party to bear own costs.
Administrative law – Judicial review – certiorari and prohibition – grounds: illegality, irrationality, procedural impropriety. Civil procedure – Abuse of process – forum shopping by instituting duplicative proceedings while related matter is pending. Mining law – grant of mineral rights – continuing acts in pending litigation should be raised before the trial judge.
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19 January 2018 |
Judicial review—university disciplinary proceedings—fair hearing and natural Justice—ultra vires decisions—student expulsion legality—administrative decision-making standards—remedies of certiorari, prohibition, and damages
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17 January 2018 |
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Civil Procedure|Actions and applications
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15 January 2018 |
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Constitutional Law|Delict and Tort Law|Defamation
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11 January 2018 |
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Civil Procedure|Appeals and reviews|Civil Appeal Procedure|Have his cause heard (fair trial)|HR
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11 January 2018 |
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Property Law|Land|Land Dispute
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11 January 2018 |
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Review dismissed: format changes to standard customer agreements did not amount to new, important evidence.
Civil procedure — Review of judgment — Order 46(1) and section 82 — Discovery of new and important evidence — Format changes to standard customer agreements do not constitute new evidence; duty of due diligence to produce documents; tariff modification not prejudicial.
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10 January 2018 |
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Administrative Law|Principles|Rationality
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9 January 2018 |
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Civil Procedure|Institution of proceedings
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9 January 2018 |
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Civil Procedure|Errors and rectifications|Revision of Judgment
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9 January 2018 |
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Civil Procedure|Institution of proceedings
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8 January 2018 |
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Delict and Tort Law|Property Law|Land|Land Dispute
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8 January 2018 |