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65 judgments found.
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December 2010
Appellant’s appeal allowed: special damages unproved and vicarious liability for off‑loaders not established; High Court award set aside.
Civil procedure — limitation of appeals under s.79 Civil Procedure Act — procedural irregularity and discretionary relief; Contract of carriage — passenger’s luggage — proof of special damages — requirement to plead and prove value; Vicarious liability — theft by off‑loaders — necessity to prove employment and acting in course of employment; Evidentiary value of uncertified cargo manifests.
22 December 2010
Conviction for aggravated robbery upheld on recognition evidence; death sentence set aside and replaced by 15 years' imprisonment.
Criminal law — Aggravated robbery — Identification by recognition — Requirements and evaluation (light, prior acquaintance, duration, proximity)
Criminal procedure — Standard of proof — Use of expressions such as "probably" — Whether such language lowers the prosecution's burden beyond reasonable doubt
Sentencing — Death penalty — Proportionality and substitution — Replacement by determinate imprisonment
14 December 2010
Whether the appellant was properly convicted of aggravated robbery and whether the death sentence was excessive.
Criminal law — Robbery (aggravated) — Ingredients: theft and participation — Proof and corroboration
Evidence — Evaluation on appeal — Appellate duty to re‑evaluate trial evidence and treat minor inconsistencies as immaterial
Sentencing — Death penalty — Reduction to life imprisonment where sentence found excessive on appeal
1 December 2010
November 2010
Appellate court upheld rape conviction, finding eyewitness identification and prompt complaint outweighed inconclusive medical evidence.
Criminal law — Rape
— Medical evidence — Trial judge may reject inconclusive or confused medical findings and assess totality of evidence
— Identification and complaint evidence — Voice recognition and prompt complaint to third party admissible corroboration
23 November 2010
22 November 2010
Appellate court increased sentence to life for aggravated defilement despite appellant’s age and ill‑health.
Criminal law
— Sexual offences — Defilement (aggravated) — Aggravating factors where victims under 14 years and durable cruelty
— Sentencing — Mitigation of age and ill‑health — Insufficient where public protection and gravity of offence prevail
— Appeal — Review of sentence — Appellate court may increase sentence where original term is manifestly inadequate
16 November 2010
Appeal against murder conviction and death sentence dismissed; self-defence rejected, common intention and sentence upheld.
Criminal law
— Murder — Self-defence — Assessment of credibility and consistency of accused's account
— Common intention — Liability of co-accused — Proof by conduct, motive and association
— Sentence — Death penalty — Appropriate where killing is brutal and no mitigating factors exist
14 November 2010
Circumstantial and medical evidence proved defilement; appellate court upheld conviction and 15-year sentence.
Criminal law
— Sexual offences — Defilement — Circumstantial evidence and victim’s immediate complaint as corroboration
— Medical evidence — Freshly ruptured hymen and presence of sperm as proof of penetration
Criminal procedure — Sentence review — Appellate restraint where trial court exercised sentencing discretion judicially
14 November 2010
Appeal against an 18-year sentence for defiling a three-year-old dismissed; alleged mental illness insufficient mitigation.
Criminal law — Sentencing
— Defilement of a child — Whether an 18‑year sentence is excessive
— Mental illness as mitigation — Evidentiary uncertainty and benefit of doubt
10 November 2010
Court upheld 15-year sentence for rape of a seven-year-old, finding no basis to disturb trial court's sentencing discretion.
Criminal law — Sentencing — Rape of a child — Appropriateness of a 15-year sentence for rape of a seven-year-old — Appeal against severity of sentence
8 November 2010
An 18‑year‑old’s 16‑year sentence for defilement was upheld; youth and first‑offender status insufficient mitigation.
Criminal law — Sexual offences — Defilement — Sentencing — Whether appellate intervention is warranted in light of offender’s youth and mitigating factors
7 November 2010
Interim injunction denied where the applicant disobeyed an existing court order and thus lacked 'clean hands'.
Constitutional jurisdiction (Article 137(3)) — interim injunctions — interlocutory relief pending constitutional petition — equitable relief and the clean hands doctrine — effect of disobedience to court orders on entitlement to injunctions.
5 November 2010
October 2010
Appellant convicted of embezzlement and forgery based on accomplice testimony and failure to explain missing public funds.
Criminal law — Embezzlement and Forgery — Proof of conversion and procurement by directing another to prepare false accounting documents — Admission of documents identified by their maker
Evidence
— Accomplice evidence and corroboration — Competence of accomplice witness and sufficiency of circumstantial corroboration
— Right to silence and burden of explanation — Section 105 Evidence Act imposes burden to explain facts especially within accused’s knowledge
20 October 2010
Consent judgment supersedes pleadings; damages assessed on unchallenged evidence and appellate court substituted a 20% commercial interest rate.
