Pickwell Properties Limited v Kenya Commercial Bank [2016] KECA 786 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal struck out a property company's attempt to kill a bank's appeal because the company waited over a year past the 30-day deadline.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the application to strike out the notice of appeal was competent given the 30-day limit in the proviso to rule 84
The application was incompetent because it was brought long after the 30 days from service of the notice of appeal had expired; the applicant did not contest service in March 2013.
The court reproduced rule 84 and its proviso, which bars striking-out applications brought more than 30 days after service of the notice of appeal or record of appeal. The applicant admitted service way back in March 2013 and filed the application only in April 2014. The time limit having long expired, the application did not lie and its purported basis was absent, leaving the court no alternative but to strike out the motion itself.
Whether the respondent's delay in filing the record of appeal was excusable by virtue of the certificate of delay and the proviso to rule 84
The unchallenged certificate of delay entitled the respondent to exclude the 613 days taken by the registry to prepare and deliver the proceedings and judgment; the 60-day period ran from 8th November 2014 and expired on 8th January 2015.
The Deputy Registrar certified that preparation and delivery of certified proceedings took from 25th March 2013 to 5th November 2014 (613 days). The certificate was not challenged. The court held the respondent could not be blamed for registry tardiness and that the excluded period meant the record was due by 8th January 2015. Whether the respondent's further delay is excused is a matter for the pending extension-of-time application, on which the court refrained from commenting.
Legal principles established
#- An application to strike out a notice of appeal or record of appeal cannot be brought after the expiry of thirty days from the date of service of the notice of appeal or record of appeal; an application brought outside that window is incompetent and the court has no discretion to entertain it.
- Time shown in an unchallenged certificate of delay as required by the Deputy Registrar for preparation and delivery of certified proceedings and judgment is excluded in computing the 60-day period for lodging the record of appeal under the proviso to rule 84.
Court orders
#- 1.The notice of motion dated 9th April 2014 (application to strike out the notice of appeal) is struck out
- 2.Each party shall bear its own costs
- On appeal from
- High Court of Kenya at Nairobi
- H.C.C.C 544 of 2011
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Inherent appellate jurisdiction and the Court of Appeal Rules (rule 84 proviso); Appellate Jurisdiction Act sections 3A and 3B referred to by counsel
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Fairview Estate Limited v Wanho International Holding Limited (Civil Appeal E617 of 2024) [2025] KECA 1762 (KLR)[2025] KECA 1762 (KLR)24 Oct 2025followed
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Pickwell Properties Limited v Kenya Commercial Bank [2016] KECA 786 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2016). Civil Application No. Nai 85 of 2014. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2016/786/eng@2016-02-12
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.