[2014]DLSC2905 • January 29, 2014 • Supreme Court •
ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT vs. SWEATER AND SOCKS FACTORY LIMITED
The case concerns the confiscation of assets of Sweater and Socks Factory Limited by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) in 1979. The Plaintiff (Attorney-General’s Department) alleges that the confiscation was never reversed and that a High Court judgment ordering deconfiscation was unconstitutional. The Defendant contends that the assets were lawfully deconfiscated following petitions and judicial affirmation, and that the High Court judgment was valid.
read moreWOOD (MRS), C.J, The articles 2(1) and 130 of the 1992 Constitution provide that: 2 (1) “A person who alleges that- (a) an enactment or anything contained in or done, under the authority of that or any other enactment; or (b) any act or omission of any person; is inconsistent with, or is in contravention of a provision of this Constitution, may bring an action in the Supreme Court for a declaration to that effect. 130 (1) Subject to the jurisdiction of the High Court in the enforcement of the Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms as provided in article 33 of this Constitution, the Supreme Court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in- (a) all matters relating to the enforcement or interpretation of this Constitution;” This action, which is brought under the above constitutional provisions, has its genesis in the confiscation of the assets of the Defendant, Sweater and Socks Factory Limited (Sweater and Socks), to the State in 1979. The order of confiscatio...