[2004] KEHC 1587 (KLR)
The court found that the omission of the sums for pain and suffering and loss of expectation of life from the total award was an arithmetical error apparent on the face of the record. Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act empowers the court to correct such errors at any time, either on its own motion or upon...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2004] KEHC 1587 (KLR)
- Parties
- Plaintiff: Martha Wangui Muriithi; Defendant: Glory Car Hire, Tours & Safaris Ltd & Another
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Civil Case 1805 of 2002
- Procedural Posture
- Civil Case / Post Judgment Correction Under Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act
- Outcome
- Application for correction of arithmetic error granted.
- Legal Topics
- Arithmetical Error Correction, Judgment Rectification, Clerical Mistakes, Section 99 Civil Procedure Act
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Martha Wangui Muriithi
Plaintiff
Glory Car Hire, Tours & Safaris Ltd & Another
Defendant
Procedural Posture
Civil Case / Post Judgment Correction Under Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the court can correct an arithmetical error in the judgment under section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act.
- 2 Whether the omission of quantified claims from the total award constitutes an error apparent on the face of the record.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the omission of the sums for pain and suffering and loss of expectation of life from the total award was an arithmetical error apparent on the face of the record. Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act empowers the court to correct such errors at any time, either on its own motion or upon application by a party. The court determined that the correction did not alter the substance of the judgment but merely rectified an accidental omission in the calculation of the total award. Accordingly, the court granted the application and amended the judgment to reflect the correct total, ensuring that the award accurately included all quantified claims as originally intended.
Court Disposition
Application for correction of arithmetic error granted.
Orders
- The judgment is corrected to reflect a total award of Ksh. 4,687,500 less 50%, resulting in a final sum of Ksh. 2,343,750.
- No orders as to costs.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
42 paragraphs
) Civil Practice and Procedure 2) Correction of an arithmetic error 3) The total addition of the award in avertedly omitted the sum of some claims. 4) After judgment has been delivered no change is to be made save the correction of errors on the face of the record and upon application by any of the parties or on courts own motion. 5) Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act 6) Case law. Nil 7) Advocates J.K. Muthui for Kaplan & Stratton Advocates for the plaintiff No appearance for Odhiambo & Weda Advocates for the defendant
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI
CIVIL CASE NO. 1805 OF 2002
MARTHA WANGUI MURIITHI ……………………………. PLAINTIFF
VERSUS
GLORY CAR HIRE, TOURS &
SAFARIS LTD & ANOTHER ……………………….. DEFENDANT
RULING
This is a finalized case. Once judgment has been delivered no change is permitted to be made to it.
The advocate for the plaintiff has filed a written application seeking the amendments of an arithmetic mistake of the net total sum as contained in the judgment of the court. He comes by way of seciton 99 of the Civil Procedure Act that reads:-
“Clerical or arithmetical mistakes in judgments decrees or order, or errors
arising therein from an accident act slip or omission may at any time be
corrected by the court either of its own motion or on the application of any of the parties.”
According to the applicant, the court had quantified the damages but in the final total of the arithmetic, two quantified claims were left out in error.
The summary of the correct award was to be:-
Liability:- 50%:50%
Quantum:-
A)Law Reform Act
a) Pain and suffering Ksh. 50,000/-
b) Loss of expectation of life Ksh. 70,000/-
c) Lost years Ksh.35,000 x 10 x 12 x 2/3 Ksh.4,800,000/-
B) Fatal Accidents Act
a) Loss of dependency
Ksh.35,000/- x 10/- x 12 x 1/3 Ksh.2,240,000/-
C)Special Damages
a) (agreed) Ksh. 87,560/-
Total Ksh.4,687,500/-
Less 50% Ksh.2,343,750/-
Ksh.2,343,750/-
The court awarded a total of Ksh.4,567,560/- less 50% = Ksh.2,283,780/-.
This clearly shows that the sum of Ksh.50,000/- for pain and suffering and Ksh.70,000/- for loss of expectation of life was omitted from the final sum.
The law permits me under seciton 99 of the Civil Procedure Act to make arithmetic correction to errors such as in this case.
I hereby grant the application and do correct the error on the face of the record to read a total of:- Ksh.4,687,500/-
Less 50% Ksh.2,343,750/-
FinalKsh.2,343,750/-
I make no orders as to costs.
Dated this 27th day of May 2004 at Nairobi.
M.A. ANG’AWA
JUDGE
D. Gachuhi Advocates for the plaintiff
O. Weda Advocates for the defendant