EBU NTIAKO ESIA KOBINA v. AHANTA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL & ANOR
2012
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- S.MARFUL-SAU, J.A (PRESIDING)
- C.J.HONYENUGA, J.A
- DENNIS D. ADJEI, J.A
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
2012
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This interlocutory appeal challenges a High Court decision that denied a motion to dismiss a plaintiff’s suit concerning judgments rendered by traditional Judicial Committees. Defendants argued these judgments pertained to chieftaincy matters, thus the High Court lacked jurisdiction. The appellate court upheld the High Court’s jurisdiction and determined the suit did not relate to chieftaincy issues. The plaintiff sought to invalidate the judgments based on procedural errors, which the court accepted could be pursued via a declaration of nullity. The case was remitted back to the High Court for trial.
DENNIS ADJEI, J.A.
This is an interlocutory appeal against the ruling delivered by the High Court, Sekondi which refused the Defendants/Applicants application to dismiss the plaintiff/Respondent’s suit and plaintiff/Respondent’s suit and a further order by the trial court declining jurisdiction in the matter for want of jurisdiction.
The facts giving rise to this appeal are that on 11th June,1998, the 2nd defendant herein and other filed a suit at the Judicial Committee of the Ahanta Traditional Council against Tutuhene Esi Atta and others. On 30th October, 1998, the Judicial Committee of the Ahanta Traditional Council gave judgment against the plaintiff herein and his family. The appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Western Region House of Chiefs and it affirmed the judgment of the trial Court on 9th December, 2001. On 6th August 2008, the Plaintiff filed the instant suit at the High court inviting the High Court to declare the two judgments given against the family of the Plaintiff as null and void because the action was initiated by a petition instead of Writ of Summons as provided by LI 798. The defendants filed their statement of defence on 3rd November, 2008 the Defendants /Appellants filed an application to the trial court to dismiss the Plaintiff’s action because it was a cause or matter affecting chieftaincy.
On 16th March, 2009 the trial High Court dismiss the defendants/Applicants application. The defendants/applicants aggrieved by the ruling of the trial High Court filed an interlocutory appeal against the ruling on 25th March, 2009. This was one ground of appeal and that was “(1) that the Honourable High Court Judge erred in law when he held he had jurisdiction to continue with the hearing of the matter in this suit”.
The defendant/Appellant filed additional ground of appeal namely:
“that the Honourable trial Judge erred in law when he failed to dismiss the Plaintiff/Respondent’s Suit as a gross abuse of the due process of law”.
The defendants/Appellants grounded their appeal on two main legal issues, and they are:
(1) The suit is a cause or matter affecting Chieftaincy and
(2) that the action by the Plaintiff was for Judicial review in the nature of certiorari but because it has become time barred, the plaintiff has come through the back door by seeking a declaration that the judgments by the Judicial Committees of the Ahanta Traditional Council and the Western Region House of Chiefs are void.
I will address the issue as to whethe