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Citation
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Judgment date
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| July 2025 |
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A defendant's unilateral consent to part of an alternative claim does not terminate the plaintiff's main claim absent the plaintiff's acceptance.
Civil procedure — Consent to judgment (Rule 21) — Effect of defendant's unilateral consent — Consent to part of alternative relief — Requirement of plaintiff's acceptance/chamber application — 'May' directory not mandatory — Amendment of pleadings and consensus ad idem.
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21 July 2025 |
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Prima facie case established against first defendant for repayment; second defendant not shown to be party to transaction.
Civil procedure — absolution from the instance — prima facie case test — restitution/unjust enrichment — receipt and admission of funds — agency/authority — burden of proof.
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21 July 2025 |
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Late-raised misjoinder and prescription defences dismissed; amendment and estoppel prevent prescription against late-joined defendant.
Prescription – limitation periods – action instituted within three-year prescriptive period; service interrupts prescription – late joinder and relation-back; estoppel/concealment prevents reliance on prescription; special plea vs exception – procedural timeliness under High Court Rules r42; governing law clause (English law) for substance, lex fori for prescription; misjoinder is factual and cannot be disposed of by exception when defendant pleaded to merits.
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21 July 2025 |
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Custodial sentences, restitution and fines required for organised fraud and theft by public officers and a corporate participant.
Criminal law — Fraud and theft by public officers — Aggravating circumstances: abuse of public office, premeditation, organised collaboration with private actor — Sentencing: presumptive custodial terms, restitution, fines, corporate liability — Suspension of portions of sentence on conditions.
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18 July 2025 |
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Claimant failed to prove the centre pivot was immovable; ownership claim dismissed and costs awarded.
Interpleader proceedings; burden of proof of ownership on balance of probabilities; presumption of ownership from possession of movable property; movable vs immovable (permanent fixture) — factors: nature, manner of annexation, and intention; failure to supplement evidence; costs awarded.
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18 July 2025 |
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Detention under s8 Immigration Act pending identity verification does not justify immediate release; AJA s6 permits compelling of reasons.
Immigration law – detention under s8(1) Immigration Act – identity and nationality verification – 14‑day statutory period – Administrative Justice Act s6 remedy to compel reasons – constitutional challenge requires Constitutional Court confirmation.
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16 July 2025 |
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Court upheld lis alibi pendens and withheld jurisdiction where defendant domiciled and prior divorce proceedings were pending in Canada.
Private international law – jurisdiction – domicile – actor forum rei; lis alibi pendens – stay/decline jurisdiction where prior foreign proceedings pending; inherent jurisdiction of High Court; best interests of children vs. forum competence; enforcement of access orders in foreign proceedings.
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16 July 2025 |
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A magistrate court may confirm an ex parte spoliation rule nisi without joining the State if possession and dispossession established.
Spoliation (mandament van spolie) – Magistrates' Court jurisdiction – ex parte rule nisi – peaceful and undisturbed possession and dispossession – effect of admissions – hearsay – joinder of State.
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16 July 2025 |
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Bail pending appeal refused where the appeal had no reasonable prospects of success on evidential and legal grounds.
Criminal law – Bail pending appeal – Williams test – Prospects of success weighed against flight risk; s173(b) Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act – proof of incorrect date; complainant’s spontaneous complaint; medical evidence on hymen; false implication unexplained; appeal against sentence lacked prospects.
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16 July 2025 |
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Proceedings under section 48 were confirmed despite a clerical error and an indeterminate post‑mortem; real and substantial justice achieved.
Criminal law – Section 48 (infanticide) – Plea canvassing and pre-sentencing inquiry – Mental state under s48(3) – Clerical error in State outline – Review of magistrates’ court record – Concealment of birth vs infanticide.
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16 July 2025 |
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Urgent stay application dismissed for lack of urgency and material non-disclosure; punitive costs awarded.
Civil procedure — Urgent chamber application — Urgency test — Deliberate inaction and prior knowledge — Material non-disclosure and falsehoods in affidavits — Applicants not properly before court — Refusal of stay of execution — Punitive costs awarded.
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16 July 2025 |
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High Court struck applicants’ declaratory application off the roll due to lis pendens from pending Magistrates Court proceedings.
