At appeal, the court held that indeed the
notice of intention to sue hadn’t been served but
disagreed with the finding of the trial Court that
the requirement to serve a Statutory Notice of
intention to sue is a mandatory requirement the
non-compliance of which renders a suit
subsequently filed incompetent and hence the
appeal.
The court held that failure to serve the Statutory
Notice does not vitiate the proceedings as the
Court of Appeal rightly found. A party who decides
to proceed without issuing the Statutory Notice
only risks being denied costs or cause delay of the
trial if the Statutory defendant was unable to file a
defence because she required more time to
investigate the matter.