And whereas by the said Order in Council it was further ordered that it should be lawful for the Governor, from time to time, by Ordinance, to provide for the administration of justice in the Protectorate of Nigeria; And whereas by an Order in Council dated the 10th day of August, 1914,* and known as the Nigeria Order in Council, 1914, powers were conferred upon the Governor and the Legislative Council of the Colony, and the Governor of the Protectorate, to legislate jointly for matters affecting both the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria; And whereas a Court called the Supreme Court of Nigeria has been constituted by the Supreme Court Ordinance, 1914, to be the Supreme Court of Judicature for the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria; And whereas it is expedient that provision should be made by this Order, in pursuance of the powers vested in His Majesty by "The Judicial Committee Act, 1844,” and “The Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890," or otherwise, to enable parties to appeal from the said Supreme Court of Nigeria to His Majesty in Council: Now, therefore, His Majesty, in pursuance of all powers enabling him in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows: 1. This Order may be cited as "The Nigeria (Privy Council Appeals) Order in Council, 1917." 2. The Orders of His late Majesty King Edward the Seventh in Council, dated the 15th day of February, 1909, and the 17th day of May, 1909, shall be, and the same are hereby, revoked and repealed, without prejudice to anything lawfully done thereunder. 3. From and after the date of this Order any person or persons may appeal to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, in his or their Privy Council, from any judgment, decree, order or sentence of the said Supreme Court of Nigeria, in such manner, within such time, and under and subject to such rules, regulations and limitations as are hereinafter mentioned, that is to say:— Rules. 1. In these rules, unless the context requires : otherwise Appeal" means appeal to His Majesty in Council; "His Majesty" includes His Majesty's heirs and successors; Judgment" includes decree, order, sentence, or decision; Court means either the full Court or a single Judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, according as the matter in question is one which, under the rules and practice of the Supreme Court, properly appertains to the full Court or to a single Judge; 44 Record" means the aggregate of papers relating to an appeal (including the pleadings, proceedings, evidence and judgments) proper to be laid before His Majesty in Council on the hearing of the appeal; "Registrar" means the Registrar or other proper officer having the custody of the records in the Court appealed from; Month" means calendar month; " Words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular. 2. Subject to the provisions of these rules, an appeal shall lie: (a.) As of right, from any final judgment of the Court, where the matter in dispute on the appeal amounts to or is of the value of 500l. sterling or upwards, or where the appeal involves, directly or indirectly, some claim or question to or respecting property or some civil right amounting to or of the value of 5001. sterling or upwards; and (b.) At the discretion of the Court, from any other judg ment of the Court, whether final or interlocutory, if, in the opinion of the Court, the question involved in the appeal is one which, by reason of its great general or public importance or otherwise, ought to be submitted to His Majesty in Council for decision. 3. Where in any action or other proceeding no final judgment can be duly given in consequence of a difference of opinion between the judges the final judgment may be entered pro formâ on the application of any party to such action or other proceeding according to the opinion of the Chief Justice or, in his absence, of the Senior Puisne Judge of the Court, but such judgment shall only be deemed final for purposes of an appeal therefrom, and not for any other purpose. 4. Applications to the Court for leave to appeal shall be made by motion or petition within 3 months from the date of the judgment to be appealed from, and the applicant shall give the opposite party notice of his intended application. 5. Leave to appeal under rule 2 shall only be granted by the Court in the first instance: (a.) Upon condition of the appellant, within a period to be fixed by the Court, but not exceeding 3 months from the date of the hearing of the application for leave to appeal, entering into good and sufficient security, to the satisfaction of the Court, in a sum not exceeding 500l. for the due prosecution of the appeal, and the payment of all such costs as may become payable to the respondent in the event of the appellant's not obtaining an order granting him final leave to appeal, or of the appeal being dismissed for non-prosecution, or of His Majesty in Council ordering the appellant to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal (as the case may be); and (b.) Upon such other conditions (if any) as to the time or times within which the appellant shall take the necessary steps for the purpose of procuring the preparation of the record and the despatch thereof to England as the Court, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, may think it reasonable to impose. 6. Where a judgment appealed from requires the appellant to pay money or perform a duty, the Court shall have power, when granting leave to appeal, either to direct that the said judgment shall be carried into execution, or that the execution thereof shall be suspended pending the appeal, as to the Court shall seem just, and in case the Court shall direct the said judgment to be carried into execution, the person in whose favour it was given shall, before the execution thereof, enter into good and sufficient security, to the satisfaction of the Court, for the due performance of such Order as His Majesty in Council shall think fit to make thereon. 7. The preparation of the record shall be subject to the supervision of the Court, and the parties may submit any disputed question arising in connection therewith to the decision of the Court, and the Court shall give such directions thereon as the justice of the case may require. 