Civil procedure – lis pendens – pending Magistrates Court proceedings – discretion to strike matter off High Court roll to avoid conflicting judgments; Withdrawal of previous action – withdrawal personal to party and does not bar others from initiating proceedings; Declaratory relief – inappropriate while main lease cancellations are pending elsewhere.
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15 July 2025 |
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Application struck off for improper service on a minor; affidavit defect cured; respondents awarded costs.
Civil procedure – service of process – Rule 15(13)(b) – serving court papers on a person under 16 constitutes improper service; Affidavit formalities – commissioner of oaths stamp – defect cured by re‑scanned, Registrar‑stamped document; Jurisdiction – proper service as prerequisite; Declaratory relief – competing deeds not determined due to procedural defect.
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15 July 2025 |
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Applicant with cooperative registration and payment proved rightful owner; respondent’s lease cancellation lies with the allocating authority.
Cooperative law – registration and proof of membership – allocation of stands – administrative double/allocation disputes – onus of proof for eviction – privity of contract and limits on declaratory relief to cancel leases.
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14 July 2025 |
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Court dismissed objection to an email’s production, directing use of Civil Evidence Act procedures to prove admissibility.
Civil evidence — Admissibility of electronic documents — Authentication of computer‑produced documents (s 13 Civil Evidence Act) — First‑hand hearsay (s 27) — Business records (s 14) — Refreshing memory and inspection (s 19) — Court examination to determine admissibility (s 50) — Procedural obligations when leading electronic evidence.
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14 July 2025 |
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Leave to appeal refused; applicant’s stock theft convictions and cumulative mandatory nine-year sentences upheld.
Criminal law – stock theft – recent possession and false movement/clearance documents – reliance on accomplice evidence – calling of witnesses mero motu – mandatory minimum sentences – concurrent versus cumulative sentences.
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14 July 2025 |
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Registration refused where authenticated award was not filed and enforcement would violate public policy due to procedural unfairness.
Arbitration — Model Law Article 35(2): mandatory requirement to file authenticated award and arbitration agreement; Article 36(1)(b)(ii): narrow public policy exception for awards violating fundamental natural justice (deciding without viva voce evidence; deciding on unpleaded causes); no general duty to file full arbitral record with enforcement application.
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11 July 2025 |
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Court set aside a wrongly extended perpetual‑silence order and restored the applicant's right to sue without prior leave.
Perpetual silence orders; vexatious litigant; extension of interdict to non‑party; access to courts (s69); rescission under High Court Rules r29(1)(a).
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11 July 2025 |
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Application to set aside company director change dismissed as prescribed, trusts improperly represented, affidavits incompetent, and material facts disputed.
Prescription – companies litigation; Representation of trusts – authority of trustee-deponent; Competency of affidavit – personal knowledge and hearsay; Founding affidavit – requirement to plead cause of action; Motion procedure – material disputes of fact require trial; Setting-aside company registry entries – burden to prove fraud or irregularity.
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11 July 2025 |
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Court granted condonation, uplifted bar and reinstated withdrawn pleadings after finding reasonable explanation and prospects of success.
Practice Direction 3/2013 – struck off the roll – fatally defective applications; condonation and extension of time as proper remedy; composite applications for condonation, upliftment of bar and reinstatement permissible; factors for condonation (explanation, prospects of success, prejudice); mootness where subsequent events render relief academic.
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10 July 2025 |
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Applicant had standing but failed to prove full performance of an oral sale; declaratur refused.
Civil procedure – locus standi; declaratory relief under s14 High Court Act; proof and performance of oral contracts; common mistake as to contracting party’s name; evidentiary weight of correspondence/admissions in affidavits.
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10 July 2025 |
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Whether the plaintiff can recover US$616,518 paid under void transactions despite alleged prescription and S.I.33 conversion.
Prescription – interruption by acknowledgment (s.18 Prescription Act) – conversion of foreign-currency liabilities under S.I.33/2019 – scope limited where obligation crystallises after effective date – unjust enrichment (condictio sine causa) – restitution in US dollar value – punitive costs.
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10 July 2025 |
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High Court may grant provisional sentence to enforce a labour consent determination and written acknowledgment as a liquid debt.
Labour law – enforcement of consent determinations; Civil procedure – provisional sentence – liquid document; High Court jurisdiction to enforce settlement agreements arising from labour disputes; Written acknowledgment of debt as basis for provisional sentence.
