THE REPUBLIC v. SAMUEL QUAVE TAWIAH

ACQUAVE, J.A.

On so" October 2012 an application to attach the Respondents for contempt of court was filed in the High Court Accra.

The applicant was The East Dadekotopon Development Trust and the affidavit in support of the application was sworn to by one Nii Mensah NyekpeaEnehu,who described himself as one of the trustees of the applicant whose authority he had to depose to the matters in support of the application.

The basis of the application was that the respondents had defied an order of interim injunction issued by the Court of appeal restraining both parties from dealing with a parcel of land pending the final determination of a case pending before the High court.

The application for contempt of court was resisted by the Respondents the first of whom swore to an affidavit in opposition deposing among other things that the applicant trust has ceased to be in existence as a corporate trust because the trust has been converted into a limited liability called East Dadekotopon Development Trust Law Group Limited.

The first respondent also deposed that the Applicant has ceased to be in existence as a trust as all the trustees' terms of office have expired.

The first respondent exhibited the result of a search he conducted at the Registrar General's Department which showed the names of the trustees of the applicant registered with the Department and submitted that Nii Mensah Nyekpea-Enehu who swore to the affidavit in support of the application was not one of the named trustees so he did not have the capacity to represent the Applicant.

The first respondent therefore prayed the High Court to dismiss the application for contempt on thesepreliminary grounds.Counsel for the Applicant resisted the preliminary objections raised by the first respondent.

Counsel referred to the certificate or registration he exhibited and submitted that no court has issued a certificate cancelling the registration of the Applicant so the applicant was still in existence as a body corporate established by law.After hearing the arguments canvassed by both Counsel the trial judge rightly ruled that where the capacity of a person to sue is challenged, he has to establish it before his case can be considered on its merits.

The trial judge also referred to the certificate of incorporation of the Applicant and held that the Applicant exist as a legal personae and called upon it to move its application for contempt.Dissatisfied with the ruling the 2nd Respondent filed a notice