Contract law — Consent judgment — Effect of consent agreement on pleadings and assessment of damages
Civil procedure — Costs — Scope of costs waiver in consent judgments and costs of subsequent proceedings to assess damages
Remedies — Interest — Appropriate rate for commercial disputes — Substitution of court rate with commercial rate (20%)
12 October 2010
A certificate of repossession under the Expropriated Properties Act entitles former leaseholders to possession; reversionary interest is subordinate.
Expropriated Properties Act — effect on existing leaseholds — section 1(2)(b) — certificate of repossession confirms entitlement to repossess; Mailo/reversionary interest — subordinate to leasehold continued by Expropriated Properties Act; Registration of Titles Act — does not defeat repossession under Expropriated Properties Act; physical repossession completes the repossession process.
11 October 2010
Long cohabitation and a simple Islamic ceremony can establish a valid marriage; registered land in deceased’s name passed to surviving spouse.
Family law — Islamic marriage — Validity of simple Mohammedan ceremony and evidentiary proof — Marriage and Divorce of Mohammedans Act
Succession/Property — Registered land and intestate succession — Burden on challengers to prove deceased did not own registered interest
4 October 2010
September 2010
Appellate court upheld the trial judge's finding that the disputed UShs.20,000,000 was an advance for coffee and dismissed the appeal.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Interference with trial judge's credibility findings on appeal
Evidence — Documentary evidence — Auditor's report admitted by consent; admissibility despite minor defects
Contract/Commercial — Proof of damages — Whether disputed payment was an advance under a supply agreement
29 September 2010
Transfer of mortgaged land without foreclosure or required ministerial consent is unlawful; compensation and mesne profits awarded.
Land law
— Mortgages — Equitable mortgage by deposit — Foreclosure required before sale or registration — Transfer without foreclosure unlawful
— Transfer to non‑African — Ministerial consent under Land Transfer Act required — Absence renders transfer illegal
20 September 2010
August 2010
Mortgagee’s irregular foreclosure sale set aside; mortgagor’s equity of redemption protected and damages awarded.
Property law
— Mortgage — Equity of redemption — Clog or fetter on the equity of redemption void
— Mortgagee’s sale — Requirements for lawful sale — Statutory notice, advertising, proof of payment and stamped transfer
Evidence — Receipts by mortgagee — Receipt by mortgagee discharges mortgagor and may waive sale rights
26 August 2010
A will without identifiable signatures of two attestators and beset by material inconsistencies is invalid; estate intestate.
Succession law — Wills — Attestation requirements — Two or more attestators and identifiable signatures required (Succession Act ss 36, 50)
Evidence — Proof of testamentary instrument — Credibility and inconsistencies — Single credible attestator and unexplained discrepancies may invalidate a will
25 August 2010
Refusal to readmit appeal was unjustified where counsel withdrawal and new counsel's omission established sufficient cause.
Civil procedure — Re-admission / extension of time — sufficient cause to file submissions late; effect of counsel withdrawal; substantive justice under Article 126(2)(e). Appellate review — interference with discretionary refusal to re-admit where fairness requires merits hearing. Land law — importance of allowing full investigation of ancestral ownership claims
12 August 2010
Representative tobacco farmers proved contractual claims; interest reduced from 26% to 15% per annum under the regulations.
Commercial law — Contract — Sponsor‑grower agreements — Liability for refusal to purchase contracted crop
Regulatory law — Tobacco (Control and Marketing) Regulations — Interest on default — Rate to reflect Bank of Uganda minimum commercial lending rate and compounded calculation
Evidence — Proof of class/representative claim — Use of passbooks and compiled lists as admissible secondary evidence
1 August 2010
July 2010
High Court erred in ordering execution of a labour officer's award without resolving pending appeal and stay application.
Labour law — Enforcement of arbitral awards — Execution pending appeal and stay — Employment Act s94, s13(1)
Civil procedure — High Court remedial jurisdiction — Duty to examine genesis of dispute before ordering execution — Judicature Act s33
Labour law — Jurisdiction and powers of Labour Officer — Scope of conciliation/arbitration under s13(1)
29 July 2010
Appeal allowed: registered titles obtained by fraud can be impeached and transferees with notice are not bona fide purchasers.
Land law — Registration of Titles — Fraud vitiating certificate of title — Court may go behind registration where fraud proved — Registration of Titles Act ss.77,176
Evidence — Burden and proof — Party’s failure to give evidence of facts within his knowledge permits adverse inference — Evidence Act ss.101,106
Conveyancing — Bona fide purchaser — Purchaser with notice of prior claim not protected and title tainted by prior fraud
26 July 2010
Court finds fraud in land title registration, supports appellant’s inheritance claim.
Civil Procedure — land dispute — fraud in the transfer and registration of land titles — inheritance rights.
26 July 2010
Whether the applicant's conviction for defilement was supported by sufficient corroboration and whether the life sentence was excessive.
