Pleadings

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2012

Principle established: A party may seek leave to amend court papers to correctly reflect their status as an appellant rather than an interested party.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1972

Principle established: Where words can carry meanings beyond the dictionary sense, the claimant must set them out in the pleadings.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2013

Principle established: A party may apply to set aside a petition and its service on the grounds of gross irregularity.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1955

Principle established: The defense of inevitable accident need not be specially pleaded and is open under a plea of no negligence, and an unpleaded ground may be considered on appeal if justice warrants.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A defendant may raise inevitable accident under a plea denying negligence without pleading it specifically, and an appellate court may consider unpleaded points if justice requires and the respondent has notice.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A court may deprive a successful defendant of the costs related to drawing and filing an improperly pleaded defence.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: Under the doctrine of res judicata, parties are estopped from litigating not only points decided previously but every point properly belonging to the subject of litigation which could have been brought forward.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A declaratory judgment on land ownership may be granted for a portion of claimed land and should incorporate a survey plan, which is admissible even if not specifically pleaded.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2013

Principle established: An appeal against an interlocutory decision, such as an order striking out a defence, requires leave of the court and must be filed within the prescribed statutory timeframe.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: Where there are contentious issues in a legal dispute, the proceedings should be initiated by a writ of summons rather than an originating summons.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: Legal proceedings involving contentious issues must be commenced by a writ of summons to allow for adequate resolution of the dispute.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A judgment in a trespass action where ownership was not in controversy cannot sustain a plea of res judicata against a subsequent action for declaration of title to the land.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: Where a defendant disputes liability to account, the trial judge must determine that preliminary issue before ordering an account against defendants who have been served.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: When a defendant raises a prima facie defence denying that plaintiffs are entitled to an account, the judge must first try that preliminary question before making an order for accounts.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1972

Principle established: Where a preliminary point of law raised on the pleadings will substantially dispose of the entire action, it should be argued and determined before trial under the rules of court.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: A preliminary point of law raised in pleadings that would substantially dispose of an action should be determined before trial under the rules of court.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A tenant's formal plea of possession in an action for forfeiture constitutes a denial of the landlord's title that irrevocably bars the tenant from obtaining equitable relief against forfeiture.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: An insurer that conducts the legal defence of an insured without repudiating liability is estopped from subsequently denying its obligation to indemnify.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1973

Principle established: An insurer that assumes and conducts the defence of an insured without repudiating the claim is estopped from subsequently denying its liability to indemnify the insured.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2017

Principle established: In the Fast Track Commercial Court, a plaintiff may seek summary judgment, but the court must consider whether procedural requirements, such as pre-trial conferences, have been met.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: A party may apply to set aside a petition for the interpretation of a political party's constitution on the grounds of gross irregularity in the petition or its service.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2000

Principle established: The Court of Appeal has unfettered power to grant an amendment to determine the real question in controversy between the parties where it can be done without injustice to the other side.

Uganda · 2026

Principle established: Time to file a defense may be extended where the applicants were not served with summons and demonstrate a willingness to defend the suit.

Kenya · 2024

Principle established: A petition alleging constitutional violations must specifically identify the violated provisions and the limb of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction being invoked to avoid being struck out.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2012

Principle established: A party may apply to the Supreme Court for leave to amend their designation in court filings from an interested party to an appellant.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: Where defendants are sued as executors or personal representatives, their representative capacity must be indorsed on the writ itself rather than merely stated in the statement of claim.

Zimbabwe · 2023

Principle established: Where an exception to a criminal charge is upheld on the basis that the facts do not disclose an offence, the accused is entitled to be found not guilty and discharged.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: The defence of accord and satisfaction to a breach of contract claim must be specifically pleaded and requires both an accord and full performance of the satisfaction.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1973

Principle established: The defence of accord and satisfaction must be specifically pleaded and requires not only an agreement to discharge the breach of contract but also full performance of the promised satisfaction.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2019

Principle established: The court considered an application to strike out a defense and enter judgment in a matter involving a declaration of title and damages for trespass to land.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1967

Principle established: Where a cause of action arises ex turpi causa or transgresses positive law, the court will refuse assistance to the plaintiff even if illegality was not specifically pleaded by the defendant.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: A court will refuse to assist a plaintiff whose claim arises ex turpi causa or in breach of positive law, taking notice of illegality even if unpleaded.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: Courts will not enforce a bailment transaction where the possession of the subject-matter goods is illegal under the law.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1961

Principle established: Members of a Native Court are public servants entitled to statutory protection, and the trial court may apply a statutory defence even if not expressly pleaded.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2016

Principle established: A trial judge errs by granting ownership and possession of land to a person who was not a party to the proceedings and was never formally added as such.

Zimbabwe · 2023

Principle established: An accused person may challenge the validity of criminal charges through an exception, and the court's ruling on such an exception is subject to judicial review for irregularity.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: A writ issued in the name of a non-existent plaintiff is an incurable nullity, and leave to amend will be refused if it introduces a substantially different cause of action.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2024

Principle established: A party may be joined as a respondent in an action if their presence is necessary for the court to effectively and completely adjudicate upon the issues in dispute.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2014

Principle established: Special damages must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved, and a trial judge errs by awarding them as general damages when they were pleaded as special damages without sufficient evidence.

Kenya · 2025

Principle established: The omission of an administrator ad litem's name in a petition title is a curable procedural error rather than a fatal defect if substitution has already occurred in a lower court.