AMALGAMATED PRESS LTD. v. INDEPENDENT PRESS LTD AND ANOTHER
1960
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- OLLENNU J
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Commercial Law
1960
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The defendants sought an order for the plaintiff to provide security for costs based on provisions from the Supreme Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 1954, arguing that the plaintiff company was nominal and insolvent. The court examined whether the circumstances fit into any conditions that warrant security for costs. Upon reviewing relevant cases and principles, the court decided that the defendants did not meet the burden of proof to show that the plaintiff fell within such categories. As a result, the application was dismissed with costs against the defendants.
JUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J.
In this matter the defendants pray for an order upon the plaintiff to provide security for costs. This application is made in pursuance of Order 65 rule 4 of the Supreme Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 1954, which says:
“In any cause or matter in which security for costs is required the security shall be of such amount, and be given at such times, and in such manner and form, as the Court or a Judge shall direct."
The grounds for the application are set out in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of the affidavit in support of the application and are:
(a) that the plaintiff company is a nominal plaintiff irregularly incorporated, and has no visible means of paying any costs which may be awarded against it and;
(b) that the plaintiff company has been unable to pay fully, costs awarded against it in favour of the defendants as far back as April, 1957, in a similar suit instituted by the plaintiff against the same defendants in respect of the same subject matter, which former suit the plaintiff was obliged to discontinue.
Although the words " in any cause or matter in which security for costs is required" in Order 65 rule 4 appear very wide, and give the impression that security for costs may be ordered in any case in which it is required, the authorities, based upon a rule in identical words in the Rules of the Supreme Court of England (together with rules 5 and 6 of Order 65 of the Ghana Civil Procedure Rules, 1954) show that these words are limited in scope, and apply only to causes and matters in which certain conditions exist. The cases in which the court may order security for costs include the following:
(1) where the plaintiff resides abroad—Order 65 rules 5 and 6 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 1954;
(2) where the plaintiff's place of residence is not stated or is incorrectly stated, or where he appears to have no permanent residence. Swanzy v. Swanzy (27 L.J. Ch. 419);
(3) where the plaintiff is insolvent and sues as a nominal plaintiff, Cowell v. Taylor (31 Ch. D. 34);
(4) where the plaintiff is a limited liability company, in liquidation, or has sold its business.
This subject of security for costs is discussed in full in The Annual Practice under Order 65 rule 6. Thus, if the plaintiff company is a nominal plaintiff in the legal sense, for example an insolvent suing for the benefit of another person, the court could order him to give security for costs. Insolvency or poverty of a plaintiff is not by itself a ground for requiring hi