[1967]DLCA1472 • November 25, 1967 • Court of Appeal
BRUCE vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL
The appellant, Emmanuel Mensah Bruce, challenged a Deportation Order made in 1944 under the Aliens Ordinance, claiming he was a British subject by birth in the Gold Coast and thus not an alien. The appellant's claim was supported by oral testimony from relatives and documentary evidence including a baptismal certificate and a passport issued in 1920. The respondent denied the appellant's British subject status. The trial judge ruled against the appellant, finding he had not discharged the burden of proof to establish his nationality.
read moreJUDGMENT OF ADUMUA-BOSSMAN J. This appeal is against a decision given on 18 January 1956 by Smith Ag. J. (as he then was) whereby he gave judgment for the defendant-respondent (hereafter referred to as the defendant) against the plaintiff-appellant (hereafter referred to as the plaintiff) upon the latter’s claim, as follows: “That the Deportation Order No. 29 of 1944 dated 25 September 1944 made by Order in Council and purported to have been made under sections 3 and 7 (2) of the Aliens Ordinance, Cap. 43 of 1936 edition of the Laws of the Gold Coast is null and void and the said deportation order be revoked, on the grounds: (a) that the powers conferred under these sections of the Aliens Ordinance apply only to aliens, but the said Emmanuel Bruce, plaintiff herein, is a native of the Gold Coast, and is not an alien, and the powers aforementioned had been exercised ultra vires; (b) that the legislature was wrong in giving its approval to the said deportation order.” ...