CIVIL MATTERS

Where a statute of limitation prescribes a period within which an action should be commenced, legal proceedings cannot be properly or validly instituted after the expiration of the prescribed period. Therefore, a cause of action is statue barred if legal proceedings cannot be commenced in respect of same because the period laid down by the limitation law had lapsed. An action which is not brought within the prescribed period offends the provisions of the law and does not give rise to a cause of action.

The concept of vicarious liability is the imposition of liability on a person for actionable conduct of another, based solely on a relationship between the two persons. It runs against the well-known rule of responsibility in tort that requires everyone to bear consequences of his own action. It is an indirect or imputed legal responsibility for the acts of another as in the liability of an employer for the acts of an employee, or, a principal for torts and conduct of an agent.

In international trade, “letter of credit” also known as “documentary credit” is the most commonly accepted instrument of settling international trade payments. A letter of credit is an arrangement whereby a bank acting at the request of a customer (importer/buyer) undertakes to pay for the goods/services to a third party (exporter/beneficiary) by a given date on documents being presented in compliance with the conditions laid down.

The powers conferrable on an administrator by a letter of administration are wide. It includes the power to hold the real estate as a trustee and also to bear the liabilities of the estate. This is notwithstanding that the properties of the deceased to be administered by an administrator or administratrix of the estate are usually clearly spelt out or covered by the grant of letters of administration

The provisions of sections 2(1) and 24 of the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap. 207, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990 are in pari materia with sections 2(1) and 24 of the Legal Practitioners Act Cap. L 11, Laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004. Section 2(1) of the Act states that subject to the provisions of the Act, a person shall be entitled to practice as a barrister and solicitor if and only if his name is on the roll. And section 24 of the act provides that unless the context otherwise requires, “legal practitioner” means a person entitled in accordance with the provisions of the Act to practice as a barrister or as a barrister and solicitor, either generally or for the purposes of any particular office or proceedings. (p.126, paras. F-H).

Where there is an agreement for the sale of land for which the purchaser has paid the purchase price in full or in part, and has taken either physical or constructive possession, the purchaser acquires a valid interest, which supersedes any subsequent transaction in respect thereof. [Ayinla v. Sijuola (1984) 1 SCNLR 410; Obijuru v. Ozims (1985) 2 NWLR (Pt.6) 167; Ohiaeri v. Yusuf (2009) 6 NWLR (Pt. 1137) 207 referred to.] (Pp. 33-34, paras. H-B).