NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Abubakar Anafi, Larry Nkwor, Justice Uka-Ofor and Ayomide Abiodun, G Elias
Mareva Injunctions Mareva injunctions are granted to restrain a party from removing assets from the jurisdiction of the court, which might otherwise have been available to satisfy a judgment. Before granting a Mareva injunction, the court must be satisfied that: • the applicant has a good and arguable case; • the assets of the defendant are within the jurisdic- tion; and • there is a risk of the assets being dissipated or removed before judgment. Anton Piller Injunctions Anton Piller injunctions are granted to prevent a party from destroying or removing evidence, often in trade mark cases. The applicant must show a real risk of destruction or removal of evidence before the granting Perpetual injunctions are permanent orders granted at the conclusion of a suit, preventing a party from engaging in certain activities indefinitely. They are granted after a claimant has proved its case before the court. 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief of such an injunction. Perpetual Injunctions Interim injunction orders are granted on an urgent basis to prevent irreparable damage. They may be obtained quickly where there is real urgency. Appli- cations for such injunctions are made ex parte (with- out putting the other party on notice) due to the real urgency involved, which must be demonstrated in the application. An interim injunction can be obtained from the court within seven days of the date of filing the application for the same. The steps to be taken are to file an ex parte motion and ensure that the case is assigned to a judge and that the application is fixed for hearing. Thereafter, the application is heard and determined by the court. There are no arrangements for out-of-hours judges in Nigeria. However, the rules of the courts make provi-
sions for vacation judges to handle cases and applica- tions of real urgency during court vacations. 6.3 Availability of Injunctive Relief on an Ex Parte Basis Injunctive relief can be obtained ex parte in the absence of the respondent. 6.4 Liability for Damages for the Applicant An applicant may be held liable for damages suffered by the respondent if the injunction is subsequently discharged. In the affidavit supporting the applica- tion for an injunction, the applicant must undertake to pay damages to the respondent in the event that the injunction is granted in error. This also applies to ex parte applications for interim injunctions. 6.5 Respondent’s Worldwide Assets and Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief may be granted against assets outside the jurisdiction of the court. 6.6 Third Parties and Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief can only be obtained against a named party in the same litigation. The courts do not grant injunctions against third parties. 6.7 Consequences of a Respondent’s Non- Compliance In the case of non-compliance, a respondent may be liable for contempt of court which may lead to the imposition of a fine or imprisonment. The respondent may also be denied a right of audience in court until it has complied with the injunction order.
7. Trials and Hearings 7.1 Trial Proceedings
In Nigeria, trials are usually conducted by way of oral examination of the witnesses, in relation to the par- ties usually being required to “front-load” their wit- ness evidence (through witness statements on oath) alongside their pleadings at the commencement of a suit, and points of exchange of pleadings. Accord- ingly, the witnesses are led by counsel to adopt their witness statements on oath as their evidence-in-chief.
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