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Court of AppealAllowedCivil Application No. 12 of 2015 (UR 12/2015)· [2015] KECA 192 (KLR)

Attorney General & another v Coalition for Reform & Democracy & 7 others [2015] KECA 192 (KLR)

Court of Appeal
4 December 2015
Philomena Mbete MwiluP. M. Mwilu
791 words in judgment
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The bottom line

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Kenya's Court of Appeal ruled that careless errors in a Notice of Appeal can be fixed if they cause no prejudice, keeping appeals alive.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This was a single-judge ruling of the Court of Appeal at Nairobi on a notice of motion dated 15th January 2015 by the Attorney General and the Republic of Kenya seeking leave to amend their Notice of Appeal following the Ruling and Order of Odunga J of 2nd January 2015 in High Court Petition No. 628 of 2014 (consolidated with Petition No. 630 of 2014). The Notice of Appeal contained two admitted errors: it was styled as an appeal to the Supreme Court rather than the Court of Appeal, and it misstated the date of the Ruling as 2nd January 2014 instead of 2nd January 2015. The applicants argued the errors were inadvertent and should be rectified in the interest of justice, the intended appeal raising a point of great public importance. Counsel for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th respondents did not oppose the application, describing the errors as procedural technicalities; the 1st respondent, though served, did not appear. Mwilu JA held that the errors were careless but occasioned no prejudice to any respondent, and that addressing the Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court was an error correctable even under the Court's inherent powers. Applying the objective of the Court of Appeal Rules and sections 3A and 3B of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act - the just and expeditious disposal of cases without undue regard to technicalities - the Court granted leave in terms of prayers 1, 2 and 3 of the motion, ordering that costs abide the intended appeal. The decision did not disturb the High Court ruling; it was purely interlocutory.

Key legal issues

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01

Whether procedural errors in a Notice of Appeal are curable by leave of the Court

Holding

The Court held that careless errors in a Notice of Appeal that occasion no prejudice to respondents are correctable, and leave to amend should be granted in the interest of substantive justice.

Reasoning

The Court found the errors (naming the Supreme Court as the appellate forum and misstating the date of the Ruling) were careless but non-prejudicial; all parties knew when the Ruling was made and no party would be disadvantaged. It invoked the Court's inherent powers and the overriding objective in sections 3A and 3B of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, holding the errors could not impede the discharge of substantive justice and the amendment would simply allow access to the appellate process.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • Errors in a Notice of Appeal, including addressing it to the wrong court, are correctable by the Court of Appeal, including under its inherent powers, where no prejudice is caused to the other party.
  • The objective of the Court of Appeal Rules and sections 3A and 3B of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act is to facilitate the just and expeditious disposal of cases without undue regard to technicalities.

Court orders

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  1. 1.Leave granted to amend the Notice of Appeal so as to indicate that the appeal is to the Court of Appeal and not to the Supreme Court
  2. 2.Leave granted to correct the date of the impugned Ruling to 2nd January 2015 and not 2nd January 2014
  3. 3.Orders granted in terms of prayers 1, 2 and 3 of the notice of motion dated 15th January 2015
  4. 4.Costs to abide the intended appeal

Authorities

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Legislation

  • Constitution of KenyaArticle 156
  • Constitution of KenyaArticle 159(2)(d) and (e)
  • Appellate Jurisdiction Actsection 3
  • Appellate Jurisdiction Actsections 3A and 3B
  • Court of Appeal Rulesrules 1(2), 4, 42, 44
On appeal from
High Court of Kenya at Nairobi
H.C. Petition No. 628 of 2014 (consolidated with Petition No. 630 of 2014)
Jurisdiction invoked
Articles 156, 159(2)(d) and (e) of the Constitution; rules 1(2), 4, 42, 44 of the Court of Appeal Rules; sections 3, 3A and 3B of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act; inherent powers of the Court

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Later judgments citing this (17)

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Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.

Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Attorney General & another v Coalition for Reform & Democracy & 7 others [2015] KECA 192 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2015). Civil Application No. 12 of 2015 (UR 12/2015). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2015/192/eng@2015-12-04

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