Malawi Case Law

S (on the application of City Plastics Industry) & 10 Others v Minister of Natural Resources & Climate Change & The Attorney General

S (on the application of City Plastics Industry) & 10 Others v Minister of Natural Resources & Climate Change & The Attorney General (Judicial Review Cause 48 of 2024) [2025] MWHC 3 (31 January 2025)

Court

High Court of Malawi

Case number

Judicial Review Cause 48 of 2024

The High Court discharged permission for judicial review, finding the claimants abused process by re-litigating the plastics regulations dispute and withholding material facts.

• Abuse of court process
• Suppression of material facts
• Judicial review
• Delay in application
• Environmental regulations
• Judicial-review

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Exploits University v Guojun & Sambiri

Exploits University v Guojun & Sambiri (Civil Cause 389 of 2020) [2025] MWHCCiv 2 (29 January 2025)

Court

High Court of Malawi Civil Division

Case number

Civil Cause 389 of 2020

The High Court of Malawi dismissed a land dispute claim after finding the claimant’s adjournment request was improperly made and the parties failed to attend court.

• Adjournment
• Dismissal for non-attendance
• Dismissal-for-non-attendance
• Civil-procedure
• Land-dispute

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Kaipa v Chinzenga

Kaipa v Chinzenga (Matrimonial Review Cause No. 2 of 2025 (Being Civil Cause No. 682 of 2025)) [2025] MWHC 2 (22 January 2025)

Court

High Court of Malawi

Case number

Matrimonial Review Cause No. 2 of 2025 (Being Civil Cause No. 682 of 2025)

The High Court of Malawi quashed a custody order and granted primary custody of a four-month-old child to the mother, emphasizing breastfeeding and the child’s best interests.

• Child custody
• Breastfeeding rights
• Parental maintenance
• Supervisory jurisdiction
• Review of lower court decision
• Child-custody

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Kadzakumanja v Kadzakumanja & Chasweka (Being High Court, Lilongwe Registry, Family & Probate Division, Probate Cause No. 623 of 2020)

Kadzakumanja v Kadzakumanja & Chasweka (Being High Court, Lilongwe Registry, Family & Probate Division, Probate Cause No. 623 of 2020) [2025] MWHCFam 1 (22 January 2025)

Court

High Court of Malawi Family and Probate Division

Case number

Being High Court, Lilongwe Registry, Family & Probate Division, Probate Cause No. 623 of 2020

Applications for leave to appeal and stay of execution are dismissed because the judgment is inchoate and not eligible for appeal or stay; proper procedure requires application for stay in the court below when concurrent jurisdiction exists.

Source excerpt

• Leave to appeal
• Stay of execution
• Inchoate judgments
• Concurrent jurisdiction

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Magona v The Legal Education & Legal Practitioners (48 of 2024)

Magona v The Legal Education & Legal Practitioners (48 of 2024) [2025] MWHC 1 (22 January 2025)

Court

High Court of Malawi

Case number

48 of 2024

The application is fundamentally defective and incompetent because it was signed by a law firm and not a legal practitioner, failed to comply with mandatory procedural requirements for change of advocate and sworn statements, and constitutes an abuse of court process.

Source excerpt

• Admission to bar
• Procedural defects
• Self-representation

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Republic v Richard Chimwendo Banda & Alfred Dala Kadula

The High Court dealt with a withdrawn bail application in a homicide matter, held that criminal process and case-management directions remained active, and ordered release without conditions and further steps.

• Bail pending trial
• Habeas corpus
• Arrest and detention
• Withdrawal of application
• Committal proceedings
• Abuse of process

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Manda v Kamangila

Manda v Kamangila (Civil Case 114 of 2024) [2025] MWHCCiv 3 (12 January 2025)

Court

High Court of Malawi Civil Division

Case number

Civil Case 114 of 2024

The court held that the respondent failed to accord the applicant procedural fairness as required by Article 47 of the Constitution, rendering the VAT assessment unlawful.

Source excerpt

• Vat assessment
• Judicial review
• Procedural fairness

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Almeida v Almeida (18 of 2024)

Almeida v Almeida (18 of 2024) [2024] MWHCFam 3 (29 November 2024)

Court

High Court of Malawi Family and Probate Division

Case number

18 of 2024

The High Court of Malawi denied leave to appeal, holding that the family dispute was still in progress and that piecemeal appeals should be avoided.

• Leave to appeal
• Case management
• Child relocation
• Custody and access
• Leave-to-appeal
• Child-custody

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Telecom Networks Malawi Plc v Chidzanja & 46 Others (MSCA Miscellaneous Civil Application 31 of 2024)

Telecom Networks Malawi Plc v Chidzanja & 46 Others (MSCA Miscellaneous Civil Application 31 of 2024) [2024] MWHCCiv 25 (30 October 2024)

Court

High Court of Malawi Civil Division

Case number

MSCA Miscellaneous Civil Application 31 of 2024

The Supreme Court of Appeal continued a stay of execution pending appeal, dismissed a disclosure request as irrelevant, and refused to vacate the stay.

• Stay of execution
• Disclosure of documents
• Appeal process
• Stay-of-execution
• Disclosure-of-documents
• Appeal-process

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Attorney General v Sunrise Pharmaceuticals Limited & Chombe Foods (MSCA Civil Appeal 11 of 2013)

Attorney General v Sunrise Pharmaceuticals Limited & Chombe Foods (MSCA Civil Appeal 11 of 2013) [2024] MWHC 72 (24 October 2024)

Court

High Court of Malawi

Case number

MSCA Civil Appeal 11 of 2013

The court declined to hear the Attorney General’s leave application alone and ordered it be placed before the full bench at the start of the appeal.

• Leave to file supplementary arguments
• Skeleton arguments
• Procedural discretion
• Civil-procedure
• Skeleton-arguments
• Leave-to-file

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