SEGA EXPORTS LTD. v. DART HILLS LTD.
2013
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- ASARE KORANG, J.A
- DUOSE, J.A.
- ADJEI, J.A
Areas of Law
- Contract Law
- Civil Procedure
2013
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The High Court found the defendant breached the contract by not paying for goods but awarded nominal damages believing the plaintiff made a profit from reselling the goods. The Court of Appeal corrected this by recognizing the plaintiff suffered a loss due to the resale at lower prices and awarded general damages. The award of interest and lawyer’s fees by the trial court was overturned for lack of proper basis.
ADJEI,J.A.:
This appeal is against the judgment of the High Court (Commercial Division) delivered on 29th November, 2010. Both parties are dissatisfied with the said judgment and each of them is praying for the judgment to be set aside but on different grounds. However, the plaintiff failed to file its Notice of Variation of judgment within time and same was struck out. The brief facts of the case were that the parties herein were trading partners. The plaintiff is a registered external company engaged in the export of goods into Ghana for sale to its customers. The defendant was one of the plaintiff’s customers. As per their terms of trade, the plaintiff sent the defendant inspection pictures of the goods to be shipped to it and upon confirmation by the defendant, the goods were shipped. As per the terms of the trade, the defendant was required to pay for the goods of its orders when the goods arrived at the Tema Port. The defendant would then go to its bankers; Merchant Bank and pay for the cost of the goods and take delivery of the clearing documents from its said bank. In the months of April and May, the defendant ordered for goods made up of roofing nails, louvre glass, mosquito netting and pickaxe worth USD162, 108.75.
On arrival of the goods, the defendant did not pay for it and did not also go for the clearing documents from its bankers. The defendant assigned several reasons why it did not pay for the goods. When the matter was in court, another company expressed the desire to buy the goods and same were sold to them. The trial High Court Judge in her judgment awarded nominal damages of GH¢5,000.00 to the plaintiff for breach of contract, interest charges of $14,363.43 and lawyers fees of USD7,000.00. The court further dismissed the defendant’s counterclaim as an afterthought and devoid of merits. The defendant/appellant who would be referred to in this appeal as the defendant filed four grounds of appeal against the judgment. The grounds of appeal are as follows:
“i. The judgment is against the weight of evidence.
ii. The Judge erred in her award of $14,363.43 as interest charge as same was not based on any specific proven principal nor founded on the appropriate application of the principles relating to the award of interest.
iii. The Judge erred by granting the claim of $7,000.00 for lawyer’s fees when same had not been proven by the Plaintiff/Respondent.
iv. The Judge erred when after finding that the Defendant/Appellant had a right to r