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10 July 2025 |
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Court imposed substantial custodial sentences and fines for fraud by public officers who abused positions of trust; corporate offender fined.
Criminal law — Fraud — Sentencing — aggravating factors: abuse of public office, premeditation, organized gang — custodial sentences and fines required — Sentencing Guidelines binding; corporate offender fined; community service not available to artificial person.
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9 July 2025 |
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Applicant church lacked standing to obtain a final interdict over disputed church property; spoliation remedy available.
Interdict — clear right/locus standi — requirement to prove legal entitlement — possession versus ownership — availability of spoliation as alternative remedy — church leadership disputes do not vest land ownership.
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8 July 2025 |
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A review application citing repealed rules and failing to lodge the record is a nullity, struck off with costs.
Administrative law — Review procedure — SI 202/2021 (new rules) — Rule 62(5) — obligation to lodge original record — procedural compliance; Repealed rules — filing under non-existent provisions renders application void; Striking off the roll — failure to place record before court.
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8 July 2025 |
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A continuing course of adultery prevents full prescription; condonation and non‑joinder do not preclude the claim.
Prescription — adultery damages — continuing wrong — prescriptive period only bars portions older than three years; condonation/compensation mitigatory not extinguishing; non-joinder not fatal.
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8 July 2025 |
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Whether additional tax assessments were valid given prior assessments, procedural notice defects, and lack of evidence of objection.
Tax law — validity of assessments — finality and functus officio — additional assessments under s 47 — notice of objection requirement s 51(3) — ex facie invalidity of assessment documents — evidentiary burden to prove objection or s 47 process.
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8 July 2025 |
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Application dismissed because material disputes of fact between the applicant and respondent require oral evidence.
Civil procedure — application proceedings — material disputes of fact requiring viva voce evidence — delivery of machinery: operating lease versus capital contribution under shareholders' agreement — dismissal where disputes cannot be resolved on papers.
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8 July 2025 |
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The respondent must refund the purchase price, payable in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate under SI 33/2019.
Prescription — accrual of cause of action occurs when debt is due and creditor aware of facts; SI 33/2019 — conversion of USD liabilities to RTGS/ZWL; discharge at prevailing interbank rate rather than mandatory 1:1 parity; rescission and restitution of purchase price.
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8 July 2025 |
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Conviction for negligent driving upheld; sentence set aside for non-compliance with s90 Registrar's certificate requirement.
Criminal law — Negligent driving — Duty at stop sign to yield and proceed only when objectively safe; credibility of appellant's version; Sentencing — Mandatory production of Registrar's certificate under s90 Road Traffic Act; sentence vitiated if non-compliant.
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7 July 2025 |
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Appeal against cumulative sentences for multiple aggravated robberies and rape dismissed; concurrent sentences not warranted.
Criminal law – Robbery in aggravating circumstances – sentencing; Concurrent versus consecutive sentences – when appropriate; First offender mitigation – weight to be accorded; Appellate intervention in sentencing – misdirection or shock required.
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7 July 2025 |
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High Court withheld certification of an unduly lenient fine for a father's indecent assault on his 13-year-old daughter.
Criminal law — indecent assault of a child by a parent — sentencing — aggravating factors (position of authority, victim's age, access) — gender-based violence — sentencing guidelines (SI 146 of 2023) — withholding of certificate on review.
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7 July 2025 |
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2 July 2025 |
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2 July 2025 |
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Review dismissed: magistrate lawfully reheard appeal de novo; no prejudice from procedural form error; damages unproven.
Review of magistrate's rehearing de novo – Local Courts Rules/form of notice of appeal – procedural non-compliance and prejudice – peremption/execution of judgment prior to appeal – proof of quantum of damages – currency of judgment (US$) and statutory instruments – access to justice for unrepresented litigants
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2 July 2025 |
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A former employee occupying farm land lacked locus standi to pursue rescission of an eviction default judgment.
Civil procedure — rescission of default judgment — locus standi — former employee’s occupation of land does not confer substantive interest to challenge eviction.
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2 July 2025 |
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A stated case was set aside; trial required to determine indebtedness and interest; unilateral letter not a binding contract against the applicant.
Procedure — Rule 52 stated/special case — incompetence where factual disputes and binding admissions exist; Contract formation — letter versus signed contract; Privity of contract — judicial admissions can preclude privity defence; Interest/usury — lawfulness requires factual inquiry; Admissions in pleadings — binding.
