M.I NIgeria limited v Awongo odibo Harry(2009) LPELR-448 CA

MALICIOUS PROSECUTION: Definition and nature of malicious prosecution

"As the name implies, malicious prosecution simply means prosecution that is actuated by malice and entirely undertaken against a person without any reasonable or probable cause. Malice will arise for instance where at the end of investigations of a complaint by the police no case was revealed but the complainant insist that the police must charge the plaintiff to court; Or if the facts of a complaint are to the knowledge of a complainant, false. Malice will also arise where a complainant misled the police by presenting suborned, paid or arranged witnesses to support a false complaint pr where the complaint in any other unlawful way influences the police in prosecuting a plaintiff over tramped up allegations. Reasonable or probable cause on its part entails being in possession a set of facts which to an ordinary and reasonable person would lead to the inference that the person against whom a complaint has been made to the police, was guilty of the alleged offence. The belief and inference of the commission of the offence must be honest and based on reasonable grounds of the facts and circumstance presented in each case.

Source: law pavilion