Principle Archive

An appellate court should not ordinarily raise issues suo motu that the parties did not raise; if it does so, no decision should be based on…

By entering an unconditional appearance, a party submits to the jurisdiction of the court and waives any procedural irregularity such as the manner of service, as…

Once the writ or third party notice is validly issued, any defect in service becomes a mere irregularity which can be cured or waived.

The main object of third party procedure is to prevent multiplicity of actions and prevent the same issues being decided upon in two different proceedings.

Jurisdiction challenged on procedural law can be waived, but jurisdiction challenged as a matter of substantive law cannot be waived.

While domestic forums for settlement of chieftaincy disputes may exist, an aggrieved person should be free to decide if and when he should go there; mandatory…

A state law cannot seek to derogate or circumscribe the provisions of section 236(1) of the 1979 Constitution. Any attempt to do so would be inconsistent…

A party who has failed or neglected to file his brief has not complied with the conditions necessary for hearing of their appeal in court and…

Dismissal for want of prosecution cannot be said to be on the merit; it amounts to no more than an order of striking out under the…

Every court of record has inherent jurisdiction to control its proceedings, including the power to strike out or dismiss proceedings for want of diligent prosecution.

Whilst a simple irregularity may be waived, an irregularity that renders proceedings manifestly incompetent, invalid, incurably defective, and null and void, thereby affecting jurisdiction, may not…

Where a Chief Judge has no power to issue an order of transfer, the order is null and void, and all subsequent proceedings in the transferee…