[2023]DLCA16829 • May 11, 2023 • Court of Appeal
AUDIO VISUAL RIGHTS SOCIETY vs. FIESTA ROYALE HOTEL
The Plaintiff, Audiovisual Rights Society, a company limited by guarantee and a Collective Management Organization (CMO), sued the Defendant, Fiesta Royale Hotel, for unpaid royalties from 2015 to 2021 for publishing and exhibiting audiovisual works on its premises. The Plaintiff claimed GHC 60,362.00 plus interest and costs. The Defendant denied owing royalties and challenged the Plaintiff's capacity to sue, alleging the Plaintiff's certificate of approval as a CMO had expired during the pendency of the suit.
read moreJUDGMENT Adjei-Frimpong, J.A: This suit raises an issue of some procedural law importance. In the main, it turns on a claimant having capacity to sue but losing such capacity after the action has been commenced. What should be the effect of such loss of capacity on the claim being pursued? It is axiomatic that capacity to sue or locus standi is always a crucial matter in any civil suit when challenged. For a suit to be competent for adjudication by a court, there must be at least a competent Plaintiff and a competent Defendant in the sense that both were juristic persons with locus standi to sue and be sued. Where the existing Plaintiff or Defendant lacks competence, it renders the action incompetent regardless of the merits and the court is robbed of its requisite jurisdiction to determine the underlying claim. That the Plaintiff/Respondent (herein ‘Plaintiff’) was clothed with capacity at the commencement of the instant action at the trial court became common ground. T...