Commercial

FLYNOTE
Land Law – Bona fide possession – Right of retention – Section 62 of the Land Act 1979 – Regulation 6 of the Land Regulations 2011 – Effect of statutory deeming –
2
Compensation for improvements – Absence of title – Public purposes – Vindicatory action – Equitable doctrines.

FLYNOTE
Summary judgment – Appealability – Interlocutory order – Financial Consumer Protection Act 2022 – Counterclaim – Procedural fairness – Leave to appeal – Summary dismissal – Costs.

FLYNOTE
Contempt of Court – Procurement Tribunal – Enforcement of Tribunal Order – Validity and Limits of Court Orders – Public Procurement Regulations – Res Judicata – Statutory Illegality as Defence – Whether disobedience of court order can be justified on grounds of statutory non-compliance.

FLYNOTE
Appeal — Condonation — Costs — Appeal struck off — Appropriate scale of costs — Late withdrawal of appeal — Breach of Court Rules — Punitive costs — Attorney and client scale.

FLYNOTE
Criminal law – Murder – Extenuating circumstances – Appeal against conviction – Sentence enhancement in absence of cross-appeal – Power of appellate court to vary sentence
2
proprio motu – Manifestly lenient sentence – Sentencing discretion – Role of deterrence and public abhorrence in punishment.

FLYNOTE
Civil Procedure — Rescission of default judgment — Whether appellant afforded opportunity to be heard — Mandatory nature of Rule 18(2) of the District Land Court Rules — Bona fide defence — Audi alteram partem — Appeal dismissed.

FLYNOTE
Civil Procedure — Postponement of appeal — Representation — Counsel withdrawal — Continuation of stay of execution — Costs in the cause.

FLYNOTE
Criminal Law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Whether inference of intent to kill established beyond reasonable doubt – Culpable homicide – Whether trial court misdirected itself in failing to consider absence of mens rea for murder – Penal Code Act 2010 (Lesotho), sections 40, 41.

FLYNOTE
Criminal Law — Murder — Self-defence — Whether Crown proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt — Whether trial court misdirected itself in rejecting self-defence — Duties of appellate court on findings of fact — Credibility of witnesses — Single witness rule — Forensic inconsistencies — Investigative irregularities

FLYNOTE
Land Law – Registered lease – Allegation of fraud – Evidentiary burden – Donation inter vivos – Improvements made in good faith – Right to compensation – Presumption of regularity – Family dispute.

FLYNOTE
Land Law – Donation under customary law – Competing claims of heirship and perfected donation – Regularisation of title through systematic adjudication – Lease issued pursuant to possession and long-standing occupation – Effect of vague and delayed nomination of heirship – Good faith purchasers – Failure to comply with appellate procedural rules.

FLYNOTE
Arbitration – Interim interdict – Jurisdiction of court notwithstanding arbitration clause – Independent guarantee – Fraud exception – Arbitration Act 1980, ss 4 and 22 – Relationship between guarantee and main contract – Interlocutory relief pending arbitration – Misrepresentation as ground for interdict

FLYNOTE,
Civil Procedure – Leave to appeal – Section 17 of the Court of Appeal Act 1978 – Whether leave to appeal required from decision of High Court in review matters – Distinction between appellate and original jurisdiction – Decision in Ntoetsi Tau-Tona v Maphoka Ramoea overruled – Application for leave struck off roll – No order as to costs.

FLYNOTE
Land Law—Unjust enrichment—Bona fide possessor—Compensation for improvements—Measure of enrichment—Retention of rental income—Set-off—Discretion of the court—Limits of discretion—Condonation—Whether late appeal permissible.

FLYNOTE
Criminal law—Murder—Self-defence—Constructive intent—Sentencing discretion—Appeal against conviction and sentence—Whether appellant acted in private defence—Whether sentence of 18 years’ imprisonment excessive.

FLYNOTE
Civil Procedure – Appeal – Lapsed appeal – Rules of Court of Appeal 2006, rules 4, 5(1), 5(3) and 15(3) – Application for declarator and condonation – Misconceived application – Duty of legal practitioners – Costs de bonis propriis.

FLYNOTE
Civil Procedure – Condonation – Appeal – Functus officio – Execution – Whether High Court may set aside writ of execution inconsistent with its original judgment – Application to amend writ – Delay in lodging appeal – Reasonableness of explanation – Prospects of success – In duplum rule – Legal finality.

FLYNOTE
Police – Malicious arrest – Claim for damages – Special plea of prescription – Police Service Act 1998, s 77 – Whether High Court entitled to determine prescription without hearing oral evidence – Failure to adduce evidence on interruption of prescription – Whether remittal appropriate – Use of “torture” in absence of supporting evidence.

Land law—Jurisdiction—Whether dispute falls within statutory jurisdiction of the Land Court—Meaning of “concerning land” under section 73 of the Land Act 2010—Characterisation of claims sounding in contract or delict as opposed to vindicatory actions—Claim based on familial arrangement concerning proceeds of sale of land—Proper forum for adjudication.

FLYNOTE
Civil Procedure – Leave to appeal – Interlocutory order – Amendment of pleadings – Piecemeal appeals – Withdrawal of application – Costs.

FLYNOTE
Company Law – De Facto Directorship – Validity of Round Robin Resolution – Procedural Standing – Security for Costs – Appeal Procedure – Judicial Discipline – Companies Act 2011 (Lesotho), ss 56, 58 – Court of Appeal Rules 2006, Rule
2
8(1) and Rule 15 – Effect of Non-notification of Directors – Majority and Dissenting Opinions.