RATIOS

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW – RIGHT TO FAIR HEARING – Whether a party who had an opportunity of being heard but did not utilize it can bring an action for breach of fair hearing

WILLS AND PROBATE – VALIDITY OF A WILL – Requirements of the Law as regards the validity/genuineness of a will and the proof of same

COURT – RAISING ISSUE(S) SUO MOTU – Whether a Court can raise an issue suo motu and determine it without hearing parties; distinction between raising an issue suo motu and looking into the case/file by the Court to determine a matter:

LIMITATION LAW – LIMITATION PERIOD – Limitation period on action founded on contract; effect of bringing an action outside the limitation period

LIMITATION LAW – LIMITATION PERIOD – Limitation period on action founded on contract; effect of bringing an action outside the limitation period

LIMITATION LAW – LIMITATION PERIOD – Limitation period on action founded on contract; effect of bringing an action outside the limitation period

JURISDICTION – JURISDICTION OF THE STATE/FEDERAL HIGH COURT – Scope of the jurisdiction of the State and Federal High Courts with respect to enforcement of fundamental rights

JURISDICTION – JURISDICTION OF THE SUPREME COURT – Whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear appeals directly from decisions of the High Court

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT (ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURE) RULES – Instance where the incorporation of the facts contained in an affidavit in support of an originating motion as grounds for the relief sought will be held to have complied with the provisions of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules

JURISDICTION – JURISDICTION OF THE STATE HIGH COURT  – Jurisdiction of the High Court with respect to land

COURT â€“ JURISDICTION – What determines jurisdiction of Court to entertain a cause/matter

APPEAL – FRESH POINT(S) ON APPEAL – Whether a case or an issue that was not raised in the lower court can be raised in the Appeal Court

COURT – DUTY OF COURT – Duty of Court in rendering its decision over a particular dispute; whether a Court is a Court of both law and facts

APPEAL – INTERFERENCE WITH CONCURRENT FINDING(S) OF FACT(S) – Instances where an appellate Court will not interfere with concurrent findings of fact(s) made by Lower Courts

EVIDENCE – BURDEN OF PROOF/ONUS OF PROOF  – Position of the law as regards burden of proof where a plaintiff pleads possession of land in dispute and the defendant admits same but adds that the land was given to the plaintiff as a pledge

EVIDENCE – BURDEN OF PROOF/ONUS OF PROOF  – Burden of proof in civil cases; Types of burden of proof in civil cases and whether same shifts

APPEAL – INTERFERENCE WITH FINDING(S) OF FACT(S)  – Whether an appellate court can interfere with findings of fact based on credibility of witnesses

EVIDENCE – BURDEN OF PROOF/ONUS OF PROOF – Effect of failure to discharge the burden of proof placed on a party

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE â€“ TECHNICALITIES – Attitude of court to technicalities

ACTION – CLAIM(S)/RELIEF(S)  – Position of the law where there is a claim that falls within the jurisdiction of two Courts

APPEAL – INTERFERENCE WITH CONCURRENT FINDING(S) OF FACT(S) – Instances where the Supreme Court will not interfere with concurrent findings of fact(s) made by Lower Courts

APPEAL – NATURE OF APPEAL – Nature of an appeal

APPEAL – EXTENSION/ENLARGEMENT OF TIME TO APPEAL – Principles guiding the grant of an application for extension of time within which to appeal

PRELIMINARY OBJECTION – Duty of Court not to determine a substantive issue while determining a preliminary objection

JURISDICTION – Attitude/Approach of Court where the issue of jurisdiction is raised in an appeal filed out of time

PRELIMINARY OBJECTION – Duty of Court not to determine a substantive issue while determining a preliminary objection

JUDGMENT OF COURT – When can a judgment/decision said to be judicious

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – APPLICATION FOR ADJOURNMENT – Effect of an application for adjournment that has no backing of law

LEGAL PRACTITIONER – LEGAL REPRESENTATION – Whether a lawyer is permitted to act as counsel and witness for his client at the same time

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE â€“ ALLOCUTUS – Meaning of allocutus

APPEAL – FILING/ENTRY OF APPEAL – Statutory time prescribed for appealing in a criminal matter and effect of breach of same

APPEAL – FILING/ENTRY OF APPEAL – Statutory period for filing an appeal in a criminal cause or matter; effect of filing such appeal out of time and without leave of Court

