LEGAL PRINCIPLE: APPELLATE PRACTICE — Concurrent Findings — Interference by Supreme Court Where Findings Are Perverse
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
It is trite law that where the findings of trial court and indeed the concurrent findings of the Judge and the Court of Appeal are perverse, this court can interfere and give the correct findings as the evidence in the record show.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Tobi, JSC, in Ezeanah v. Atta (2004) NLC-2262000(SC) at p. 24; Paras A–B.
"It is trite law that where the findings of trial court and indeed the concurrent findings of the Judge and the Court of Appeal are perverse, this court can interfere and give the correct findings as the evidence in the record show."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
The Supreme Court can interfere with concurrent findings when they are perverse. Perverse findings are those unsupported by evidence or based on wrong legal principles. The principle applies to appellate practice. The rule provides an exception to the general non-interference rule. The court may substitute its own findings based on the record. Perversity justifies appellate correction.
