ISSUE FOR DETERMINATION
Whether an applicant can be substituted for a deceased Appellant, who had died while his case is still pending on appeal
BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE:
On Friday, the 25th day of May 2018, a novel case came before the Supreme Court of Nigeria. the applicants herein being the beneficiaries of the deceased Appellant (who died while his criminal appeal is still pending) are alleging that the value of the property so confiscated as a result of the deceased Appellant’s conviction was far in excess of the money outstanding against the deceased and that the apex court should allow for the substitution of the name of the appellant with theirs as they have interest in the property.
WHAT THE APEX COURT HELD:
The application is no doubt novel since the legal principle is that a personal right of action dies with the person But admittedly, this case is unique and there is no statutory provision in Nigeria or any rule of the Court that makes room for the substitution of a deceased Appellant, for the sole purpose of continuing with a criminal appeal, which died with him.
Moreover, Justice cannot be done if the applicant’s claims are not allowed. After all, Lord Denning in Parker v Parker (1954) 15 ALL ER at 22 noted that –“if we never do anything that has not been done before, the law will stand still, while the rest of the world moves on”.
Since there’s no Nigerian case law either, the apex court relied on the foreign cases of Regina v Rowe (1955) 1 GB 573, Hodgson v. Lakeman (1943) KB 15 and R v. Jefferies (1968) 3 ALL ER 238, and ordered for the substitution of the deceased Appellant’s name with that of the applicant.
CASE NAME:
BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES OMEBIJE ABDULLAHI v. NIGERIAN ARMY & ORS Suit No: SC.433/2010(R).