Ratio decidendi represents the reasoning or principle or ground upon which a case is decided. It means what was decided. It is not something which a party imagines or thinks was decided. The ratio decidendi of a case lays down the principle of law that has the binding force of precedent. It makes good sense that such peripheral expressions, i.e. obiter dicta, should not be allowed to becloud the substance of a court’s judgment.
A party is like a club. It has its own rules, regulation, guidelines, and constitution. Members join the party on their own free will. By joining, they freely give their consent to be bound by the rules, regulation, guidelines and constitution of the party. The rules of the party must be obeyed by all members of the party, as the party’s decision is final over its own affairs.
A preliminary objection, if upheld, would render further proceedings before the court impossible or unnecessary. Generally, the Rules of the Supreme Court allow a respondent to rely on a preliminary objection to the hearing of an appeal.
By a combination of section 285(14)(a) of the1999 Constitution (as amended) and section 84 of the Electoral Act, pre-election matters such as a complaint from an aspirant at a political party’s primary election about the conduct of the primary election is justiciable. But where an issue between members of a political party borders on an alleged violation arising from the conduct of the political party’s congress to elect delegates or its officers, it would amount to the domestic affairs of the party which is not justiciable.
A claimant for specific performance of a contract must set forth facts to show that the breach of the contract cannot be adequately compensated for in damages. This is so because specific performance would not be decreed if the claimant would be adequately compensated by the common law remedy of damages.
An interested party in a matter before a court of law, is a party or person who is affected or aggrieved or likely to be aggrieved by the proceedings, orders or decision of the court in the matter. It can also refer to a person who has suffered a legal grievance, or a person against whom a decision has been pronounced which has wrongfully deprived him of something or wrongfully affected his title to something
Where a suit is commenced by originating summons, the content of the affidavit in support of the summons, rather than pleadings, forms the basis of the court’s determination whether the defence of limitation of action is viable. In this case, all that the respondents’ supporting affidavit needed to provide in respect of the issue of statute-bar was the time the cause of action accrued and when the action against the appellants was commenced.
An amendment duly made takes effect from the date of the original document sought to be amended; and this applies to every successive further amendment of whichever nature and at whatever stage it is made.
The term “novation” denotes an agreement entered into by two or more contracting parties, thereby consenting to allow for the substitution of a new party for an existing one. The original contracting party being replaced by the new party is thereby excused. By its very nature, a novation is a new obligation that extinguishes and replaces an original contract or obligation. Novation equally applies to substitution of parties.
Negligence is said to be omission or failure to do something which a reasonable man, under similar circumstances, would do or doing of something which a reasonable and prudent man would not do. Put differently, negligence is the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate conduct of human affairs, would do or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do.
