Trial Procedure, Evidence at Trial and Case Management
This domain tests how a contested civil case moves from listing to judgment and how evidential rules are applied at trial. Expect questions on case management, the examination of witnesses, the Evidence Act 1975 (NRCD 323), and the consequences of non-appearance.
From listing to trial
The case is set down after pleadings close, and modern practice requires case-management scrutiny before a trial date: a pre-trial conference, scheduling orders, witness statements directed to stand as evidence-in-chief, a trial bundle of agreed documents, and referral of suitable matters to ADR before adjudication. Breach of a case-management order attracts sanctions, including costs, unless peremptory "unless" orders are made.
Conduct of the trial
The plaintiff's case opens with examination-in-chief, then cross-examination and re-examination. Documents are tendered through a witness able to authenticate them and become exhibits. Objections must be immediate and specify the ground - relevance, hearsay, privilege, or opinion.
Key evidential points under NRCD 323: the burden of producing evidence and the burden of persuasion are distinct; the civil standard is a preponderance of probabilities; hearsay is inadmissible unless an exception applies; admissions, expert opinion, and communications subject to legal professional privilege or made without prejudice are governed by statute; and customary law, being part of Ghanaian law, must be pleaded and proved as a fact unless the court can take judicial notice of it.
Non-appearance
If the plaintiff fails to appear or to produce evidence, the action is dismissed with costs, though restoration may be possible on application. If the defendant fails to appear, the plaintiff still must prove the claim at an ex parte hearing; the court does not simply enter judgment on the pleadings.
Worked example
On the trial date the plaintiff's only witness is absent and no witness statement was filed. Reasoning: the burden of persuasion rests on the plaintiff; absent evidence, the claim fails and is dismissed with costs. An explanation and an application to restore, supported by the witness's statement, is the proper remedy, with the sanction of costs for the lost date.
Traps that cost marks
Leading questions in chief; failing to object promptly and thereby waiving the objection; tendering documents without a witness to authenticate them; proving special damages in vague terms; and forgetting that customary law is a fact to be proved.