LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE – Judgment Writing – Duty of Trial Court to Evaluate Evidence – Approach to Evaluation of Evidence
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
There is no set style which must be followed by trial courts when writing judgments. Judges must no doubt differ in the procedure and style which they adopt in their consideration of the entire evidence. It is not very material whether the Judge starts with the consideration of the defendant's case before that of the plaintiff and vice versa. What is important is that he should first of all put the whole evidence led by the parties on that imaginary scale. He will put the evidence adduced by the plaintiff on one side of the scale and that of the defendant on the other side and weigh them together. He will then see which is heavier by the quality or probative value of the testimony as against the quantity or number of the witnesses. After this, the Judge applies the law, if any, before he comes to his final conclusion based on the accepted evidence.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ogwuegbu, JSC, in Jekpe & Anor v. Alokwe & Ors (2002) NLC-1111995(SC) at pp. 11–12; Paras A–A.
"There is no set style which must be followed by trial courts when writing judgments. Judges must no doubt differ in the procedure and style which they adopt in their consideration of the entire evidence. It is not very material whether the Judge starts with the consideration of the defendant's case before that of the plaintiff and vice versa. What is important is that he should first of all put the whole evidence led by the parties on that imaginary scale. He will put the evidence adduced by the plaintiff on one side of the scale and that of the defendant on the other side and weigh them together. He will then see which is heavier by the quality or probative value of the testimony as against the quantity or number of the witnesses. After this, the Judge applies the law, if any, before he comes to his final conclusion based on the accepted evidence."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
No prescribed style for judgment writing exists. The essential requirement is evaluation of evidence: place all evidence on an imaginary scale, weigh plaintiff’s evidence against defendant’s. The weight is determined by quality (probative value), not quantity (number of witnesses). The court then applies the law and reaches a conclusion. The order of presentation—defendant’s case first or plaintiff’s first—is immaterial. What matters is that the court considers all evidence and determines where the balance lies. The “imaginary scale” metaphor captures the balance of probabilities standard. The judge must demonstrate that evidence was evaluated, not merely recounted. The approach ensures rational decision-making.
