ZAINABU ALI RUWA v A.P.A. INSURANCE COMPANY LTD [2009] KECA 194 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal confirmed that only written requests for court proceedings within 30 days count towards appeal deadlines, so APA Insurance's appeal survived.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the respondent's notice of appeal should be deemed withdrawn under Rule 82(1)(a) of the Court of Appeal Rules
- 2.Whether time for instituting the appeal began to run from the oral request for copies of the ruling and proceedings made before Sergon J.
- 3.Whether the respondent complied with the rules requiring written application for certified proceedings within thirty days
Key legal issues
#Effect of an oral request for proceedings on the running of time to appeal
An oral application before the trial judge does not trigger or suspend the time for appealing; only written applications within thirty days, copied to the opposite party, are recognised.
Counsel for the applicant argued that time began to run from the oral request made to Sergon J. The Court rejected this, holding that the proviso to Rule 81 and Rule 82(2) recognise only written applications made within thirty days of the ruling and copied to the opposite party. The respondent's same-day written letter to the Deputy Registrar satisfied this requirement.
Whether the notice of appeal should be deemed withdrawn under Rule 82(1)(a)
The notice of appeal was not deemed withdrawn because the appeal was instituted within time; the certificate of delay showed the proceedings were supplied on 16th April 2008 and the appeal was lodged on 17th April 2008.
The Court distinguished an application to deem a notice withdrawn from one to strike out a record of appeal. Since the respondent applied for proceedings in writing as required, obtained a certificate of delay showing delivery on 16th April 2008, and lodged the appeal on 17th April 2008, it had done all the rules required and the deeming provision did not apply.
Legal principles established
#- Only written applications for copies of the ruling and proceedings, made within thirty days and copied to the opposite party, extend time under the proviso to Rule 81 and Rule 82(2); oral requests to the trial judge do not start time running.
- Where a party lodges a notice of appeal and fails to institute the appeal within the appointed time, the notice is deemed withdrawn and that party is liable for costs unless the Court otherwise orders.
Court orders
#- 1.The applicant's notice of motion dated 26th March 2008 is dismissed
- 2.The costs of the dismissed motion shall be in the appeal already lodged
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
- On appeal from
- High Court of Kenya at Mombasa
- H.C.C.C. No. 216 of 2006
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 3(2) of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act and Rules 42, 45(1) and 82(a) of the Court of Appeal Rules
Relief refused
#Deeming of the respondent's notice of appeal dated 26th July 2007 as withdrawn with costs to the applicant
An appeal had already been filed; the respondent applied in writing for the proceedings as required by the rules and obtained a certificate of delay showing the appeal was lodged in time
Costs
Costs of the dismissed motion shall be in the appeal already lodged
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
the proviso to rule 81 and rule 82(2) of the rules only recognise written applications which must be made within thirty days from the date on which the ruling is made and a copy of which is sent to the opposite party
we are not dealing with an application to strike out the record of appeal or the notice of appeal; different considerations would have applied if that was what we were asked to do
We are satisfied that there is no merit in the motion before us and that being the view we take we order that the said motion be and is hereby dismissed. We however, order that the costs of the dismissed motion shall be in the appeal already lodged.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "ZAINABU ALI RUWA v A.P.A. INSURANCE COMPANY LTD [2009] KECA 194 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2009). Civil Appli No. 49 of 2008. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2009/194/eng@2009-07-24
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.