ADANI and Another v. AGYEMAN III

EXTRACT FROM JUDGMENT:

“We have taken the trouble to examine this application at some considerable length, because quite often applications are made to the court for appeals which have either been struck out or dismissed to be relisted for hearing. The usual ground for this sort of application is that counsel and client were unaware that the appeal had been fixed for hearing on a particular date. We wish to warn all counsel who practice in this court and litigants that this is a ground that this court will hardly accept as justifying an order for relisting an appeal, which has been either struck out or dismissed.

Appeals in this court are regulated by the Supreme Court Rules, 1962. Under rule 15(2) of these rules the registrar of the court below is required to serve on all parties mentioned in the notice of appeal a notice that the appeal record has been forwarded to the registrar of the Court of Appeal. And under rule 3(1) a duty is cast upon the Registrar of the Court of Appeal to publish a notice of a cause list in the Ghana Gazette from time to time at least two weeks before the date appointed for the hearing of the first of the causes and matters contained in that list. It is, however, provided that the court may in its discretion hear any appeal and deal with any other matter, even though the same has not been included in the cause list so published.

It has also been the practice of the Registrar of the Court of Appeal to cause copies of the cause list already published in the Ghana Gazette to be posted on notice board at High Courts and circuit courts in all the Regions of Ghana, at least two weeks before the date fixed for the hearing of the first case in that cause list. It is not the practice to serve the parties or their counsel with a hearing notice.

In these circumstances neither the parties nor their counsel can be heard to say that they did not know that an appeal in which they were interested had been fixed for hearing on a particular date. This court will not grant indulgence to a party who has not been diligent.