Business and trade

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1915

Principle established: Passing off protects the property in the business or goodwill likely to be injured by misrepresentation (Lord Parker).

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: An agreement whereby a solicitor takes a percentage of litigation proceeds is champertous and illegal, and an appellate court will take notice of such illegality even if not pleaded below.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: If an agent borrows money without authority but uses it to discharge the principal's legal liabilities, the lender is entitled in equity to stand in the position of a creditor for repayment.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2018

Principle established: Summary judgment should not be granted where there are triable issues of fact, such as whether a third party interfered with luggage under international aviation conventions.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1923

Principle established: A person cannot enforce a contract unless there is privity between the parties, and a judicial consent order does not create contractual rights for non-parties.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: A principal cannot recover rents from an agent without positive evidence establishing the precise amounts payable and actually received by the agent.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1975

Principle established: The court asks: is there a serious question to be tried? Would damages be an adequate remedy? Where does the balance of convenience lie?

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: Goods supplied to an infant for trading are not necessaries, and infancy is an absolute bar to an action even if the contract was induced by fraudulent misrepresentation of age.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1962

Principle established: An implied condition of fitness for purpose arises when a buyer relies on the seller's judgment, and exclusion terms cannot protect the seller unless properly brought to the buyer's attention.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1962

Principle established: Where a buyer makes known the purpose of goods and relies on the seller's skill, an implied condition of fitness applies unless exclusionary clauses are brought to the buyer's notice.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1950

Principle established: An agent who contracts in his own name is personally liable on the contract even if the existence of the principal was disclosed.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: An agent who enters into a contract in his own name is personally liable on that contract even if the existence of his principal was disclosed.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: The omission of the word Limited from a company name in legal proceedings is a mere misnomer curable by amendment if a reasonable recipient is not misled.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: In a negligence claim against a manufacturer, the burden of proof is not discharged if the evidence shows the injury was equally consistent with causes other than the defendant's negligence.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1974

Principle established: A contract requires a concluded bargain embodying all essential terms, and failure to complete construction within the agreed period constitutes an actionable breach of contract.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A sea carrier's liability for carriage of goods terminates upon proper unloading and delivery onto the quay in accordance with port custom.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1954

Principle established: A carrier's responsibility for goods ends upon valid delivery according to the custom of the port of discharge, after which it holds the goods merely as an agent.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1998

Principle established: Failure to comply with mandatory rules governing the lodging and prosecution of appeals is fatal, rendering the appeal not properly before the court and liable to be struck out.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1966

Principle established: A common interest between auctioneers can found qualified privilege.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2017

Principle established: An employee seeking recovery of arrears in remuneration may apply for an injunction to restrain the employer from dissipating funds in a specific bank account used for salary payments.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1907

Principle established: The words 'vacuum cleaner' were descriptive and not protected.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: A judgment on a special case stated does not preclude an appeal, and carriers are liable for cargo loss caused by dangerously overloading a vessel.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1990

Principle established: The three-stage test: foreseeability of harm, proximity, and that it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty.

United Kingdom · 1990

Principle established: A duty of care arises only if harm is foreseeable, there is proximity between parties, and imposing the duty is fair, just, and reasonable.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1882

Principle established: A defamatory statement is one calculated to injure reputation by exposing a person to hatred, contempt or ridicule.

United Kingdom · 1892

Principle established: An advertisement offering a reward for performing a specific act constitutes a unilateral offer to the world, which becomes a binding contract upon performance of the conditions.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1952

Principle established: An independent natural event can break the chain of causation.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: Disputes arising from international contracts for the supply of telecommunications equipment and subsequent equity transactions are subject to judicial review on appeal.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1967

Principle established: A party leading another to believe strict contractual terms will not be enforced cannot later insist upon those rights when inequitable, and a tenant holding over under an invitation to renew is not wrongful.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: A party who induces another to believe strict contractual rights will not be enforced cannot resile from that position when it would be inequitable, amounting to a waiver.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1922

Principle established: A carrier is liable for loss of goods caused by overloading a canoe, and a local custom permitting such dangerous overloading is legally unsupportable.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: Statutory prohibitions against importing improperly folded woven goods create offenses of absolute liability, though compliance warnings to overseas suppliers may mitigate sentencing.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1932

Principle established: Lord Atkin's neighbour principle: take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1968

Principle established: Economic loss from damage to another's property is not recoverable.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1853

Principle established: An employer who authorises a tort is liable along with the contractor.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1979

Principle established: Lord Diplock's five elements: misrepresentation, by a trader in the course of trade, to customers, calculated to injure goodwill, causing or likely to cause damage.

Malawi · 2024

Principle established: Once a matter is referred to arbitration pursuant to an agreement, the court cedes jurisdiction and cannot continue to exercise authority over the dispute.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2017

Principle established: Leave to appeal against a ruling may be granted where the proposed grounds of appeal raise serious questions of law that are not frivolous and deserve trial.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2019

Principle established: The court considered whether a defendant was personally liable for a contract or if the transaction was entered into by a corporate entity, emphasizing the distinction between personal and corporate liability.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2017

Principle established: A defendant may be refused leave to defend and summary judgment granted to the plaintiff where there is no triable issue regarding the recovery of sums due under a contract.