The 1999 Constitution

Section 293

Except for the purposes of exercising any jurisdiction conferred by this Constitution or by any other law,
every court established under this Constitution shall be deemed to be duly constituted notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership of the court.

(Except in situations where a Court is exercising its powers as stated in the 1999 Constitution or by any other law, every Court that has been created by the 1999 Constitution will be seen as properly constituted even though there’s a vacancy in the membership of the Court.)

Section 294 (1)

Every court established under this Constitution shall deliver its decision in writing not later than ninety
days after the conclusion of evidence and final addresses and furnish all parties to the cause or matter determined with duly authenticated copies of the decision within seven days of the delivery thereof.

(Courts which have been created by the 1999 Constitution must deliver their judgment in writing not more than 90 (ninety) days after all evidence has been provided for the case and the final addresses have been made by the respective lawyers for the case. The Court is also required to provide the parties to the case (i.e. the person suing and the person sued) with authenticated copies of the written judgment within 7 (seven) days of its delivery; )

Section 294 (2)

Each Justice of the Supreme Court or of the Court of Appeal shall express and deliver his opinion in writing, or may state in writing that he adopts the opinion of any other Justice who delivers a written opinion:

(For Justices of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal, each Justice has to deliver their opinion in writing or they can state in writing that they adopt the opinion of any other Justice of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal that has delivered a written opinion; )

Provided that it shall not be necessary for the Justices who heard a cause or matter to be present when judgment is to be delivered and the opinion of a Justice may be pronounced or read by any other Justice whether or not he was present at the hearing.

(On the condition that it is not necessary for the Justice(s) who heard a cause or matter to be present when judgment is to be delivered and the opinion of a Justice of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal can be read or pronounced by another Justice even though that Justice was not present at the hearing; )

Section 294 (3)

A decision of a court consisting of more than one Judge shall be determined by the opinion of the majority of its members.

(Where there are more than one Judge hearing a case, the judgment of the court will be based on the opinion of the majority of the members of that Court; )

Section 294 (4)

For the purpose of delivering its decision under this section, the Supreme court, or the court of Appeal shall be deemed to be duly constituted if at least one member of that court sits for that purpose.

(When delivering judgment in the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal, the presence of one Justice is enough to say that the Court is properly constituted for the purpose of delivering a judgement; )

Section 294 (5)

The decision of a court shall not be set aside or treated as a nullity solely on the ground of non-compliance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section unless the court exercising jurisdiction by way of appeal or review of that decision is satisfied that the party complaining has suffered a miscarriage of justice by reason thereof.

(The judgment of a Court is still valid even though the Court is unable to deliver its written judgment within 90 (ninety) days as stated in sub section 1 of this section but this can be an issue if a party complaining by way of appeal or review of that judgment states that he/she suffered a miscarriage of justice because of the late delivery of the judgment within the given timeframe; )

Section 294 (6)

As soon as possible after hearing and deciding any case in which it has been determined or observed that
there was non-compliance with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the person presiding at the sitting of the court shall send a report on the case to the Chairman of the National Judicial Council who shall keep the Council informed of such action as the Council may deem fit.

(If it has been noticed that a Court did not comply with the 90 (ninety) day rule contained in sub section 1 of this section, the person presiding at the sitting of the Court (i.e. the Judge who heard the case) shall send a report on the case to the Chairman of the National Judicial Council and he/she will keep the Council informed of whatever action the Council decides to take.)