APPEAL – FILING/ENTRY OF APPEAL – Statutory period for filing an appeal in a criminal cause or matter; effect of filing such appeal out of time and without leave of Court

COURT – DUTY OF COURT – Duty of Court to be consistent in its findings

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE – CONVICTION AND SENTENCE – Duty of Court before convicting an accused person; instance where conviction and sentence of an accused person will be set aside

JURISDICTION – TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION – When will a Court have territorial jurisdiction to hear and determine a case

EVIDENCE – PRESUMPTION OF LAW – Presumption of law that any person born during the continuance of a valid marriage shall be presumed to be a child of that man; burden and standard of proof required to dislodge same

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE – CONVICTION  – Whether a person can be convicted for both offences of criminal breach of trust and cheating based on the same factual situation in respect of one transaction in the same proceedings:

APPEAL – INTERFERENCE WITH CONCURRENT FINDING(S) OF FACT(S) – Instances where the Supreme Court will interfere with concurrent findings of fact(s) by Lower Courts

POLICE – DUTY OF POLICE – Duty/Role of the police where the remedy of a nominal complainant is in a civil suit for damages for breach of contract or for an order for specific performance

APPEAL – INTERFERENCE WITH CONCURRENT FINDING(S) OF FACT(S) – Instances where the Supreme Court will interfere with concurrent findings of fact(s) by Lower Courts

POLICE – DUTY OF POLICE – Whether the duty of the police includes the settlement of civil dispute or debt collection

APPEAL – INTERFERENCE WITH CONCURRENT FINDING(S) OF FACT(S) – Attitude of the Supreme Court to interference with concurrent finding(s) of fact(s) of Lower Courts

APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURT – Whether the Supreme Court can entertain an appeal directly from the decision of the High Court

OFFENCE OF RAPE  – Statutory provision prescribing the ingredients and punishment for the offence of rape

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE – OFFENCE OF RAPE – When would the offence of rape be said to have been committed

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE – OFFENCE OF CRIMINAL FORCE AND ASSAULT – What amounts to the offence of criminal force

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE – SENTENCING – Circumstances under which an appellate Court will not interfere with the sentence imposed by the lower Court

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE – SENTENCING  – Circumstances under which an appellate Court will not interfere with the sentence imposed by the lower Court

APPEAL – GROUND(S) OF APPEAL – Whether leave of court is required to file and argue a ground of law

APPEAL – FRESH POINT(S) ON APPEAL – Whether leave of Court must first be sought and obtained before fresh point can be raised on appeal; effect of failure thereof

APPEAL – INTERFERENCE WITH CONCURRENT FINDING(S) OF FACT(S) – Attitude of the Supreme Court to interference with concurrent finding(s) of fact(s) of Lower Courts

INTERFERENCE WITH CONCURRENT FINDING(S) OF FACT(S) – Instances where the Supreme Court will not interfere with concurrent findings of fact(s) made by Lower Courts

EVIDENCE – PRESUMPTION OF CORRECTNESS – Whether the records of courts are presumed to be correct until they are successfully impugned

EVIDENCE – CORROBORATION/CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE – Nature of corroborative evidence required to prove the commission of a crime

EVIDENCE – COMPETENCE OF A CHILD – When a court will be held to have rightly admitted and utilized the sworn evidence of a child

EVIDENCE – CORROBORATION/CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE – Purpose of corroboration

EVIDENCE – TAINTED WITNESS – Whether the fact that a witness is a blood relation of the victim of a crime makes the witness a tainted witness

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE – IDENTIFICATION PARADE – Circumstances where an identification parade will not be necessary

JUDGMENT AND ORDER – PERVERSE DECISION – Effect of failure of a party to prove that the concurrent findings of the lower Courts are perverse

APPEAL – FRESH POINT(S) ON APPEAL – Whether leave of Court must first be sought and obtained before fresh point can be raised on appeal; effect of failure thereof

EVIDENCE – ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE – Appropriate time to object to the admissibility of evidence, effect of failure to do so:

EVIDENCE – IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE – When identification evidence can be used to sustain a conviction

APPEAL – FRESH POINT(S) ON APPEAL – Whether leave of Court must first be sought and obtained before fresh point can be raised on appeal and the exception(s) thereof

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – WAIVER OF RIGHT – When a party is deemed to have waived his right

APPEAL – FRESH POINT(S) ON APPEAL – Instance(s) where an application for leave to raise fresh points on appeal will be refused

EVIDENCE – CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT – Whether a court can convict on a retracted confessional statement