Judiciary-Poetry-Logo
JPoetry

NO LAW MAKES PARTY APPEARANCE IN COURT MANDATORY

Dictum

Instructively, there is no law making it compulsory for a party in a civil action to appear physically in Court. All that is necessarily required, in the best interest of good administration of justice, is that the day to day judicial schedule (Cause List) of the Court is not stultified or frustrated by non-appearance of a party before it.

– I.M.M. Saulawa JCA. Owhor v. Obodo (2020) – CA/PH/448/2017

Was this dictum helpful?

SHARE ON

COURT WILL NOT REWRITE LEASE AGREEMENT FOR PARTIES

In doing so, the court should bear in mind that it has a responsibility not to re-write the Lease Agreement for the parties but simply to give effect to their intention as may be deduced from the language employed by them.

— Achike, JSC. Unilife v. Adeshigbin (2001) 4 NWLR (Pt.704) 609

Was this dictum helpful?

INCOMPETENT PARTY CANNOT FILE APPLICATION

A party who is not competently before the Court is incapable of filing applications. The incompetence of the application fatally affected the ruling of the trial Court appealed against. – SAULAWA, JCA. Eshiet v. Effiong (2018)

Was this dictum helpful?

PARTIES TO A CASE DETERMINE THE JURISDICTION OF A COURT

However, what the learned senior Counsel failed to realize is the fact that the presence of the 2nd Appellant, the National Judicial Council and the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation as parties in the case, had pulled in a feature in the case which brought it out of the jurisdiction of the High Court taking into consideration the decision of this Court in Madukolu v. Nkemdelim (supra) earlier quoted in this judgment.

– Mahmud, JSC. Elelu-Habeeb v. A.G Federation (2012)

Was this dictum helpful?

CLIENT’S CASE MAY DEPEND ON THE QUALITY OF THE BRIEF

Counsel will do well to remember that the fate of his client’s case may well depend on the persuasive quality of his brief. The Brief is defined in Order 6, Rule 5 of the 1985 Rules as “a succinct statement of his argument in the appeal.” A mere statement of the argument is contrary to the intendment of the rule and therefore not enough.

– Nnaemeka-Agu, JSC. Adejumo v. Ayantegbe (1989)

Was this dictum helpful?

PARTY IS BOUND BY WHAT HIS COUNSEL DOES – APPARENT AUTHORITY

In the instant case there is no averment that the authority of plaintiff’s Counsel to conduct the case on his behalf was withdrawn at any stage or limited by any general or specific instruction. Counsel to plaintiff therefore had throughout the conduct of the case general and apparent authority to conduct the case of the plaintiff in his discretion within his professional skill and in the best interest of the plaintiff. The consent of Counsel in the negotiation for settlement of the dispute out of court was with the consent of plaintiff. There was no averment that Counsel and the defendants were not ad idem, both in the terms of agreement to settle out of court and in entering the consent judgment in court. Plaintiff was therefore bound by whatever results from such negotiations.

– Karibi-Whyte, JSC. Afegbai v. A.G Edo State (2001)

Was this dictum helpful?

No more related dictum to show.