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Citation
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Judgment date
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| September 2013 |
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Bail pending appeal granted where ballistics evidence and police testimony raised substantial prospects of success on appeal.
Criminal procedure – bail pending appeal – prospects of success versus risk to administration of justice; adequacy of ballistics expert evidence; admissibility and provenance of exhibits; credibility of police witnesses and alleged coercion at arrest.
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30 September 2013 |
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Applicant’s guilty plea and admissions, plus weak prospects of appeal, justify dismissal of bail pending appeal.
Criminal procedure – bail pending appeal – considerations: risk of absconding and prospects of success; guilty plea admissions; sufficiency of medical evidence for sentence; magistrate’s consideration of mitigation.
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30 September 2013 |
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Regulatory seizure under s 55(9) was lawful; the matter is not urgent and applicant operated without a licence.
Petroleum Act — s 55(9) seizure powers; operating without a licence — s 29; licence refusal and lease dispute — s 35; right of appeal to Administrative Court — s 56; urgency; constructive eviction; regulatory enforcement versus self-help
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29 September 2013 |
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Ordering marriage as a suspended-sentence condition for sex with a minor is improper; court substituted community service and corrected the sentence.
Criminal law — Sexual intercourse with a young person — Illegality of ordering marriage as condition of suspended sentence — Pledging prohibited (s 94(1)(b) Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act) — Sentence correction and substitution by community service — Protecting minors.
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24 September 2013 |
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The accused exceeded self-defence; convicted of culpable homicide and given a wholly suspended 12‑month sentence.
Criminal law – Culpable homicide – Excess of lawful self-defence – Mitigation and moral blameworthiness – Suspended sentence – Pretrial remand as part of punishment.
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24 September 2013 |
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Court applied s198(3) and common-purpose principles, acquitting many where State relied on undisclosed informer hearsay; several accused placed on defence.
Criminal procedure — discharge at close of State case (s198(3)) — test whether reasonable court might convict; common purpose/conspiracy (s188); inadmissible hearsay from undisclosed police informers; treatment of unproven statements in State outline (Bhaiwa; Bennett).
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18 September 2013 |
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Applicant entitled to written reasons under Administrative Justice Act; respondent ordered to furnish reasons and pay punitive costs.
Administrative law – right to written reasons – Administrative Justice Act s6(1); deponent’s authority for affidavits by corporate bodies – requirement of proof; procedural objections – exhaustion of internal remedies and non‑joinder; costs – legal practitioner and client scale for dishonest prevarication.
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15 September 2013 |
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Court struck out the defence for wilful non-attendance at pre-trial conference and granted eviction and arrears judgment.
Civil procedure — Pre-trial conference — Order 26 r182 — Non-compliance and wilful default — Striking out defence and counter-claim — Default judgment — Cancellation of lease and ejectment — Arrear rentals, interest, holding-over damages, collection commission, attorney-and-client costs.
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15 September 2013 |
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Applicant’s urgent interdict dismissed for failure to prove right to property, defective provisional order, and lack of supporting evidence.
Civil procedure – Urgent chamber application for interim interdict – Requirements for interim interdict (clear/prima facie right, irreparable harm, balance of convenience, no alternative remedy) – Failure to prove title/occupation or produce supporting documents – Draft provisional order impermissibly identical to final relief – Prior adverse Supreme Court order undermining applicant’s claim.
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12 September 2013 |