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JUDGMENT
WOOD (MRS.), CJ;
The oft quoted legal maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied”, coined by the British politician, William Gladstone (1809-1898), is no mere cliché. The right to fair trial in a timely manner is neither a courtesy nor a favour, but a fundamental right. Protracted delays in the administration of justice, impact negatively not only on those who access the courts, such as the victims of crime, accused persons who are acquitted at the end of their trial, parties in civil proceedings and their privies, lawyers who practice before the courts but indeed the entire justice system. The judicial history of this relatively simple family related land matter, which was commenced in the High Court Kumasi, as far back as the 4th of April 1974, provides an insight into the harmful effects of systemic delays in the administration of justice. Regrettably, it has taken forty long years, a whole generation, for this case to finally find its way into this court; the court of last appeal. We hope court business shall always be managed in ways that will not occasion a repeat of this parody of justice.
BACKGROUND FACTS
The Plaintiff/ Appellant/ Respondent, (Respondent), a senior member of the immediate Asona family of Asamankama-Offinso, acting on behalf of himself and the family, took out a writ of summons against the Defendants /Respondents/ Appellants (Appellants) jointly and severally for declaration of title to certain properties listed in a schedule attached to the statement of claim, recovery of possession of those properties and an order of perpetual injunction. This appeal relates to one of these properties, the house numbered 0.1. 92, Ashanti-New Town, Kumasi. The original claim which was in relation to all those properties was directed against only two named executors of one Osei Hwirie, deceased, the person around whom this entire controversy revolves. But, by an order of Anterkyi J, both writ and statement of claim were amended to include the 3rd to 8th Appellants, who are beneficiaries of the will of Hwirie. Again, in the course of time, the Respondent limited the claim to only the house numbered 01.92.
The case presented by the parties in this legal battle is in reality so uncomplicated that it is most unfortunate that it has taken so long for it to be brought to closure. The Respondent’s case is that in 1921, Kwabena Amankwaa, deceased, the maternal uncle of Hwirie, acquired plot No 0.192, from the Chief Commissioner of Kumasi for a period of t