JOSEPH ADU AGYEI v. CECILIA ADU AGYEI
April 14, 2022
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- SUURBAAREH, J.A. (PRESIDING)
- DODOO, J.A.
- BARTELS-KODWO, J.A.
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Family Law
- Evidence Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
April 14, 2022
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
In a civil appeal from the High Court in Accra, Joseph Adu Agyei challenged a judgment awarding Cecilia Adu Agyei a 50% interest in House No. B1/26, New Achimota, near Pentecost Church, on the basis that it was marital property jointly acquired during their 1984–1998 marriage. Although Joseph’s two grounds of appeal were struck out for vagueness under Rule 8 of C.I.19, the Court of Appeal, per Suurbaareh J.A., proceeded under r.8(7) and r.8(8) to decide substantial legal issues raised in the written submissions. The court held that Cecilia’s property‑settlement claim should have been pursued as ancillary relief to matrimonial proceedings within one month of the 1998 divorce judgment or by leave under Order 65 r.23 of C.I.47; her 2015 writ was out of time and the High Court lacked jurisdiction. Separately, Exhibit “A” Power of Attorney authorizing Janet Opoku to testify was invalid for want of an identifiable attesting witness under Act 549, so Janet lacked capacity and Cecilia led no admissible evidence. Relying on appellate powers to expunge wrongly admitted evidence (Juxton Smith; Edward Nasser) and NRCD 323 s.8, the court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court’s judgment.
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL
ACCRA - GHANA
CORAM: SUURBAAREH, J.A. (PRESIDING)
DODOO, J.A.
BARTELS-KODWO, J.A.
CIVIL APPEAL
NO. H1/167/2021
14TH APRIL, 2022
JOSEPH ADU AGYEI
........................................................................................................DEFENDANT/APPELLANT
VRS.
CECILIA ADU AGYEI
……..................................................................................................PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT
J U D G M E N T
SUURBAAREH, J.A.: This is an appeal from the judgment of the High Court, Accra dated 23rd May, 2019 in which the trial court entered judgment in favour of the Plaintiff/Respondent, in respect of House No. B1/26, New Achimota, near Pentecost Church, giving her fifty percent interest in the said property as jointly acquired by the parties during marriage.
The Defendant/Appellant, dissatisfied with, and aggrieved by the judgement, has mounted the instant appeal, pursuant leave granted on 25th March, 2020. The appeal which is against the whole judgment, had two grounds of appeal, with a proviso for filing other grounds upon receipt of the ruling of the court, but none were however filed. These grounds of appeal are:
“i. The decision was in error.
ii. The learned trial judge failed to adequately consider Defendant’s statement of Defence.”
The relief sought in this appeal is to have the judgment reversed and an order made in the Defendant/Appellant’s favour.
To appreciate the judgment in this case, a brief background of events leading to the action resulting in this appeal are necessary. The parties, who would simply be referred to as Appellant and Respondent hereafter, got married under the Marriages Laws of Ghana in 1984 and moved to Germany where they lived till 1998, when the marriage was dissolved upon a petition, by a German court. The Respondent, alleging that in the course of the marriage the parties jointly acquired the property in dispute in 1996, on 26th June, 2015, some seventeen years after the dissolution of the marriage, issued out a writ claiming a declaration that the house in dispute was a joint property of the parties acquired during marriage, and an order for fifty percent interest in same.
From the record of appeal, particularly at page 17, the action was struck out on 21st March, 2016 due to the absence of the Respondent, but it will appear the same was relisted, upon an application filed on 19th July, 2016, at page 18 of the record of appea