Order 19 Court Of Appeal Rules 2021

Order 19 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2021 is about Briefs of Argument. It contains the following rules:

Order 19 Rule 1 Court of Appeal Rules 2021 – Application

This Order shall apply to all appeals coming from any lower court from which an appeal lies to this Court.

Order 19 Rule 2 Court of Appeal Rules 2021 – Filing of Appellant’s Brief

The Appellant shall within forty-five days of the receipt of the Record of Appeal from the lower court file in the Court a written brief, being a succinct statement of his argument in the appeal.

Order 19 Rule 3 Court of Appeal Rules 2021 – Forms and Contents of a Brief

(1) The brief, which may be settled by Counsel, shall contain an address or addresses for service and shall contain what are, in the Appellant’s view, the issues arising in the appeal

(2) The reasons in the brief shall also be supported by particulars of the titles, dates and pages of cases reported in the Law Reports or elsewhere including the summary of the decisions in such cases, which the parties propose to rely upon. Where it is necessary, reference shall also be made to relevant statutory instruments, law books, and other legal journals.

(3) The parties shall assume that briefs will be read and considered in conjunction with the documents admitted in evidence as exhibits during the proceedings in the lower court, and, wherever necessary, reference shall also be made to all relevant documents or exhibits on which they propose to rely upon in argument

(4) All briefs shall be concluded with a numbered summary of the points to raise and the reasons upon which the argument is founded.

(5) Except to such extent as may be necessary to the development of the argument, briefs need not set out or summarise judgments of the lower court, nor set out statutory provisions, nor contain an account of the proceedings in the lower court nor of the facts of the case.

(6)-(a) Except where the Court directs otherwise, every brief to be filed in the Court shall not exceed thirty-five (35)pages.
(b) The brief shall be legible, well-bound, prepared in 210mm by 297mm paper size (A4) and typed in clear typographic character. The font shall be in Arial, Times New Roman or Tahoma of 14 font size with at least 1.5 line spacing between
(c) Every brief, where in physical or electronic form, which does not comply with the page limit and page size requirements of this Order shall not be accepted by the Registry for filing.

Order 19 Rule 4 Court of Appeal Rules 2021 – Filing of Respondent’s Brief

(1) The Respondent shall also within thirty(30) days of the service of the brief for the Appellant on him file the Respondent’s brief which shall be duly endorsed with an address or addresses for service.

(2) The Respondent’s brief shall answer all material points of substances contained in the Appellant’s brief and contain all points raised therein which the Respondent wishes to concede as well as reasons why the appeal ought be dismissed. It shall, mutatis mutandis, also conform to Rule 3 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) of this Order.

Order 19 Rule 5 Court of Appeal Rules 2021 – Filing of Reply Brief

(1) The Appellant may also, if necessary, within fourteen (14) days of the service on him of the Respondent’s brief, file and serve or cause to be served on the Respondent, a reply brief which shall deal with all new points arising from the Respondent’s brief.

(2) Except where the Court directs otherwise, every Reply brief to be filed in Court shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages and shall conform with Rule 3 (2), (4), (5), (6) (b) and (c) of this Order.

Order 19 Rule 6 Court of Appeal Rules 2021 – Joint and Several Briefs

All parties whose interests are identical or joint shall file joint briefs. Separate briefs may be filed only by those parties whose interests are separate or are in conflict.

Order 19 Rule 7 Court of Appeal Rules 2021 – Cross Appeal or Respondent’s Notice

(1) A Respondent may, without leave, include arguments in respect of a cross-appeal or a Respondents Notice in his brief for the main appeal and the cross-appeal or Respondent’s Notice.