Principle Archive

Where a counsel decides that the party's case is so manifestly weak and there is nothing useful to urge on the court, the court should give…

Nothing has been established to show that concurrent findings are perverse, unsupported by evidence, reached by wrong approach, or that a miscarriage of justice will result.…

Orders intrinsic to the substantive suit are impaired if the court lacks jurisdiction. Orders extrinsic to the substantive suit remain valid and binding regardless of the…

While jurisdiction should be dealt with expeditiously, contempt cases should largely be left to the discretion of the court before which the contempt is committed. Circumstances…

The offence of contempt of court is sui generis and extrinsic to the substantive suit. A trial judge is perfectly right to first deal with the…

Contempt proceedings are criminal in nature. The purpose of taking contempt cases first is to demonstrate that the court will protect its dignity and will not…

Contempt proceedings are criminal in nature and should ordinarily be dealt with either by the court trying the case when the alleged contempt took place or…

The trial judge in making the order was merely exercising the inherent jurisdiction which a superior court of record possesses to ensure that the proceedings of…

A party who alleges the existence of customary law must prove that customary law because the law of evidence regards it as a fact, unless it…

Since the juju was brought into Ukwa, within the jurisdiction of the court, it is Ukwa custom that should prevail. In Ukwa custom, oaths are administered…

Oath-taking was one of the methods of establishing the truth of a matter and was known to customary law and accepted by both parties.

Where two parties voluntarily submit a dispute to customary arbitration and agree, expressly or by implication, that the decision would be accepted as final and binding,…