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The Commercial Case Law Index is a collection of judgments from African countries on topics relating to commercial legal practice. The collection aims to provide a snapshot of commercial legal practice in a country, rather than present solely traditionally "reportable" cases. The index currently covers 400 judgments from Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.
Get started on finding judgments that are relevant to you by browsing the topic list on the left of the screen. Click the arrows next to the topic names to reveal a detailed list of sub-topics. Most judgments are accompanied by a short summary written by subject-matter expert postgraduate students from the University of Cape Town.
Alison Idris Nig. Ltd v Diamond Bank Plc and Others (CA/YL/73M/2015)[2016] NGCA 4 (30 June 2016) (CA/YL/73M/2015) [2016] NGCA 4 (29 June 2016); 
CL Index Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure Condonation Orders Civil Procedure
The matter involved an application for extension of time of appeal against a lower court decision granted against the applicant.
The main issue was whether the applicant had shown cause to justify the granting of the extension. The court noted that the length of the duration of the delay in bringing an application for extension is immaterial provided there are good reasons to justify it. In its engagement with the law, the court emphasised the role of judicial discretion in assessing the efficacy of granting the extension. It stated that for this discretion to be exercised the applicant had to show good and substantial reasons for failure to initially make the appeal. These could be a rule, lack of means, mistake or accident. The other inseparable twin leg was for the applicant to show prima facie good cause why the appeal should be heard.
In assessing whether the contemplation of an out of court settlement as reason for delay was a substantial enough reason, the court cited the Supreme Court judgment of Ikenta Best Ltd v AG Rivers State (2008) 2 SCNJ 152 to establish that the reason would not meet muster. The court thus concluded that the application did not meet the first condition for granting an extension and therefore dismissed the application for lacking merit.
Alison Idris Nig. Ltd v Pinash Investment Services Ltd (CA/YL/74M/2015)[2016] NGCA 5 (30 June 2016) (CA/YL/74M/2015) [2016] NGCA 5 (29 June 2016); CL Index Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure Condonation Orders Civil ProcedureThe matter involves an application for an extension of the period of appeal by applicant against a lower court decision.
The main issue was whether the applicant, after consideration of the interests of justice and fair hearing, is entitled to an extension of the period of appeal. Starting from the point that the execution of a judgment does not foreclose the aggrieved party’s right of appeal, the court stated that the applicant must show good and substantial reasons for the delay in appeal, which can be rooted in a rule, lack of means, mistake or accident and, prima facie good cause why the application should be heard. Whilst the first leg requires a satisfactory justification, the second leg only requires one to show that the grounds of appeal are arguable. It is upon satisfaction of both the above that the court will use its discretion to grant the application.
As the applicant’s sole reason was that the delay stemmed from a desire to explore an out of court settlement option, the court followed the Supreme Court decision in Ikenta Best (Nig.) Ltd v AG Rivers State (2008) 2 SCNJ 152 to arrive at the position that the applicant’s reason could not be regarded as a good and substantial reason for delay in filing an appeal. The court thus held the applicant had failed to justify why the extension should be granted and therefore dismissed the application.
Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd v Federal Inland Revenue Service and Others (CA/A/236/2012)[2016] NGCA 66 (4 March 2016) (CA/A/236/2012) [2016] NGCA 66 (03 March 2016); CL Index Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil ProcedureThe court dealt with an application for an extension of time to appeal. The court reiterated the test that must be satisfied for an application for extension of time. The applicant must file an affidavit showing good and substantial reasons for the failure to appeal within time; and propose grounds of appeal that good cause why the appeal should be heard. The court held that the applicant had shown both good and substantial reasons as to why he failed to file appeal with the correct framework and proposed adequate grounds for appeal.
NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY V. DR. SAMA EKPO SAMA & ORS (CA/C/76/2013)[2016] NGCA 145 (22 January 2016) (CA/C/76/2013) [2016] NGCA 145 (21 January 2016); CL Index Suo Moto Court's Discretion Civil Procedure Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure
Losero v Mwarabu (Ruling) (Civil Application No. 10 of 2015) [2016] TZCA 10; (13 October 2016) Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure Limitation Period Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure CL IndexThe matter involved an application to extend the time period of filing an appeal against an alleged illegal decision of the High Court.
The court began by reiterating that the decision to grant an application for extension is a discretionary power. This discretionary power, however, is judicial in nature and must be confined to the rules of reason and justice. It is also required all relevant factors are considered.
Applying the above to assess the applicant’s reason that the delay stemmed from ignorance of procedure, the court regarded the reasons as insufficient. This was predicated on the case law position that ignorance of law was not a good cause for an extension.
The court also considered the question of the legality of the impugned decision as a possible reason for an extension. It relied on the decision of Lyamuya Construction Company Ltd v Board of Registered Trustees of Young Women's Christian Association of Tanzania Civil Application No. 2 of 2010 which stated that a point of law must be of sufficient importance and apparent on the face of the record to compel the court to allow for an extension. The court thus reasoned that the alleged illegality was not apparent on the face of the decision. Hence, it concluded that since it would require a long-drawn process to decipher the illegalities, illegality was not a sufficient cause for granting an extension.
MZA RTC Trading Company Limited v Export Trading Company Limited (Ruling) (Civil Application No. 12 of 2015) [2016] TZCA 12; (24 October 2016) Court's Discretion Civil Procedure Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure CL IndexMadore v Mbelekeni and Another (Ruling) (Civil Application No. 13 of 2016) [2016] TZCA 13; (25 October 2016) Court's Discretion Civil Procedure Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure CL IndexMistry v Hussein and Others (Ruling) (Civil Application No. 6 of 2016) [2017] TZCA 101; (15 March 2017) Court's Discretion Civil Procedure Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure CL IndexIn view of Rule 10 of the Tanzania Court of Appeal Rules, the applicant had to display good cause for a two-year delay in seeking to file an application for leave to appeal. Counsel for the respondents contended that two years was an unacceptably long deferment and that the applicant ought to have applied directly to the appellate court for leave within two weeks after the High Court rejected the application for leave to appeal. It was submitted that the applicant was required to account for each day of the delay-period, which he had not done.
The court, on the other hand, found that the many applications with which the applicant had been busy during the two-year period – albeit fruitless – offered some explanation for the delay. It found that as the respondent was still in possession of the property which formed the subject-matter of the dispute, no prejudice would be caused to it by permitting an application for leave to appeal. Moreover, the grounds that the applicant intended to raise – illegality and fraud – were of such import that they ought to be given an opportunity for airing before the court.
The application was granted.
Zaidi Baraka & Ors v Exim Bank (T) Limited (Misc Commercial Cause No. 300 of 2015) [2016] TZHCComD 42; (21 September 2016) Late filing and extension of time to appeal Institution of proceedings Civil Procedure CL IndexThe applicants applied for an extension of time to give a notice of intention to appeal a judgment handed down in 2012. The applicants had previously applied for an extension in 2015, but this was struck out, giving rise to the following application.
The applicants contended that the previous application was not heard on merit, and as a result the court had jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The court found that the plain language of s 11 of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act confers a discretion on the court to grant an extension of time. The discretion must be judiciously exercised after taking into account the circumstances of the case, whether the applicant acted prudently and without delay. On perusing the court record, the court found that the applicants filed a notice of appeal within 30 days of the 2012 decision, but the appeal was struck out in December 2014. The time for filing another proper notice had expired. The court found that the applicants were concerned with their appeal in 2012 until it was struck out in 2014. The fact that the requisite time within which to issue a notice of appeal had expired while they were pursuing their appeal was reasonable and sufficient cause to grant an extension of time for giving notice of an appeal.
The application for extension of time was granted, and notice was to be filed within 14 days of the date of the ruling.