LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Judgment and Orders — Nature of Orders — Certainty requirement for court orders
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
The court cannot make an order which is uncertain or subject to different interpretations. The court must not grant a party what it has not asked for in clear terms and sufficiently proved.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Uwaifo, JSC, in Joe Golday Co. Ltd & Ors v. Co-operative Development Bank Plc (2003) NLC-1282000(SC) at p. 17; Paras D–E.
"The court cannot be expected to make an order which is uncertain or which is subject to different interpretation as to whether it meets the relief claimed. Nor has the court a duty to engage in any semantics in the order it makes in an attempt to explain what the plaintiff intended to ask for and accordingly grant it. The guiding rule is that the court must not grant a party what it has not asked for in clear terms and sufficiently proved."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Court orders must be certain and clear. The principle applies to all judgments. The court cannot grant unclaimed relief. The rule ensures enforceability. The parties must know what is ordered. The principle is fundamental.