[1961]DLHC5501 • October 27, 1961 • High Court
QUIST vs. KWANTRENG AND OTHERS
The plaintiff initially instituted a land suit in the Land Court, Accra, in 1958 claiming reliefs related to a disputed will and land ownership. The suit was struck out in 1960 and referred to the local court under the Local Courts Act, 1958. The land in dispute was valued significantly above the jurisdictional limit of the local court (£G200). The defendants objected to the local court's jurisdiction due to the value of the land and the absence of their consent. The local court proceeded with the case despite these objections. The defendants appealed the local court's judgment on grounds including lack of jurisdiction.
read moreThis is an appeal from judgment of the Accra Central Local Court, delivered on the 30th March, 1961. Before dealing with the points which have been argued, it is necessary to set out the history of the case very briefly. In 1958, the plaintiff instituted an action against the defendants in the Land Court, Accra, claiming the same reliefs which she claims in the present suit. On the 31st March, 1960, that suit was struck out and the parties were referred to the appropriate local court by virtue of section 55 of the Local Courts Act, 19581(1), which came into force in or about November, 1959, and which is now repealed. During the two and half years or so that that case was in the Land Court, it came before me on five occasions; that was between the months of June and September, 1959. On the 4th September, 1959, the last day on which it came before me, I indicated that I used to know the late K. Armah Kwantreng whose will was being called in question in the suit, and I also knew the pa...