Twimahene Adjeibi Kojo II V. Opanin Kwadwo Bonsie & Anor (1953)

LawGlobal Hub Judgment Report – West African Court of Appeal

Appeals in Civil Cases—Findings of trial Court—Presumption in its favour—Onus to displace presumption on losing side.

Facts

The appellant sued claiming redemption of land which he alleged had been pledged; defendants denied his title. Both sides claimed an original grant from the same grantor.

The trial Court found in defendants’ favour on the evidence, the first Court of Appeal decided in favour of the plaintiff by majority, but on the second appeal the trial Court’s judgment was restored, and the plaintiff appealed further arguing that the trial Court should not have accepted the defendants’ case.

Held

The onus of proof was not on the defendants but on the plaintiff; moreover, the presumption is that the trial Court which saw and heard the witnesses decided rightly on the facts, and a Court of Appeal would not interfere with that Court’s finding unless it came to an affirmative conclusion that the finding was wrong; but the plaintiff did not succeed in showing that it was.

Appeal dismissed.