ABIVAMS LIMITED vs. PLATUN GAS OIL GHANA LTD.

The plaintiff/respondent (Abivams Limited) claimed payment of USD 522,010.06 or its Ghana cedi equivalent from the defendant/appellant (Platun Gas Oil Ghana Ltd) under a Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) originally between Omaroil Agency Limited and the defendant for the supply of crude oil barrels. The plaintiff alleged it was entitled to payment for facilitating the supply of crude oil and issued invoices for outstanding balances following partial payments by the defendant. The defendant denied liability, contending that the SPA was between itself and Omaroil, that payments to the plaintiff were made on Omaroil's instruction without transferring liability, and that there was no privity or contractual relationship with the plaintiff. The defendant also raised issues of another agreement with Dome Energy and disputed the plaintiff's entitlement to interest and the amount claimed.

BENIN, JSC:- This appeal brings into focus once more the scope and limit of the popular Order 14 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules), 2004, C.I. 47. That Order has become so popular even among students of the law because we are made to believe that it is the shortest route to obtain judgment in liquidated claims in particular, without going through the travails of litigation. But to the unwary judge who falls into that trap, he may be tempted to dismiss a defence to a claim under this order, as it were, to save time, especially bearing in mind the fact that the court is required to adopt expeditious and less expensive means to dispose of a case before it. But we must not lose sight of the fact that rules of court are meant to regulate orderly proceedings and nobody should be made to suffer therefrom, without real or just cause. The rules of natural justice prevail in all proceedings, hence the requirement that a person should not be made to suffer unless he has been heard in h...