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Citation
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Judgment date
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| March 2022 |
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Conviction affirmed; remand credit need only be clearly acknowledged; sentence reduced from 30 to 26 years.
Criminal law – Aggravated defilement – Sentencing – Article 23(8) Constitution – credit for time on remand – sufficiency of expressed acknowledgment versus arithmetic deduction – sentencing guidelines and consistency with precedents – reduction of sentence.
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29 March 2022 |
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28 March 2022 |
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Court validated late appeal record and allowed consensual withdrawal of parallel strike-out applications; each party to bear own costs.
Election petition procedure – extension of time and validation of Record and Memorandum of Appeal – interlocutory strike-out applications withdrawn by consent – case management and advocates’ duties to facilitate substantive justice.
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28 March 2022 |
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Court validated late appeal documents and allowed withdrawal of strike-out applications by consent, each party to bear own costs.
Election law – extension of time and validation of appeal documents; interlocutory applications to strike out an appeal; consent withdrawals and case management; advocates’ duties; costs where matters disposed by consent.
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28 March 2022 |
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28 March 2022 |
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28 March 2022 |
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The applicant's request for extension of time and validation of appeal records was struck out for procedural irregularities.
Election law – Extension of time under Rule 19 – Procedural compliance – Applications not fixed for hearing, unsigned or undated – Irregular applications liable to be struck out – Costs awarded.
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28 March 2022 |
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An unsigned, undated, and unfixed application to extend time and validate an appeal was irregular and struck out, nullifying the appeal.
Election law — procedural requirements for appeal — extension of time and validation of Record and Memorandum of Appeal — applications must be properly filed, fixed for hearing, signed and dated — irregular applications struck out.
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28 March 2022 |
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28 March 2022 |
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28 March 2022 |
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The appellant's murder conviction was overturned for lack of malice aforethought and substituted with manslaughter and a reduced sentence.
Criminal law — Murder — Malice aforethought — Intention to kill must be proved beyond reasonable doubt; circumstantial evidence and nature of injury are relevant. Criminal law — Defences — Intoxication and accident may negate malice aforethought and must be considered. Criminal procedure — Appeal from original jurisdiction — Reappraisal of evidence and substitution of conviction and sentence
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24 March 2022 |
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Court upholds illicit‑enrichment convictions but reduces sentence, ruling unlawful acquisition need not be proved and valuation evidence admissible.
Criminal law – Illicit enrichment (s.31 Anti‑Corruption Act) – Elements: disproportion to current/past known income; unlawful acquisition not required
Evidence – valuation of assets and admissibility of secondary documentary evidence – s.31(4) not exclusive. Constitutional/administrative law – effect of Constitutional Court orders and constitution of Inspectorate of Government on ensuing prosecutions
Procedure – trials may proceed with one assessor under s.69(1) where absence is for sufficient cause
Sentencing – lack of remorse cannot be treated as aggravating; appellate variation where sentencing misdirection and failure to weigh mitigation
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24 March 2022 |
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24 March 2022 |
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A juvenile wrongly tried and sentenced as an adult has sentence quashed where the court failed to inquire into age.
Children's law – juvenile offenders – duty to inquire into age – remission to Family and Children Court – limits on custodial sentences under s.94 Children’s Act and Sentencing Guidelines; trial judge's failure to inquire into age vitiates sentence.
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24 March 2022 |
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Whether a 40-year murder sentence was excessive and whether remand time was properly credited.
Criminal law – Murder – Sentencing – Whether 40-year term was manifestly excessive – application of Constitutional Sentencing Guidelines and need for consistency. Criminal procedure – Credit for time on remand – requirement that remand period be expressly considered when sentencing. Appellate powers – substitution of sentence under Judicature Act
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24 March 2022 |
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Appeal allowed: confession not proved voluntary and accomplice/hearsay evidence inadmissible; conviction quashed.
Criminal law – Charge and caution statements – voluntariness and admissibility where torture alleged – necessity for prosecution to disprove coercion; Medical evidence corroborating claims of torture; Hearsay – inadmissibility of third-party confession when declarant not called; Accomplice evidence – danger of reliance on uncorroborated accomplice testimony; Trial-within-a-trial procedure; Appellate reappraisal of evidence; Procedural compliance with rule 66(2) (particularity of grounds).
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24 March 2022 |
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Whether a 23-year term for manslaughter was lawful and proportionate given remand credit and sentencing principles.
Criminal law – Sentencing – Manslaughter – guilty plea and mitigation – credit for pre-trial remand under Article 23(8) – fixed-term vs life imprisonment – appellate reappraisal and substitution of sentence.
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24 March 2022 |
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A newspaper’s notice ending a freelance journalist’s accreditation was true and not defamatory; termination was not unlawful.
Employment law – distinction between contract of service and contract for services – freelance journalist not an employee for Employment Act purposes
Defamation – meaning and falsity – publication stating a journalist is no longer authorised was true and not defamatory. Defence of truth in defamation – a complete defence where the impugned statement is substantially true. Press conduct – employer/newspaper entitled to notify public and sources about accreditation status of contributors
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24 March 2022 |
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Court upheld two murder convictions on circumstantial evidence, acquitted the third appellant, and reduced sentences to 20 years.
