“Now Section 25 of the Magistrates’ Courts Law provides as follows: “Subject to the provisions of any other Law or Ordinance a Magistrate shall hear and determine appeals from Customary Courts within his district in accordance with the provisions of the Law or Ordinance under which such Customary Courts are constituted”. The Customary Courts Law does not empower a Magistrate’s Court sitting as a court of appeal to extend the time within which an appellant may file his memorandum of grounds of appeal. All rights of appeal are statutory and it goes beyond argument that such rights may only be exercised as provided in the enabling law. A party who fails to comply with these provisions cannot be said to be exercising any right of appeal thereunder, and unless the court of appeal is empowered, expressly or otherwise, to cure his deficiency, he has nothing to complain about. Such is the case here, and unlike the High Court (for the reasons that we gave in Demuren’s case) the Chief Magistrate has no power to enlarge the statutory period of 30 days provided by Order 18 Rule 2B of the Customary Courts Rules.”
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