In this case the defendant raised a preliminary objection disputing the jurisdiction of the court to handle a dispute in a loan agreement.

The court determined the jurisdiction of the high court to handle the matter despite a clause in the agreement that ousted (excluded) its jurisdiction. The court applied article 139(4) of the Constitution and the rule that a simple clause in a contract does not oust the unlimited original jurisdiction of the High Court as conferred by the Constitution. The court observed that the defendant raised this objection to avoid liability since the defendant did not prove his case. The court was satisfied that it would be very expensive to conduct the trial in Belgium as provided in the contract. Consequently, the objection was not sustained and the court ordered that the matter should proceed to trial.