Land disputes

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: A plaintiff in an action for declaration of title must succeed on the strength of their own title and not on the weakness of the defendant's title.

Ghana · 2026

Principle established: A review application must disclose exceptional circumstances resulting in a miscarriage of justice and cannot be used as a mere re-argument of the original appeal.

Ghana · 2026

Principle established: A review application must disclose exceptional circumstances resulting in a miscarriage of justice and cannot be used as a mere re-argument of the original appeal.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: A landlord's acceptance of rent with knowledge of a breach of covenant constitutes a waiver of the breach, regardless of whether waiver was intended.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1973

Principle established: A landlord's acceptance of rent with knowledge of a tenant's breach constitutes a waiver of the breach as a matter of law, regardless of the landlord's subjective intent.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1973

Principle established: A landlord's or authorized agent's acceptance of accrued rent with knowledge of a tenant's breach constitutes a waiver of that breach, irrespective of whether waiver was actually intended.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2024

Principle established: Whether a decision striking out a writ for lack of jurisdiction is interlocutory or final determines the procedure for seeking leave to appeal.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2024

Principle established: A court may grant leave to appeal against a decision striking out consolidated writs if it determines the decision was interlocutory rather than final.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2023

Principle established: Findings of fact by a trial judge, particularly regarding the source of funds for property acquisition and the credibility of witnesses, will generally be upheld unless shown to be clearly erroneous.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1924

Principle established: A claim for trespass fails if the disputed land is not within the property owned by the plaintiff or was validly acquired under statutory powers by the state.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: In Sierra Leone, the validity of an assent to beneficiaries is governed by local law and applicable English statutes of general application as of 1880.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2021

Principle established: Summary judgment should not be granted where the defendant's affidavit raises triable issues of fact or law that warrant a full trial on the merits.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2021

Principle established: Summary judgment should not be granted where the defendant's affidavit raises triable issues of fact or law that warrant a full trial on the merits.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2019

Principle established: The court considered whether a trial judge erred by preferring a statutory declaration over a deed of conveyance and whether the judgment was against the weight of evidence in a land dispute.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: Under the Devolution of Estates Act 2007, children born out of wedlock are not discriminated against and are entitled to share in the residue of their father's estate.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: The words 'equal enjoyment' in a testamentary devise to two persons during their lives do not constitute words of severance, creating a joint tenancy rather than a tenancy in common.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1957

Principle established: A public nuisance materially affects the reasonable comfort and convenience of a class of the public. The class need not be every member of it.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1968

Principle established: A devise to two persons in equal enjoyment during their natural lives followed by a gift over after their death creates a joint tenancy, as equal enjoyment lacks words of severance.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1977

Principle established: A parol contract for the sale of land is generally unenforceable without a sufficient memorandum in writing or valid conveyance, and part performance by payment and entry alone does not suffice.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: A will made by a lay person devising a specified area of land will be construed as referring to that area more or less without requiring strict scientific measurement.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: English Summary Jurisdiction Acts are purely municipal enactments confined to England and Wales and are not statutes of general application in force in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1972

Principle established: An equitable mortgagee by deposit of title deeds accompanied by an agreement to execute a legal mortgage is entitled to foreclosure, and the court may appoint a receiver where just and convenient.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1972

Principle established: An equitable mortgagee by deposit of title deeds with an agreement to execute a legal mortgage is entitled to foreclosure, and a receiver may be appointed where just and convenient.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1681

Principle established: Trespass to land does not need an intention to trespass. It is enough that the entry was voluntary; a mistake about ownership is no defence.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A co-owner requesting a court sale of property instead of partition under the Partition Act is entitled to the order unless the opposing party shows good reasons to the contrary.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1952

Principle established: An appellate court may interfere with judicial discretion to remedy injustice, and a tenant will not be denied equitable relief against forfeiture merely for failing to pay a negligible amount of interest.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: The court exercises a wide, unfettered equitable discretion under statutory conveyancing provisions when determining whether to grant a tenant relief against forfeiture for breach of covenant.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: An appellate court may overturn a discretionary ruling resulting in injustice, and a tenant's failure to pay a trivial interest amount does not preclude relief against lease forfeiture.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2013

Principle established: An applicant claiming fee simple ownership of land may seek an interim injunction to restrain a respondent from entering or disposing of the property pending the determination of an appeal.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A vendor of real property who subsequently remains in occupation as a tenant of the purchaser is estopped from disputing the validity of the sale.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A vendor who sells property and remains in possession as a paying tenant of the buyer is estopped from denying the validity of the conveyance.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2024

Principle established: A stay of execution pending appeal may be sought in the Court of Appeal after being refused in the High Court to prevent the recovery of possession of disputed land.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1978

Principle established: An owner's rights in airspace extend only to the height needed for the ordinary use and enjoyment of the land.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1879

Principle established: A defendant is not liable under Rylands where the escape was caused by the unforeseeable act of a stranger over whom he had no control.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1895

Principle established: Motive is generally irrelevant in tort: a lawful act does not become a tort because it is done maliciously.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: A court may order the sale of a matrimonial home and equal division of proceeds where one spouse has no valid defence to a claim for partition or sale.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A statutory declaration of title is not registrable as an instrument under the Registration of Instruments Act and cannot be admitted where the law requires an oath, affirmation, or affidavit.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1964

Principle established: A statutory declaration cannot be used as evidence where the law otherwise requires an oath, affirmation, or affidavit.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Transactions between natives in the Protectorate regarding land are governed by native law and custom, which requires the prior consent of relatives, and a tenant at will cannot grant a valid lease.

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.