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Court of AppealAllowed

Transnational Bank Ltd v Jemimah Moraa Sobu [2002] KECA 207 (KLR)

Court of Appeal of Kenya
13 June 2002
ALA.A. Lakha
95 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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·~1 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

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Kenya's Court of Appeal extended appeal deadlines because the applicant's lawyer missed them, but ordered the applicant to pay costs regardless.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This document is the operative ruling of a single Judge of Appeal of the Court of Appeal, A.A. Lakha JA, delivered at Kisumu on 13 June 2002, on an application for extension of time. The excerpt does not reproduce the case caption, the appeal number, the names of the parties, or the notice of motion itself; it records only the court's disposition. The applicant, evidently an intended appellant, sought an enlargement of time within which to file the Notice of Appeal and the record of appeal. The Judge found that the delay was attributable to an oversight on the part of the applicant's advocate. Describing the matter as a fit and proper case for the exercise of discretion, the court extended time: the Notice of Appeal was to be filed within seven days of the ruling, and the record of appeal within fourteen days thereafter. The applicant was also ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the application in any event, a formulation showing that the liability for costs was not conditional on the outcome of the intended appeal. No authorities, statutes or rules are cited in the excerpt, and no reasons beyond the finding of the advocate's oversight are given for the exercise of discretion. Because this is an interlocutory, single-judge discretionary ruling rather than a decision of a full bench on an appeal, it disturbs no decision below; its value for practitioners lies in confirming that an advocate's oversight can constitute sufficient cause for enlargement of time, coupled with an in-any-event costs order protecting the respondent.

Questions the Court framed

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The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.

  1. 1.Whether time should be extended for the applicant to file the Notice of Appeal and the record of appeal where the delay is attributed to an oversight on the part of the applicant's advocate.

Key legal issues

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01

Whether to extend time for filing the Notice of Appeal and the record of appeal where the delay results from the applicant's advocate's oversight.

Holding

Yes. The court found an oversight by the applicant's advocate, held this a fit and proper case for the exercise of discretion, extended time to seven days for the Notice of Appeal and a further fourteen days for the record of appeal, and awarded the respondent the costs of the application in any event.

Reasoning

The ruling gives no extended criteria. The Judge accepted that the failure to lodge the appeal documents in time was the oversight of counsel rather than any deliberate default by the applicant, treated that as sufficient cause, and went straight to the discretionary remedy. The respondent was protected by an 'in any event' costs order rather than by a refusal of the extension.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • A delay in filing a notice of appeal caused by an advocate's oversight may constitute a fit and proper basis for the discretionary extension of time to file the notice of appeal and the record of appeal.

Court orders

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  1. 1.Time to file the Notice of Appeal extended to within 7 days from 13 June 2002.
  2. 2.Time to file the record of appeal extended to within 14 days thereafter.
  3. 3.The applicant to pay the respondent the costs of the application in any event.

The bench

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One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.

AL
majority

Wrote the judgment

Jurisdiction invoked
Not stated in the judgment. A single Judge of Appeal exercised the Court's discretion to enlarge time for filing the notice of appeal and the record of appeal; no constitutional or statutory provision or rule is cited in the text.

Quotable passages

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Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.

Time to file Notice of appeal within 7 days from today and the record of appeal within 14 days thereafter. The applicant shall pay to the respondent the costs of this application in any event.
p. 2Final orders - extension of time granted and costs of the application
I am satisfied that there was an oversight on the part of the applicant's advocate. I consider this is a fit and proper case for the exercise of my discretion.
p. 2Advocate's oversight as ground for discretionary extension of time

Issues in the judgment

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material

The text supplied is only the operative ruling and delivery clause. It omits the case caption, appeal number, party names, the form of the application, and the rule under which time was extended, so those fields cannot be populated from the judgment itself.

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Transnational Bank Ltd v Jemimah Moraa Sobu [2002] KECA 207 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2002). . Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2002/207/eng@2002-06-13

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.