Constantine Chimakure & Anor v Ambassador Agrippa Mutambara & Anor

[2020] ZWSC 91

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Case Details

Court

Supreme Court

Date

2 July 2020

Citation

[2020] ZWSC 91

Judgment No.

SC 91/20

Outcome

unknown

Case Type

Appeal

Bench

Presiding

GOWORA JA

Full Bench

GOWORA JAMAKONI JABERE JA

Areas of Law

Defamation LawCivil Procedure

Keywords

defamationnewspaper publicationexceptionvaguenesscause of action

Key Issues

{"issue_text":"Whether the citation of the first appellant was defective","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"no","related_facts":"First appellant cited as Constantine Chimakure, editor of Newsday"}
{"issue_text":"Whether the declaration disclosed a cause of action for defamation","issue_type":"law","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Declaration alleged article was published of and concerning respondents"}
{"issue_text":"Whether the declaration was vague and embarrassing for failure to set out exact defamatory words","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Declaration referred to article but did not quote exact words"}

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Facts of the Case

Background

The respondents, husband and wife, instituted defamation proceedings against the appellants (newspaper editor and publisher) regarding an article published on 6 July 2012. The appellants filed an exception claiming no cause of action was disclosed and the declaration was vague and embarrassing. The High Court dismissed the exception, leading to this appeal.

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