Criminal law — Sexual offences (defilement) — Corroboration of unsworn child evidence — Immediate statements and medical evidence as corroboration
Criminal procedure/Evidence — Child witness — Voir dire requirement under s 40(3) Trial on Indictments Act — Age at trial is determinative
Sentencing — Life imprisonment — Whether sentence is manifestly excessive — Aggravating factors and sentencing discretion
23 July 2010
Amendments elaborating fraud and joinder of the Attorney General permitted where newly discovered documents implicate government officials and limitation had not begun.
Civil procedure
— Amendment and joinder — Whether amplification of particulars of fraud amounts to a new cause of action — Order 6 rules on amendment
— Joinder of parties — Necessity of joining Attorney General where allegations implicate government officials and vicarious liability
Limitation — Communication of ministerial decision — Effect of non‑receipt and computation of time under s.15(1) Expropriated Properties Act
16 July 2010
Leave to amend the plaint and join the Attorney General was wrongly refused where amendments did not introduce a new cause of action.
Civil procedure — amendment of pleadings — joinder of parties — whether proposed amendments introduce a new cause of action — proper exercise of judicial discretion — necessity of joining the Attorney General when government officials are implicated.
16 July 2010
14 July 2010
June 2010
Appeal challenging denial of intoxication and provocation defences in a murder conviction; death sentence upheld.
Criminal law — Murder
— Intoxication — Requirement that intoxication negate knowledge of the act or its wrongfulness — Penal Code s 12
— Provocation — Objective ordinary‑person test; what constitutes adequate provocation — Penal Code s 193
28 June 2010
Conviction on weak circumstantial evidence and untested hearsay was quashed for failure to exclude reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Murder — Circumstantial evidence — Conviction requires exclusion of all reasonable hypotheses of innocence
Criminal procedure — Evidence — Hearsay from uncalled declarant inadmissible and cannot found conviction
Evidence — Alibi — Prosecution's duty to disprove alibi; failure to do so undermines circumstantial case
28 June 2010
23 June 2010
Evidence Law|Witness Testimony
23 June 2010
Criminal law|Evidence Law
16 June 2010
10 June 2010
Civil Procedure|Criminal law
6 June 2010
2 June 2010
1 June 2010
May 2010
Registrar empowered to hear interim stay applications; temporary injunctions are executable and may be stayed; reference dismissed.
Civil procedure
— Jurisdiction of Registrar — Power to entertain interim applications under Practice Direction No.1 of 2004 — Interim order distinct from substantive stay
— Injunctions — Executability and enforceability of temporary injunctions — Subject to interim relief and enforcement mechanisms
25 May 2010
Criminal law|Evidence Law|Evaluation of Evidence
11 May 2010
Criminal law|Evidence Law
3 May 2010
Evidence Law|Admissibility
3 May 2010
April 2010
23 April 2010
The applicant's appeal succeeded: the hired vehicle's destruction frustrated the contract, extinguishing the respondent's claim.
Contract law — hire of vehicle — destruction of subject matter — frustration of contract — discharge of mutual obligations; possession/custody — police impoundment vs constructive custody; notification of accident; mitigation and interest.
16 April 2010
Hire contract discharged by frustration after accident destroyed the vehicle; claimant failed to prove fault and is not entitled to damages.
Contract law — frustration — destruction of subject matter — hire agreement discharged when vehicle destroyed by accident; possession — police custody vs constructive custody; evidentiary burden — claimant must prove fault to recover damages; notification of loss — informal notification by driver accepted.
16 April 2010
Whether an owner may recover rent arrears when the property was vested in Government and managed by the statutory custodian.
• Property law — Expropriated properties — effect of Expropriated Properties/Assets of Departed Asians legislation on landlord/tenancy rights and entitlement to rent arrears. • Contract law — formation and enforceability of settlement letters; consideration and forbearance. • Contract vitiation — mistake of fact or law and its effect where parties knew payments had been made to a statutory custodian. • Remedies — entitlement to damages/interest where settlement accepted but not fully performed (dissent).
16 April 2010
15 April 2010
Criminal law|Evidence Law
13 April 2010
A statutory declaration and documentary trail can prove degazettement and render a registered title indefeasible absent proved fraud.
Forest reserves — Degazettement — Statutory Instrument and supporting documentary evidence can establish excision of land from a reserve. Land registration — Indefeasibility of registered title under the Registration of Titles Act — transferee's title not impeachable absent proved fraud attributable to transferee
Evidence — burden and standard to prove degazettement and fraud; special damages must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved
Damages — speculative awards reduced; requirements for defamation proof (identification and actual harm)
9 April 2010
A valid registered mortgage did exist, but the spouse’s equitable interest in the matrimonial home prevented enforcement and rendered eviction unlawful.
Land law — mortgage validity — formal compliance with Registration of Titles Act; surety may be treated as principal debtor/mortgagor as between surety and mortgagee; equitable interest of non-registered spouse in matrimonial home protects against enforcement of mortgage and unlawful eviction; statutes enacted after the mortgage (Land Act 1998, Mortgage Act 2009) not applicable to pre-existing instruments.
9 April 2010
