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Court of AppealStruck OutCivil Appeal No. 250 of 1998· [1999] KECA 144 (KLR)
MIGWANI FAMILY HELPERS PROJECT vs HAMIDAS BOUTIQUE [1999] KECA 144 (KLR)
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·~1 min to read original · ~4 min briefThe bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal struck out an appeal because the record lacked certified copies of the decrees, showing certification is non-negotiable.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#This is a very short order of the Court of Appeal at Nairobi, delivered on 26 May 1999 by a bench of Kwach, Tunoi and Lakha, JJ.A., in Civil Appeal No. 250 of 1998, consolidated with Civil Appeal No. 90 of 1996, brought by Migwani Family Helpers Project against Hamidas Boutique. The appeal lay from the judgment of the High Court of Kenya at Machakos (Etyang, J.) dated 15 July 1998 in H.C.C.C. No. 91 of 1996. The court did not reach the merits of the dispute. On examining the record, it found that the record of appeal did not contain certified copies of the decrees appealed against. It held that this omission rendered the appeal incompetent and, exercising its power over defective appeals, struck the appeal out. It made no order as to costs, so each party bears its own costs of the appeal. The decision below was not affirmed, reversed or varied; the appeal was disposed of on a procedural ground without any determination of the substantive issues. The binding proposition for lower courts and litigants is that a record of appeal in the Court of Appeal must include certified copies of the decrees appealed against, and an appeal filed without them is incompetent and liable to be struck out. The order is signed by all three Judges of Appeal and certified by the Deputy Registrar.
Key legal issues
#01
Competence of an appeal where certified copies of the decrees are absent from the record
Holding
The appeal is incompetent and must be struck out
Reasoning
The court treated the absence of certified copies of the decrees appealed against as a fatal defect going to the competence of the appeal. Without the certified decrees the Court of Appeal cannot properly seised itself of the appeal, and the only available course was to strike the appeal out, with no order as to costs.
p. 2
Legal principles established
#- An appeal to the Court of Appeal must include certified copies of the decrees appealed against; a record of appeal lacking them is incompetent and liable to be struck out
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is struck out with no order as to costs
- On appeal from
- High Court of Kenya at Machakos
- H.C.C.C. No. 91 of 1996
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal under the Constitution of Kenya and the Appellate Jurisdiction Act (not expressly stated in the judgment)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "MIGWANI FAMILY HELPERS PROJECT vs HAMIDAS BOUTIQUE [1999] KECA 144 (KLR)", Case Analysis (1999). Civil Appeal No. 250 of 1998. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/1999/144/eng@1999-05-26
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.