LATE FILING OF COURT PROCESSES
Over the years, there have been cases which
have been struck from the Court of Appeal in Nigeria due to common errors made by lawyers in the filing of Court processes at the law Court. My aim in this article is to address some of these
issues so as to promote better legal representation by the lawyers in Court on
behalf of their client and to prosecute the cases diligently. Time is of the
essence and it is most often seen where lawyers neglect to file their Court processes
within time and this most times leads to slow dispensation of justice because
matters pending in the Court are outrageous in Nigeria.
By virtue of the provisions of Order 8 rules
1, 4, and 5 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2016. It is one of the duties of the Registrar
of the Court below to compile and transmit the Records of Appeal within 60
days after the filing of the notice of appeal.
However, where at the expiration of 60 days and the registrar fails or neglects to compile and transmit the Records of Appeal, it then becomes mandatory for the Appellant to compile all such records and transmit same to the Court of Appeal within 60 days.
However, where at the expiration of 60 days and the registrar fails or neglects to compile and transmit the Records of Appeal, it then becomes mandatory for the Appellant to compile all such records and transmit same to the Court of Appeal within 60 days.
Taking a proper look at what the provisions
of the rules say, the Appellant has a total of 90 days to compile and transmit
the records of proceedings to the Court of Appeal.
One of the mistakes lawyers make is failing
to compile and transmit the Records of Appeal within time.
STEPS TO CORRECT FILING PROCESS AT THE APPEAL COURT
It is a procedural rule in the Court of
Appeal that when Appellant's Counsel files his Appellant's Brief of Argument,
it is mandatory upon the Respondent's Counsel to file the Respondent's Brief of
Argument. Failure to do this, the Court may make an order where it goes on to
hear the appeal based on the Appellant's Brief of Argument alone. This means
that the Respondent will not be heard.
Most times counsels make the mistake of not
filing the necessary process. A situation where counsel is shut out from being
heard, the Counsel would sometimes file his Respondent Brief of Argument together with a motion seeking extension of time to do same. This practice no doubt
is unacceptable, and the court of
appeal would shut out the counsel.
The practice, the Counsel is to take in such circumstance is to first of all, file (1) a Motion on Notice urging the court to vary its order that forecloses the Respondent from being heard. (2) A motion on Notice seeking extension of time for the respondent to file the Respondent's brief and attach a copy of the already filed Respondent's brief to the motion.
It is also as a matter of procedure in the
court of appeal, that when a motion for extension of time to compile and
transmit the records of Appeal is granted by the Court, the records are
deemed compiled and transmitted. If the Appellant fails to file the Appellant's
Brief of Argument, the court would not give any date since there is no brief or
motion before it.
The only thing the Court would grant the counsel is 'safe
journey back home'. This does not mean that the appeal is struck out, rather
once the Briefs of Argument or Motion for extension of time to file the brief
of argument is filed, the court will give a date for hearing of the appeal.
By USMAN, Adam Olayinka Esq
By USMAN, Adam Olayinka Esq
Don't forget to like, share and comment below.
Since the judiciary is the last hope of the common man, I believe all hands must be on deck to ensure that adequate and necessary steps are executed timeously.
ReplyDeleteVery true and hopefully we are taking steps towards that. Thanks for commenting, stick around for more exciting articles from us.
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