LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE – Pleadings – Issues Are Joined on Pleadings and Not on Plans
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Issues are joined on pleadings, not on plans. One cannot conclude from a plan alone what issues were in dispute without examining the pleadings.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ogundare, JSC, in Ikoku v. Ekeukwu (1995) NLC-2111989(SC) at pp. 12–13; Paras C–A.
"But issues are joined on pleadings and not on plans. In the absence of the pleadings of the defendants in the 1963 case one cannot, by merely looking at the plan, conclude that an identifiable and certain piece of land to the north of the land in dispute in the 1963 case was also in issue."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Pleadings define the issues in dispute. A survey plan is evidence but does not determine the scope of issues. The court must examine the pleadings to determine what was litigated. The principle applies to res judicata and issue estoppel. The party relying on a previous judgment must produce the pleadings. The rule prevents overreliance on plans without considering the pleadings. The court will not infer issues from a plan alone. The principle promotes accurate determination of what was previously decided. The plan is secondary to the pleadings.