1 THE LAW AND PRACTICE OF JUDICIAL REVIEW BY JUSTICE ...

What then is the meaning of an error patent on the face of the record. Annan JA
provides an explanation of the concept of the “record”, which he derived from English
law in Republic v Accra Special Circuit Court; ex parte Akosah [1978] GLR 212 at p.
216:
“As was pointed out to counsel for the appellant, in a certiorari application
where no issue as to jurisdiction is raised and where argument is limited to the
matter of error of law, it must be shown not only that the decision complained
of is erroneous but that the decision flows from an error of law apparent on the
record. And the record, for this purpose, cannot be the whole of the
proceedings up to the ruling attacked as erroneous. Counsel urged a contrary
view and sought, with some persistence, to make use of the evidence to make
out his case. The court thought it right to resist this effort for the point is not
without authority. In R v Northumberland Compensation Appeal Tribunal; ex
parte Shaw [1952] 1 All ER 122 at 130, C.A. Denning L.J (as he then was)
framed that issue in this way:
“It will have been seen throughout all the cases there is one governing
rule – certiorari is only available to quash a decision for error of law if
the error appears on the face of the record. What, then, is the record?”
And his answer at p. 131:
“I think the record must contain at least the document which initiates
the proceedings, the pleadings, if any, and the adjudication, but not the
evidence, nor the reasons, unless the tribunal chooses to incorporate
them. If the tribunal does state its reasons, and those reasons are
wrong in law, certiorari lies to quash the decision.” “
It should be stressed again that cases such as these are only of historical interest, since
in England and the Gambia currently it is not necessary to characterise an error as
being patent on the face of the record. All errors of law can found the invocation of
certiorari, in any case.
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