Judgment No. SC 27/18 Civil Appeal No. SC 173/17 basis that it did not comply with s 43 of the High Court Act, the matter would no longer be before the court. In any event, as I have stated above, it should be stressed that once a matter has been filed with the registrar only that court can remove it from the roll on the basis that it does not comply either with the rules of the court or a statute. In instances where the registrar has been granted quasi-judicial functions these are specifically spelt out either in the relevant legislation or the rules of this court. For instance where a party is called upon to inspect a record and he fails to do so within the prescribed time r 15 (8a) of the Supreme Court Rules specifically authorizes the registrar to deem the appeal abandoned. The rule also specifies the remedy that the party has against the decision of the registrar. In relation to the point raised on whether or not the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to issue a declaratur in the first instance, the point has already been determined. In Guwa v Willoughby’s Investments (Pvt) Ltd 2009 (1) LR 368 (S) a litigant approached a single Judge of the Supreme Court in Chambers seeking a notice of appeal to be set aside as a nullity. It was not disputed by the respondent that the notice of appeal was fatally defective, and the court stated that there was in effect nothing pending before the Supreme Court. However, in spite of this being apparent to both parties, the single Judge approached in Chambers made the point that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to make a declaration in the first instance. The Supreme Court is a creature of statute and as such is governed by the Statute that established it – the Supreme Court Act. Such courts are distinct from courts of original jurisdiction such as the High Court. A statutory body can only act within the confines of its enabling Act, and nowhere in the Supreme Court Act, is the Supreme Court given the jurisdiction to entertain, in the first instance, an application for a declaratur. 7