ABII NATIONAL SAVINGS & LOANS LTD (PLAINTIFF) vs. MR. EMMANUEL KOJO DAWSON (DEFENDANT) [2018]DLHC7313

ABII NATIONAL SAVINGS & LOANS LTD (PLAINTIFF) vs. MR. EMMANUEL KOJO DAWSON (DEFE... [2018]DLHC7313

Date	2018-11-16
Suit No.	SUIT NO: CM/RPC/0304/17
Citation No.	[2018]DLHC7313

HIS LORDSHIP SAMUEL K. A. ASIEDU J.

HENRIETTA ACKOW KWACHIE ESQ. FOR THE PLAINTIFF.

NO LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR DEFENDANT.

[2018]DLHC7313
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >ABII NATIONAL SAVINGS &amp; LOANS LTD<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>MR. EMMANUEL KOJO DAWSON<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT)<o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT (COMMERCIAL DIVISION), ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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SUIT
NO: CM/RPC/0304/17&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;DATE: 16TH NOVEMBER, 2018<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL: <o:p></o:p>HENRIETTA ACKOW KWACHIE
ESQ., FOR THE PLAINTIFF.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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NO
LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR DEFENDANT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p>HIS LORDSHIP SAMUEL K. A.
ASIEDU, J.<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
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</div>By
a writ of summons issued on the 12th May 2017, the plaintiff claims
against the defendant: <o:p></o:p>a.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
An order&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;of this Honourable Court directed at
the Defendant for the recovery by the Plaintiff of the sum of GhC201, 909.72
being the indebtedness of the Defendant to the Plaintiff as at 30th
April, 2017.<o:p></o:p>b.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Interest on the
outstanding debt calculated at 4.5% per month till date of final payment.<o:p></o:p>c.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Costs including
Solicitors fees.<o:p></o:p>After
filing an appearance and a statement of defence, the parties appeared before a
pre-trial judge for settlement. However, when the parties failed to settle the
matter at pre-trial, the following issues were set down for hearing and the
case referred for trial.<o:p></o:p>On
the 26th February 2018, the defendant’s solicitor on record was
served with a hearing notice inviting him and the defendant to attend court on
the 9th March 2018 for pre-trial case management. However, when the
case was called on the 9th March 2018, both counsel and the parties
were absent. The case was therefore adjourned to 19th April 2018
with an order that fresh hearing notices be served on counsel and the parties.
The case was called on the 19th April 2018, yet the parties and
their lawyers failed to attend the court. <o:p></o:p>The
parties were served with yet another hearing notice on the 4th and 7th
May 2018 to attend court on the 8th May 2018 but on that date, the
parties were absent; the lawyer for the defendant was absent but the lawyer for
the plaintiff was present. The court therefore adjourned the case to the 21st
May 2018 with an order that hearing notice be served on the defendant to appear
on the adjourned date. This hearing notice was duly served on the defendant’s
lawyer on the 15th May 2018. On the 21st May 2018, the
case was called. However, despite the service of the hearing notice on the
lawyer for the defendant, neither the lawyer nor the defendant showed up in
court. The court therefore ordered the parties to file their witness statement
and appear in court on the 29th June 2018. The court also ordered
that a hearing notice together with the court notes made on the 21st
May 2018 be served on the defendant. <o:p></o:p>The
defendant’s lawyer was served with the court notes and the hearing notice on
the 14th June 2018 as shown by the proof of service of same on the
court’s docket. The court did not sit on the 29th June 2018. However
after the legal vacation, the defendant’s lawyer was, on the 11th
October 2018, served with hearing notice to appear on the 1st
November 2018 but that notwithstanding, the defendant and his lawyer were
absent when the matter was called on the adjourned date. The defendant’s
defence was therefore struck out by the court in accordance with rule 7A (1) (3)
(b) of the High Court (Civil Procedure) (Amendment) Rules, 2014 CI 87 which
states that:<o:p></o:p>3. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Where
a party has failed to comply with any of the directions given at a case
management conference or a pretrial review or both, the Judge may make any of
the following orders:<o:p></o:p>b. &nbsp;</main>