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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2022 |
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Applicants failed to show special circumstances or provide adequate security to justify stay of execution pending appeal.
Civil procedure – Stay of execution pending appeal – Requirements: notice of appeal; likelihood of success; imminent execution; risk of appeal being rendered nugatory; substantial loss; promptness; security for due performance – Inadequate security where land is encumbered and occupied by squatters – Discretion to refuse stay where successful judgment creditor would be unjustly deprived.
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23 December 2022 |
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Customary heirs may validly sell inherited land without letters of administration; postdated communal certificate is not conclusive.
Customary land — Inheritance and sale by heirs; Succession Act not a bar to heirs selling inherited customary interests; Locus in quo evidence — admissibility and cross-examination; Communal land certificate — effect when issued after sale; Competency of parties — deceased and unascertained persons; Appeal — evaluation of evidence by first appellate court.
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22 December 2022 |
| November 2022 |
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Consent judgment affecting matrimonial property set aside for violating applicant’s right to be heard and allegations of fraud.
Family law; review of consent judgment; setting aside consent decree for fraud, forgery or illegality; right to fair hearing; matrimonial property; competency of review where original defendant is deceased.
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17 November 2022 |
| October 2022 |
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21 October 2022 |
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11 October 2022 |
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11 October 2022 |
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11 October 2022 |
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11 October 2022 |
| September 2022 |
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16 September 2022 |
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16 September 2022 |
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Magistrate court had jurisdiction; ex parte hearing and reliance on unchallenged evidence were justified; appeal dismissed.
* Family law – Divorce – Jurisdiction under s.3 Divorce Act – Magistrates may hear divorce where both parties are Africans irrespective of pecuniary value of properties.
* Civil procedure – Ex parte hearings – Willful absence, contempt and failure to produce evidence justify continuation.
* Evidence – Pleadings are not evidence; uncontroverted oral evidence may be relied upon.
* Civil procedure – Appeals – Grounds must be concise (Order 43(1)(2) CPR); overbroad grounds may be reformulated or dismissed.
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15 September 2022 |
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8 September 2022 |
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8 September 2022 |
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5 September 2022 |
| August 2022 |
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31 August 2022 |
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The applicant’s earlier grant prevails; the respondent’s subsequent concurrent grant is revoked and applicant declared administrator.
* Succession law – Letters of Administration – Validity and revocation – A grant remains valid until revoked and concurrent grants over one estate cannot stand.
* Succession law – Priority of representatives – Closest kindred who first obtained grant entitled to administer estate.
* Succession law – Procedural compliance – Requirement to file inventory under s.278 of the Succession Act.
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26 August 2022 |
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24 August 2022 |
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23 August 2022 |
| July 2022 |
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14 July 2022 |
| June 2022 |
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A customary widow established entitlement to participate in administering intestate estate; caveat upheld and petitions consolidated.
* Customary marriage – proof by family acceptance, ceremony photographs and spousal-consent documents.* Spousal consent and mortgage documentation as evidence of marital status.* Unregistered customary marriage not automatically void; prior dissolved monogamous marriage does not bar subsequent customary marriage.* Registration of title prima facie conclusive; burden to prove deceased contributed to acquisition or fraud to displace title.* Succession Act s.191 bars adjudication of proprietary rights before letters of administration are granted.* Competing administration petitions consolidated; caveat by lawful widow upheld.
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24 June 2022 |
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23 June 2022 |
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15 June 2022 |
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14 June 2022 |
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14 June 2022 |
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14 June 2022 |
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13 June 2022 |
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8 June 2022 |
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6 June 2022 |
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6 June 2022 |
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1 June 2022 |
| May 2022 |
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13 May 2022 |
| April 2022 |
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5 April 2022 |
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1 April 2022 |
| March 2022 |
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28 March 2022 |
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17 March 2022 |
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17 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
| February 2022 |
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9 February 2022 |
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8 February 2022 |
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An administrator’s improper registration and sale of estate land amounts to gross mismanagement; bona fide purchasers remain protected.
* Succession/Administration of Estates – administrator’s duties – requirement to file inventory and render accounts; mismanagement and misappropriation as grounds for removal. * Land law – registration and transfers – effect of registered proprietorship and protection of bona fide purchasers for value without notice under the Registration of Titles Act. * Civil procedure – pleadings and cause of action – requirements to plead and prove fraud; limitation for claims affecting estate land. * Remedies – revocation of administration, injunctions, damages and nullification of unlawful agreements.
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7 February 2022 |