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January 28, 2009
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
BY COURT:
The 2nd Claimant Appellant, hereinafter referred to as Appellant, filed an appeal to this Court on 7th October, 1999, against the direction of the Chief Lands Registrar, submitting, this matter to the Land Title Adjudicating Committee.
By the appellant’s written submission filed on 27th July, 2009, the Appellant stated that in the course of the adjudicating he successfully applied to dismiss the matter before the committee for want of jurisdiction, and referred to pages 102, 103, 108 and 110 of the record of proceedings.
The pages referred to are the motion on notice to dismiss the matter for lack of jurisdiction filed on 24th July, 1998 being pages 102 to 103 and supplementary affidavit being pages 108 to 110. There is no indication that the tribunal gave a ruling for the Appellant to appeal against it. What is disclosed by the record of proceedings is that on 3rd February, 1999, when the Tribunal convened, the suit was adjourned to 24th February, 1999 to enable Mr. Baiden who was the Counsel for the 1st Claimant, to study the papers. It was after this adjournment that the appellant appealed on 7th October, 1999.
Since there had been no ruling, can the Appellant apply to this Court for the exercise of this Court’s Appellate Jurisdiction? The right to apply for the exercise of the High Courts Appellate Jurisdiction is contained in Section 32 (3) of the Land Title Registration Act 1986 (P.N.D.C.L 152). It says “a person aggrieved by an Order or decision of the Adjudication committee under subsection (2) may appeal in the prescribed manner to the High Court and the Court may annul or confirm with or without modification the order or decision.” Since there is no decision of the Adjudication Committee, the Appellant cannot invoke the Appellate Jurisdiction of this Court.
From the Appellant’s Notice of Appeal, one can infer that the Appellant knows that there is no decision by the Adjudication Committee so he purported to appeal against the direction of the Chief Lands Registrar which direction was made before 11th day of January 1993 when the committee first sat.
The Appellant has not shown under which enactment the Appellant is appealing against the direction. From the record of proceedings, the parties first appeared before the Committee or Tribunal on 11th January, 1993. After several appearances, a Motion for Interlocutory Injunction was filed on 5th January, 1994. On 24th January, 1994 the Appellant filed an affidavit in opposition. At tha
AI Generated Summary
Mr. Justice S.H. Ocran of the High Court dismissed an appeal filed by the second claimant appellant on 7 October 1999 challenging a direction of the Chief Lands Registrar referring a land dispute to the Land Title Adjudication Committee. The appellant claimed to have moved the committee to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, but the record showed no ruling; only an adjournment to allow the 1st claimants counsel, Mr. Baiden, to study papers. Applying section 32(3) of the Land Title Registration Act 1986 (PNDCL 152), the Court held appeals lie only from orders or decisions of the Adjudication Committee. The Court also recounted interlocutory injunction proceedings in 1994 and concluded any appeal from those orders needed to be filed within 14 days with leave under Order 51 rule 3(2) of C.I. 47 and section 21(3) of the Courts Act 1993. The 1999 appeal, nearly five years later and without leave, was incompetent. The appeal was dismissed and costs of GH500 awarded to the respondent.