LEGAL PRINCIPLE: EQUITY AND TRUSTS – Injunction – Nature and Purpose – Protection of Existing Legal Right
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Injunction is granted to protect an existing legal right with the object of keeping matters in status quo. This claim assumes erroneously the ownership of property vested in it by law. It follows therefore having no property to protect by way of injunction against the defendant, the claim fails.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Karibi-Whyte, JSC, in A.G., Ondo State v. A.G., Ekiti State (2001) NLC-1362000(SC) at p. 47; Paras D–F.
"Injunction is granted to protect an existing legal right with the object of keeping matters in status quo. This claim assumes erroneously the ownership of property vested in it by law. It follows therefore having no property to protect by way of injunction against the defendant, the claim fails."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
An injunction protects an existing legal right by maintaining the status quo. It is not a remedy to create rights or assume ownership that does not exist. If the plaintiff has no property right to protect—because the law vests ownership elsewhere or vests nothing in the plaintiff—the claim for injunction fails. The plaintiff cannot obtain an injunction based on an erroneous assumption of ownership. The court must first determine whether the plaintiff has a legal right capable of protection. Without a right, there is nothing to protect. Injunction is ancillary; it cannot stand alone without a substantive right. The remedy follows the right.