8. The Registrar, as well as 'the parties and their legal agents, shall endeavour to exclude from the record all documents (more particularly such as are merely formal) that are not relevant to the subject-matter of the appeal, and generally to reduce the bulk of the record as far as practicable, taking special care to avoid the duplication of documents and the unnecessary repetition of headings and other merely formal parts of documents; but the documents omitted to be copied or printed shall be enumerated in a list to be placed after the index or at the end of the record. 9. Where in the course of the preparation of a record on party objects to the inclusion of a document on the ground that it is unnecessary or irrelevant, and the other part nevertheless insists upon its being included, the record a finally printed (whether in Nigeria or in England) shall with a view to the subsequent adjustment of the costs and incidental to such document, indicate in the index papers, or otherwise, the fact that, and the party by whom the inclusion of the document was objected to. 10. The record shall be printed in accordance with the rules set forth in the schedule hereto. It may be so printed either in Nigeria or in England. 11. Where the record is printed in Nigeria the Registrar shall, at the expense of the appellant, transmit to the Registrar of the Privy Council 40 copies of such record, one of which copies he shall certify to be correct by signing his name on, or initialling, every eighth page thereof, and by affixing thereto the seal of the Court. 12. Where the record is to be printed in England, the Registrar shall, at the expense of the appellant, transmit to the Registrar of the Privy Council one certified copy of such record, together with an index of all the papers and exhibits in the case. No other certified copies of the record shall be transmitted to the agents in England by or on behalf of the parties to the appeal. 13. Where part of the record is printed in Nigeria and part is to be printed in England, rules 11 and 12 shall, as far as practicable, apply to such parts as are printed in Nigeria and such as are to be printed in England respectively. 14. The reasons given by the Judge, or any of the Judges, for or against any judgment pronounced in the course of the proceedings out of which the appeal arises, shall by such Judge or Judges be communicated in writing to the Registrar, and shall by him be transmitted to the Registrar of the Privy Council at the same time when the record is transmitted. 15. Where there are two or more applications for leave to appeal arising out of the same matter, and the Court is of opinion that it would be for the convenience of the Lords of the Judicial Committee and all parties concerned that the appeals should be consolidated, the Court may direct the appeals to be consolidated, and grant leave to appeal by a single order. 16. An appellant who has obtained an order granting him conditional leave to appeal may at any time prior to the making of an order granting him final leave to appeal withdraw his appeal on such terms as to costs and otherwise as the Court may direct. 17. Where an appellant, having obtained an order granting him conditional leave to appeal, and having complied with the conditions imposed on him by such order, fails thereafter to apply with due diligence to the Court for an order granting him final leave to appeal, the Court may, on an application in that behalf made by the respondent, rescind the order granting conditional leave to appeal, notwithstand ing the appellant's compliance with the conditions imposed by such order, and may give such directions as to the costs of the appeal and the security entered into by the appellant as the Court shall think fit, or make such further or other order in the premises as, in the opinion of the Court, the justice of the case requires. 18. On an application for final leave to appeal the Court may inquire whether notice, or sufficient notice, of the application has been given by the appellant to all parties concerned, and, if not satisfied as to the notices given, may defer the granting of the final leave to appeal, or may give such other directions in the matter as, in the opinion of the Court, the justice of the case requires. 19. An appellant who has obtained final leave to appeal, shall prosecute his appeal in accordance with the rules for the time being regulating the general practice and procedure in appeals to His Majesty in Council. 20. Where an appellant, having obtained final leave to appeal, desires, prior to the despatch of the record to England, to withdraw his appeal, the Court may, upon an application in that behalf made by the appellant, grant him a certificate to the effect that the appeal has been withdrawn, and the appeal shall thereupon be deemed, as from the date of such certificate, to stand dismissed without express Order of His Majesty in Council, and the costs of the appeal and the security entered into by the appellant shall be dealt with in such manner as the Court may think fit to direct. 21. Where an appellant, having obtained final leave to appeal, fails to show due diligence in taking all necessary steps for the purpose of procuring the despatch of the record to England, the respondent may, after giving the appellant due notice of his intended application, apply to the Court for a certificate that the appeal has not been effectually prosecuted by the appellant, and if the Court sees fit to grant such a certificate, the appeal shall be deemed, as from the date of such certificate, to stand dismissed for non-prosecution without express Order of His Majesty in Council, and the costs of the appeal and the security entered into by the appellant shall be dealt with in such manner as the Court may think fit to direct. 22. Where at any time between the order granting final leave to appeal and the despatch of the record to England the record becomes defective by reason of the death, or change of status, of a party to the appeal, the Court may, notwithstanding the order granting final leave to appeal, on an application in that behalf made by any person interested, grant a certificate showing who, in the opinion of the Court, is the proper person to be substituted or entered on the record in place of, or in addition to, the party who has died or undergone a |