OHENE-MENSAH vs. SUBIN TIMBERS LIMITED [1982]DLHC2166

Date	1982-12-09
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1982]DLHC2166

TWUMASI J.

DARKO-MENSAH FOR THE PLAINTIFF.

MISS SUTHERLAND FOR THE DEFENDANTS

[1982]DLHC2166
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >OHENE-MENSAH <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>SUBIN TIMBERS LIMITED <o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT, SEKONDI]<o:p></o:p>[1982-83] GLR 601<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

DATE:
9 DECEMBER
1982<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

DARKO-MENSAH FOR THE PLAINTIFF. <o:p></o:p>

MISS SUTHERLAND FOR THE DEFENDANTS<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

TWUMASI J.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF TWUMASI J.<o:p></o:p>In
pursuance of the Provisional National Defence Council (Establishment)
Proclamation, 1981, a law was promulgated entitled Forfeiture of Assets and
Transfer of Shares and Other Proprietary Interests (Subin Timbers Co., Ltd. and
Central Logging and Sawmills Limited), 1982 (P.N.D.C.L. 31). Section 1 of the
law provides that “All assets and bank accounts of Subin Timbers Company
Limited and Central Logging &amp; Sawmills Limited are hereby vested in the
State free from all encumbrances whatsoever.” And section 7 provides that:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“Subin
Timbers Company Limited and Central Logging &amp; Sawmills Limited shall
hereafter be amalgamated and be known as Western Timbers Limited until the said
name is further altered in accordance with the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179).”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
present proceedings before this court are to ascertain the amplitude of the
said P.N.D.C.L. 31 and thereby determine whether this piece of legislation does
in anyway affect a legal action for damages for negligence in a road traffic
accident which had been filed against Subin Timbers Ltd. prior to the
promulgation of the law. The plain import of these two provisions is that
Western Timbers Ltd., which is an amalgam of Subin Timbers Ltd. and Central
Logging &amp; Sawmills Ltd., is allowed to operate as a limited liability company
under the provisions of Act 179, but that the State becomes the sole owner of
all the assets and shares and other proprietary rights of the company free from
all encumbrances. The word<o:p></o:p>

“encumbrance”
is defined by the Concise Oxford Dictionary to mean: “claim, mortgage, etc. on
property.” The word encumbrance is not defined in Act 179, but it is defined in
the Mortgages Decree, 1972 (N.R.C.D. 96). Section 24 of the latter enactment
states that an “encumbrance” includes a mortgage, a lien and a charge, and “encumbrancer”
includes any person entitled to the benefit of an encumbrance. In Evans v.
Evans (1853) 22 L.J.Ch. 785, C.A. Lord Cranworth L.C. said at p. 790:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“The word
‘encumbrance’ has no strictly technical meaning; but what is usually understood
is, that where a person has a right at his pleasure to charge £3,000 upon an
estate, that is an incumbrance. In such a state of things nobody could say he
had an estate free from incumbrances while his estate was liable at any time to
be charged with such a sum of money.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>From the
foregoing analysis it is quite clear that an encumbrance relates to property
and not to a person. It is a liability attached to someone’s property, not to
the person who owns the property. Therefore to say that the assets of a company
are taken free from all encumbrances means nothing more or less than that all
mortgages, liens and charges on the assets or properties of the company are
extinguished and the assets cannot be clogged by any such mortgage or lien or
charge. The plaintiff in this case is not a mortgagee or chargee of any
property or asset of Western Timbers Co. Ltd. The action he has instituted is
for a claim for damages for a tort committed by a servant of the
defendant-company.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
company is therefore being sued in its personal capacity, i.e. in its legal
personal capacity as a corporate body that can sue and be sued. Section 32 of
the Interpretation Act, 1960 (C.A. 4), defines a “person” as “person” includes
a body corporate (whether a corporation aggregate or corporation sole) and an
unincorporated body or persons as well as an individual.” A distinction should
always be drawn between a person and his assets or properties.<o:p></o:p>