CORAM
EMANUEL OBIOMA OGWUEGBU, JSC. JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT (Read the Leading Judgment)
OKAY ACHIKE JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
OBASEKI, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
A.R. MOGAJI & ORS
APPELLANTS
MADAM RABIATU ODFIN & ORS
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
PROPERTY LAW- CIVIL PROCEDURE- DUTY OF COURT
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The Plaintiff sought a declaration of title a piece of land and an injunction to restrain the defendants and their servants and agents from unlawfully entering the said land.
HELD
The Supreme Court held that the learned trial Judge, at the time he found for the plaintiffs/respondents, had not considered the defendants/appellants’ case at all.
ISSUES
Whether the learned Judge had already prejudged the issue before he ever considered the case for the defendants/appellants let alone the weight to be attached to it
RATIONES DECIDENDI
BALANCE OF PROBABILITY – DUTY OF COURT
“In short, before a Judge before whom evidence is adduced by the parties before him in a civil case comes to a decision as to which evidence he believes or accepts and which evidence he rejects, he should first of all put the totality of the testimony adduced by both parties on that imaginary scale; he will put the evidence adduced by the plaintiff on one side of the scale and that of the defendant on the other side and weigh them together. He will then see which is heavier not by the number of witnesses called by each party, but by the quality or the probative value of the testimony of those witnesses. This is what is meant when it is said that a civil case is decided on the balance of probabilities. Therefore, in determining which is heavier, the Judge will naturally have regard to the following:-
(a) whether the evidence is admissible;
(b) whether it is relevant;
(c) whether it is credible;
(d) whether it is conclusive; and
(e) whether it is more probable than that given by the other party.
Finally, after invoking the law, if any, that is applicable to the case, the trial Judge will then come to his final conclusion based on the evidence which he has accepted.” Per FATAYI-WILLIAMS, JSC
CASES CITED
Aromire & Ors. v. Awoyemi (1972) 1 All NLR 101
STATUTES REFERRED TO
Not Available