Mate Nono Per Tetter Okuma V. Tsutsu (1944)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Judgment of Native Tribunal not in terms of claim—Appeal.

Facts

Plaintiff sued Defendant claiming £25 damages for selling Plaintiff’s land for the debt of another, before the Paramount Tribunal. Instead of giving him judgment for damages, the Tribunal set aside the sale. Defendant appealed to the Provincial Commissioner’s Court, where the appeal was upheld on the ground that the judgment was ultra vires having regard to the fact that the claim was for damages. Plaintiff then appealed to the West African Court of Appeal.

Held

that what matters in proceedings in Native Tribunals is the substance and not the mere form ; and that as the Tribunal and the parties throughout the trial regarded as the issue in the case the question whether or not the sale was valid, and its judgment on that issue was justified, that judgment should not have been disturbed on a point of form.

The Appellant is awarded costs in this Court assessed at 131 3s. and costs in the Provincial Commissioner’s Court to be taxed.