Towards ensuring an expeditious judicial system, certain novel
provisions were inculcated into the High Court of Lagos State
(Civil Procedure) Rules 2019. This rule which came into effect on
31th January, 2019 also had alongside it The High court
of Lagos State (Expeditious Disposal of Civil Cases) Practice
Direction, 2019.
This article shall therefore succinctly and analytically examine
this novel provisions in a bid to understanding the new position of
the law on matters which might come up for adjudication in
court.
ORDER 5 still maintains the documents that must
accompany the writ of summon, save for a slight amendment.
RULE 1(2) (E) and RULE 5(3) D of Order 5 provides
that the Pre-Action Protocol Form 01 shall be accompanied by other
NECESSARY documents.
What will therefore constitute other necessary documents? This
has been provided for under The High court of Lagos State
(Expeditious Disposal of Civil Cases) Practice Direction, No 2 of
2019. Under the Practice Direction other necessary documents will
include all the pre-action correspondence duly acknowledged and
exchanged between the parties.
In this wise they shall be regarded as the Pre-Action Protocol
bundle. These documents are
- Memorandum of claim
- The reminder in event the defendant failed to respond to the
memorandum of claim within seven days - Affidavit of the respondent’s failure to participate in
settlement talks; and - Evidence of attempts at settlement
Unlike what was obtainable in the old rules, non-compliance with
the Pre-Action Protocol or the settlement procedure nullifies the
proceedings.
It must be further noted that the Pre-Action Protocol Bundle and
the originating processes and their accompanying documents must be
spiral-bound separately. This is therefore a diversion from the old
practice of attaching the Pre-Action Protocol Form 01 with the
originating process.
Order 5 Rule 6 now provides that when a case is
transferred from any other court of competent jurisdiction, any of
the parties should refile at that court so as to comply with the
provision of Order4 R 1 & 2
Order 6 Rule 6 now makes it mandatory for every
Claimant who sues in person to include his telephone number and
email address on the originating processes. This rule also applies
to legal practitioners who enter appearance for a litigant. This is
to ensure that service of processes especially new applications
which are made by parties or their counsel are received by the
other parties. It will also ensure expeditious service as service
can now be made via electronic mail.
By Order 9 Rule 5 (1) where personal service of
an originating process cannot be effected, service by electronic
mails is now an option that can be adopted under substituted
service.
ORDER 11 RULE 5 now provides that if a
defendant files an appearance after the time prescribed in the
originating process he shall pay to the court a default fee of 1ooo
naira for each day of such default.
By Order 17 Rule 18, pleadings are deemed
closed when the defendant fails to file his statement of defence
within 42 days
Order 28 now provides for Alternative Dispute
Resolution proceedings and this provision only applies to matters
screened for ADR, or matters referred to ADR during CMC and
applications for enforcement of arbitral awards.
It is important to also note that the mode for enforcement of
arbitral award is by originating motion on notice.
Order 30 of the 2019 Rules deal with Issues,
Inquiries, Accounts and References to Referees. As against what was
obtainable under the 2012 Rules where parties are only allowed to
define and file their issues within 7 days, the new 2019 Rules
allows a period of 14days after close of pleadings.
Order 34 provides for diligent prosecution.
Rules 2 of Order 34 now provides that the court may at any time
whether on application or suo moto strike out a case for lack of
diligent prosecution.
Rules 3 of Order 34 makes it compulsory for the
judges to strike out a matter where no proceedings has been held or
application filed for a period of 12 (twelve) months.
Order 35 Rule 3 (3), now provides that all
written addresses shall not exceed 20 (twenty) pages and a Reply on
points of law can no longer exceed 5 pages; except with the leave
of Court.
Order 48 (1) (c) now provides that acts which
are required by order of the court must be done within a period of
6 days. In computing the time, Saturdays and public holidays
(including Sundays) shall be left out. Rule 4 of the order also
makes it clear that for each day of default, a defaulting party is
liable to pay N1000.00 into court.
Order 59 provides for Fast Track Procedure. The
Fast Track court is created to hear matters involving claims of mot
less than N100 million mortgage transactions, charge or other
securities commenced by writ of summons. As against what was
obtainable under Order 56 of the old rules, the Claimant or
Counter-Claimant is no longer required to make application to the
Registrar for fast-track. Note that once the matter qualifies under
Fast Track Proceedings, the Defendant is to file his Statement of
Defence within 30 days.
By Order 60 of the new rules, proceedings in
Revenue matters now qualify for Fast Track.
By Order 61 of the new rules, penalty for
failure to file the annual account of administration of estate has
now been increased to N100, 000 annually. The penalty for
intermeddling with an estate has also been increased from N50, 000
to N500, 000
It must also be noted that under The High court of Lagos State
(Expeditious Disposal of Civil Cases) Practice Direction, No 2 of
2019 provisions are made for Backlog Elimination Programme (BEP).
This is in a bid to ensure the expeditious disposal of civil
suits.
Under this program, the Chief Judge shall designate cases which
have remained undecided for a minimum of 5 years before
14th January, 2019 as Backlog. Upon designation as
Backlog, the Registrar shall issue notice to the Claimant to show
cause why the case should not be struck out. The Claimant must
respond within a period of 14 days by filing a notice of
discontinuance, or by giving notice that the case has been settled,
or notifying the court of its intention to settle or by filing an
application to set the matter down for trial.
Where the court determines during compulsory case management
conference that the matter can only be resolved by court
proceedings, it shall direct the parties to file a joint trial plan
within 14 days, and issue procedural timetable after considering
the plan.
Where parties fail to comply with the timetable, this may lead
to a default judgment or a striking out of the case and costs of
N50, 000 or N100, 000 depending on the circumstances or
disciplinary report against counsel.
The introduction of the High Court of Lagos (Civil Procedure)
Rules 2019 is therefore a welcome development in ensuring that
matters do not tarry unreasonably in court. Other states of the
Federation must therefore emulate same so as to ensure that matters
are expeditiously dispensed with in court; for justice will be said
to have been done when matters are not just decided judicially and
judiciously but when they are decided timeously.
Written by: Mayowa Ogunsan Esq., Associate,
Wiseview Legal Consultancy, m.ogunsan@wiseviewlegal.com
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