JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
The cut and dry issue in this appeal is, in our assessment, whether the High Court erred by allowing the respondent, Lagoon Development Ltd, to discontinue High Court Civil Suit No 2 of 2014 whilst the appellant, Beijing Industrial Designing and Researching Institute, had contempt of court proceedings pending for hearing and determination in that suit. That fact however has not deterred the parties from clouding the issue by introducing a myriad of peripheral issues, such as the competence and propriety of the contempt proceedings and even of the injunctive orders upon which the contempt proceedings were founded. In addition accusations and counter accusations of unethical and unprofessional conduct on the part of counsel have been hurled with abandon. Be that as it may, we shall not be sidetracked and will strive to focus on the real issue in dispute in this appeal.
The background to the appeal is a construction contract entered into between the appellant and the …