Mensah Alias Kweku Kakraba Of Kotokura.bah, Cape Coast V. Mrs. F. B. Awoonor Renner, Per Thomas Hughes Halm, Cape Coast, Caretaker (1951)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Land Case—Appeal from Native Court to Magistrate’s Court and from
Magistrate’s Court to Divisional Court which transferred appeal to Land Court.
No jurisdiction by Land Court to hear appeal from Magistrate’ Court—No
jurisdiction by Magistrate’s Court to hear appeal from Native Court.—Effect
of section 4 of the West African Court of Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 5) on right of
appeal to the Court from Land Court.

Facts

The defendant was the appellant. The plaintiff appealed from adverse judgments of the Native Court and of the Magistrate’s Court to the Divisional Court which transferred the appeal to the Land Court on the grounds that the action was a land case and allowed the appeal.

This Court held that the Land Judge was correct in holding that the action was a land cause. In view of finding that the action was a land cause there was no right of appeal to the Magistrate’s Court and, therefore, no right of appeal to the Divisional Court.

Counsel for respondent argued that this Court could not entertain the appeal because section 4 of the West African Court of Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 5) does not confer a right of appeal to this Court when an appeal to the Supreme Court has been taken from a Magistrate’s Court.

Held

Section 4 of the West African Court of Appeal Ordinance did not apply. The action was a land cause and an appeal, therefore, lay from the Native Court to the Land Court. The only operative judgment was that of the Native Court, and the appeals to the Magistrate’s Court and to the Divisional Court and subsequent transfer to the Land Court were void and of no effect.

Appeal allowed.