LEGAL PRINCIPLE: APPELLATE PRACTICE — Stay of Execution — Circumstances Relevant to Enforcement Not Correctness of Judgment
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
The special circumstances that entitle a court to stay execution of a judgment are those that go to the enforcement of the judgment, not those that go merely to its correctness.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Uwaifo, JSC, in Olunloyo v. Adeniran (2001) NLC-891999(SC) at p. 11; Paras B–C.
"The special circumstances which the court will take into account to entitle it to stay execution of the judgment are, as a general rule, such circumstances which go to the enforcement of the judgment and not those which go merely to its correctness."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Special circumstances for stay focus on enforcement consequences, not on whether the judgment is correct. The appellate court assumes the judgment may be correct; that is for the appeal to determine. The stay inquiry examines whether execution would cause irreparable harm, destroy the subject matter, or render the appeal nugatory. The appellant’s belief that the judgment is wrong is not a special circumstance. The principle prevents the stay application from becoming a merits review. The court will not stay execution merely because the appellant has strong grounds of appeal. The focus is on practical consequences of immediate enforcement. The rule ensures that stay decisions are based on prejudice, not on prediction of appeal outcome.
