Kwadjo Bio V. E. R. Addow (1949)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Rules as to appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court confirming a judgmentof a Magistrate.

Where the Supreme Court confirms, on appeal, the decision of a Magistrate in a civil case, an appeal lies to the West African Court of Appeal only by special leave of the Supreme Court.

Appeal from the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast.

Kai Larbi for Appellant.

A kufo Addo for Respondent.

The following judgment was delivered:

Bla–ckall, P. This appeal in my pinion is not properly before the Court. It is an appeal from a Divisional Court on appeal from a decision of a Magistrate in a civil case in which the Divisional Court affirmed the Magistrate’s decision. In these circumstances an appeal ha to this Court only by special leave of the Divisional Court which in the present case was not applied for or obtained. The appellant merely filed a notice of motion for leave to appeal ex-park as though the appeal was as of right, and the learned Judge granted it as though it were a matter of course which, seeing that he had dismissed the action without calling upon the respondent, is a little surprising.

The provisions of section 4 (1) of Cap. 5 are intended as a safeguard against frivolous appeals and should not be treated as a dead letter. Moreover, applications for special leave to appeal are required by rule 11 (4) of the West African Court of Appeal Rules, now Rule 13 (1) of the West African Court of Appeal Rules, 1950, to be made upon notice.

Appeal struck out.