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2 July 2025 |
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Non-joinder of occupants facing eviction and demolition is fatal; affected persons must be joined and heard under r 32 and s 74.
Civil procedure – Joinder – High Court Rules r 32(11)–(12) – Direct and substantial interest – Non‑joinder fatal where occupants face eviction/demolition; Constitutional protection against eviction (s 74) requires hearing of affected persons.
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1 July 2025 |
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1 July 2025 |
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1 July 2025 |
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Consent to amend summons did not bar an exception; annulment and divorce may be pleaded alternatively.
Family law — Pleading annulment (nullity) and divorce alternatively — Consent to amend summons does not preclude exceptions — Res judicata not established — High Court Rules 41 and 68 — Sections 5 and 13 Matrimonial Causes Act.
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1 July 2025 |
| June 2025 |
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Carrier failed to prove armed robbery as vis major and is liable for the lost gold; counterclaim dismissed on currency grounds.
Carrier liability – Praetor's Edict – strict liability for carriage of goods; vis major/casus fortuitus – burden and narrow scope; armed robbery as defence – proof required; negligence/alternative aquilian claim; allegations of collusion – speculative; counterclaim – currency of invoices payable in local currency at prevailing rate; subrogation not established.
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30 June 2025 |
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Trustee’s improper appointment and an unlawful amendment that would disinherit named beneficiaries were set aside; beneficiaries’ rights protected.
Trusts — Trustee powers and fiduciary duties — Specific appointment provisions prevail over general delegation clauses — Variation of trust deed by trustee — beneficiaries’ consent required for amendments affecting their rights — Letters of wishes non‑binding — Interdict and declarator to protect beneficiaries — Costs on attorney‑client scale for obstructive conduct.
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30 June 2025 |
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Court stayed execution of specified attached farming goods pending rescission, finding the applicant re-registered and prospects of success; no costs awarded.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending rescission — Prospects of success and balance of convenience — Judicial attachment and use of attached goods — Company re-registration as prima facie proof of existence — Dirty hands doctrine.
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27 June 2025 |
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Revival granted where consent order provided an unambiguous method to ascertain money owing despite no fixed figure being stated.
Civil procedure – Revival of superannuated judgment – High Court Rules r 69 – Judgment debt requirement – Sufficiency of method for ascertaining amount in consent order – Informal indulgences do not vary court orders; application to amend required.
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27 June 2025 |
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The plaintiff may evict the defendant who relied on an unauthorised person; no apparent authority, estoppel or constitutional bar.
Property law – rei vindicatio – owner entitled to recover property once ownership and defendant’s possession are established; onus on possessor to prove right to retain. Agency – no actual or apparent authority where principal gave no representation or mandate. Estoppel – requires representation by the owner, reliance and prejudice; absent here. Constitutional law – Section 74 (freedom from arbitrary eviction) does not preclude court-ordered eviction after due process.
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27 June 2025 |
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Applicants granted condonation to bring a rescission under rule 29 after delay, given explanation and prospects of success due to procedural defects in consent order.
Civil procedure — Rescission of judgment by consent — Rule 449 (repealed)/Rule 29 — Condonation for delay required where rescission is not brought promptly — Prospects of success and procedural non-compliance with Rule 54 (consent orders) relevant to rescission applications — Costs in the cause.
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27 June 2025 |
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Plaintiffs proved title but failed to prove defendants mined within their claims; absolution granted for lack of prima facie evidence.
Mining law — ejectment/trespass — need to prove location of workings relative to registered claim boundaries; Evidence — requirement to produce surveyor's report and call surveyor or expert to establish boundary positions; Civil procedure — absolution from the instance — plaintiff must make out a prima facie case on essential elements; Non-joinder — where a third-party titleholder is central, claim v. claim issues may arise; Company litigation — a company officer may testify absent a formal resolution where company has participated.
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26 June 2025 |
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Plaintiff’s summons failed to disclose a cause of action; exception upheld and claim struck off the roll with costs.
Civil procedure – Exception – Failure to disclose cause of action – Vagueness and embarrassing pleadings – Consequence: striking out/ striking off the roll; Admission/concession – withdrawal requires cogent explanation and consideration of prejudice; Amendment – limits where declaration struck out; Special pleas (arbitration/illegality) not decided once exception upheld.
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26 June 2025 |