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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.
NIGERIA AGIP OIL COMPANY LIMITED V. CHIEF GIFT NKWEKE & ANOR (SC.162/2013)[2016] NGSC 139 (22 January 2016) (SC.162/2013) [1960] NGSC 1 (21 January 2016); 
Minerals, oil and gas Minerals and energy Environmental law Supervisory Jurisdiction Jurisdiction Civil Procedure Jurisdiction International law Human Rights CL Index EL IndexThis was an appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal to strike out the appellant’s appeal on the ground that it only paid a fraction of the filing fee.
The respondents had filled an action claiming monetary compensation for a diesel spill from the appellant's facility which polluted the respondents’ water. The appellant admitted the spillage and judgment was passed against it. On appeal it paid N200 instead of N5000 to file documents into the registry. The respondents urged the court to dismiss the appeal on the basis of this and other irregularities. The appeal arose from an attempt by the appellant to regularise the payment of fees prior to the filing of the appeal but this was dismissed as incompetent due to payment of inadequate fees.
The court considered whether the lower court was right to strike out the appeal. It observed that a discretionary decision based on a principle that inadequate filing fees was fatal to an appeal was a wrong exercise of discretion. The court differentiated non-payment of fees from payment of inadequate fees. It held that a court of law could not allow the provisions of an enactment to be read in a way that would deny citizens access to court, thereby denying a litigant access to justice. It found that the lower court’s striking out of the appeal denied the appellant access to court.
Accordingly, the appeal was upheld and the appellant ordered to pay the correct fees.
Chevron Nigeria Limited v Nwuche and Others (CA/PH/420/2005)[2016] NGCA 101 (15 December 2016) (CA/PH/420/2005) [2016] NGCA 101 (14 December 2016); CL Index Jurisdiction International law Human Rights Mining Law Mining and Resources Law EL Index Supervisory Jurisdiction Jurisdiction Civil Procedure Minerals, oil and gas Minerals and energy Environmental lawThe court considered whether the State High Court had jurisdiction to entertain a matter about mines and minerals.
The court held that according to s 251(1)(n) of the Constitution as amended, the Federal High Court had jurisdiction about mining operations.
The court found that the statement of claim showed that the cause of action accrued in 1996; therefore, the law that was in existence at that time is applicable. Further, the court found that the construction, operation and maintenance of an oil pipeline by a holder of oil prospecting license is an act of mining operations. The facts of the case therefore fell within s 230(1)(0) of the 1979 Constitution. The trial court lacked jurisdiction.
The court accordingly upheld the appeal.
Republic v High Court Accra and Others (Ruling) (J5/34/2015) [2016] GHASC 6 (24 February 2016); HR Index Have his cause heard (fair trial) Substantive rights Human Rights CL Index Jurisdiction International law Human Rights Supervisory Jurisdiction Jurisdiction Civil Procedure Writ of Certiorari Actions and applications Civil ProcedureThe High Court gave a summary judgment in favour of a party relating to a declaration of title to a house, payment of accumulated rent and an order of ejection. The Court of Appeal overturned the judgment but invoked supervisory jurisdiction to make an order compelling issuing of land title to the interested party.
The court held that the interested party could not apply for the supervisory jurisdiction for a judgment that was overturned – and this was impermissible. A party is not permitted to undermine a decision of an appellate court overturning a decision of the trial court to apply for supervisory jurisdiction when the judgment to be supervised has been set aside. For these reasons the application to set aside the supervisory orders was set aside.