STATE GOLD MINING CORPORATION vs. PIETERSON AND OTHERS

JUDGMENT OF AMUA-SEKYI J.S.C. The late William Edmund Pieterson, a native of Awukugua in Akuapem, but for many years a resident of Cape Coast, died in 1927. In 1970, that is some 43 years later, his children Edmund, Ernestina and Ernest issued a writ at the High Court, Sekondi against the defendant-corporation claiming damages for trespass alleged to have been committed by the corporation in respect of three mining concessions they said belonged to their late father. The case came before Charles Crabbe J. (as he then was) who, after hearing preliminary arguments, entered judgment in favour of the plaintiffs. His decision was, however, reversed on appeal and a retrial ordered before the High Court, Accra. Anterkyi J. took evidence and gave a judgment on the merits in favour of the plaintiffs. The present appeal is from that judgment. The concessions are Hunt’s Pieterson’s Deep Levels, Pieterson’s Deep Levels and Pieterson’s Abontiakon, all in the Tarkwa area. The defe...