A High Court in Nigeria, Abuja Division, has in the case of Dakolo v Fatoyinbo awarded costs of N1,000,000 against a lawyer for bringing an action out of time. In the words of the High Court, “there is nothing ingenious in not looking at the statute of limitation before bringing this action.” The Claimant alleged that...
The Supreme Court in the recent case of Atuguba & Associates v Scipion Capital (UK) & Anor[1] has given some directions on the drafting of grounds of appeal. The court considered the directions necessary as “it has long been the practice among some legal practitioners to shirk the responsibilities imposed on them to formulate specific...
The supreme court has stressed that nothing prevents a court from electing to hear and decide on its merit a motion that has not been moved. In The Republic v Court of Appeal, Ex Parte: Eastern Alloys Company Limited[1], the applicant invoked the supervisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court seeking both certiorari and mandamus to issue against...
What do you do when you follow all the procedural rules of law and it’s an administrative process that brings your case crashing down? Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you are lawyer for the plaintiff in a breach of contract case against three defendants. You listen to the story of your client. You are convinced your...
The Supreme Court in the case of Republic v Bank of Ghana & 5 Ors; Ex Parte Benjamin Duffour[1]has held that a party to a suit may well be in contempt of court in the absence of formal court order. The Court stressed that a person was in contempt of court if that person engaged...
On 7 may 2017, the Ghana Law Hub published an article under the heading, “Can a law firm sign a legal process?”In that article, Y. Edinam Cofie discussed a High Court decision in which Justice Bright Mensah came to the conclusion that a “person” as referred to in the Legal Professions Act (Act 32) referred...
The High Court presided over by Justice Bright Mensah held, in “In the matter of Kaneshie Drivers Association and in the matter of an application by James Danful Paul Egyam, John Donkor and Samuel Cofie pursuant to s.217, s. 218 and s. 162 of the Companies Act”[1] that a law firm is not competent to sign...
Introduction “If your knowledge of substantive law is brilliant and you have no knowledge of the rules of Court then you cannot be a “proper” lawyer.” These were the words of Justice Anin Yeboah of the Supreme Court of Ghana when I first met him sometime in 2009. In his estimation, and like those of...
Introduction It is so notorious a fact that there is only High Court in Ghana. It is also trite that the various divisions of the High Court are for administrative and other purposes including convenience in litigation. That notwithstanding, litigants are not entitled to insist on particular courts or judges to determine their cases. It...
Background I want to set the tone of this paper with this hypothetical situation. The Plaintiff is a limited liability company with its registered address and place of business in Tema in the Greater Accra Region. The Defendant is also a limited liability company with its registered address and place of business in Tema in...