LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE – Appearance – Unconditional Appearance Amounts to Submission to Jurisdiction and Waiver of Procedural Irregularities
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
By entering an unconditional appearance, a party submits to the jurisdiction of the court and waives any procedural irregularity such as the manner of service, as distinct from a constitutional or statutory irregularity.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Kutigi, JSC, in Bank of Ireland v. Union Bank of Nigeria Ltd. (1998) NLC-691994(SC) at pp. 13–14; Paras D–E.
"By entering an unconditional appearance, counsel gave an indication of the intention to defend the suit and he also submitted to the jurisdiction of the court as having waived any procedural irregularity such as the manner of service of the third party notice as distinct from a constitutional or statutory irregularity which can freely be taken up after appearance."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Unconditional appearance waives procedural irregularities, including defective service. The principle does not waive substantive jurisdictional defects. The party may still raise lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The rule promotes efficiency. The defendant cannot accept the court’s jurisdiction and later complain about service.