Criminal law – Murder – circumstantial evidence – prior threats, motive and flight as corroborative circumstances. Criminal procedure – Summing up to assessors – absence of written notes not fatal where summing up occurred and no miscarriage of justice
Evidence – Sufficiency of evidence – distinction between sufficient circumstantial evidence against some accused and insufficient, uncorroborated evidence against another
Sentencing – Consistency principle – appellate reduction where original sentence found harsh or excessive; set-off of remand time
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24 March 2022 |
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Single-witness identification and witness testimony upheld convictions; sentence set aside for failure to credit remand and appellant resentenced.
Criminal law – identification by single witness – circumstances for reliability: light, distance, duration, opportunity, identification parade. Criminal law – aggravated robbery – ingredient of theft may be proved by credible witness testimony even without recovered exhibits. Constitutional law – article 23(8) – requirement to credit pre-trial detention; failure renders sentence illegal. Appellate jurisdiction – power to reappraise evidence and to resentence under section 11 Judicature Act
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24 March 2022 |
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23 March 2022 |
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Court reduced an excessive 60-year murder sentence to 23 years after considering mitigation and deducting remand time.
Criminal law – murder – sentencing – whether a 60‑year term is manifestly excessive; sentencing consistency and guidelines; mitigation (youth, first offender, possible mental illness); requirement to deduct remand time under Article 23(8).
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23 March 2022 |
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Conviction quashed where pleaded facts failed to establish rape's essential ingredients (consent or victim's age).
Criminal law – Plea-taking – Rape v defilement – Essential ingredients (consent; victim's age) must be established in summary of facts for guilty plea to be valid; conviction cannot stand where material ingredients are not disclosed.
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23 March 2022 |
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23 March 2022 |
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23 March 2022 |
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Procedural failures to hold a trial-within-a-trial and to sum up to assessors rendered convictions unsafe; appellants acquitted.
Criminal procedure – Trial-within-a-trial – voluntariness of repudiated confessions – mandatory requirement; failure renders confession inadmissible. Criminal procedure – Trial with assessors – mandatory summing up of law and evidence to assessors under s.82(1) TIA; failure renders trial a nullity
Evidence – charge and caution statements – compliance with Evidence Act and constitutional rights (Articles 23, 28) required before admission
Remedy – convictions quashed and acquittal where procedural irregularities are fundamental; retrial declined where long delay makes retrial impracticable
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23 March 2022 |
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Conviction quashed where unreliable identification and non‑watertight circumstantial evidence failed to prove murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal appeal – identification evidence – single identifying witness who was intoxicated – reliability and conditions for correct identification; Circumstantial evidence – need for watertight chain and exclusion of reasonable alternative hypotheses; Burden of proof – prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt; Conviction unsafe – appellate reappraisal and acquittal.
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23 March 2022 |
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Appellate court upholds registered ownership but sets aside trespass damages due to procedural irregularity; URA to investigate stamp duty.
Land law — ownership of land — effect and conclusiveness of certificate of title under Registration of Titles Act; consolidation of suits — procedure and consequences; trespass — pleading, joinder and liability; vicarious liability for acts of agents; freehold grant and conversion — role and duties of Area Land Committee and District Land Board; alleged fraud and non-payment of stamp duty — administrative recourse to Uganda Revenue Authority; locus in quo — discretionary visit.
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22 March 2022 |
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22 March 2022 |
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22 March 2022 |
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Appeal deemed withdrawn and struck out where appellant failed to take essential procedural steps and lost interest; costs awarded.
Election petition appeal — procedural compliance with Court of Appeal Rules — failure to apply for record of proceedings — essential procedural step not taken — abandonment/loss of interest — mootness — deeming appeal withdrawn and striking out — costs awarded.
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21 March 2022 |
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Court deemed and struck out a Notice of Appeal for failure to take essential procedural steps and abandonment; costs awarded to applicant.
Civil procedure — Appellate procedure — Deeming notice of appeal withdrawn — Failure to take essential step (requesting record) — Abandonment/mootness — Absence of counsel/withdrawal without leave — Striking out notice of appeal — Costs.
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21 March 2022 |
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Appellate court set aside judgment and remitted suit after counsel's abrupt withdrawal denied defendant a fair opportunity to present its defence.
Choice of law and jurisdiction – contract designating Ugandan law confers jurisdiction on Ugandan courts despite performance in South Sudan; Civil Procedure – Order 17 r.4 CPR and right to be heard – advocate's abrupt withdrawal without notice, duty to give party time to present defence and consequences of miscarriage of justice; Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations – requirement to give notice when withdrawing; Execution – stay of execution where judgment set aside on appeal.
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18 March 2022 |
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A purchaser who proves chain of title and quiet possession is a bona fide purchaser; under‑declared stamp duty alone does not prove fraud.
Land law – double‑titling – determination of better title where two certificates exist; bona fide purchaser for value without notice
Evidence – probative value of title white pages and Kalamazoo entries; burden and pleading requirements to allege fraud. Revenue irregularity – under‑declaration of sale price affects stamp duty obligation but does not automatically vitiate purchaser’s bona fides
Possession – quiet possession and chain of transfers support title; forcible eviction and contempt of court irrelevant to proving purchaser’s fraud
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18 March 2022 |
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Whether locus in quo procedures and hearsay reliance were rightly applied in affirming trespass on family land.
Land law – locus in quo – Practice Direction No.1 of 2007 – admissibility of hearsay (Evidence Act s.59) – appellate re-appraisal of factual findings – family land trespass.
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18 March 2022 |
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15 March 2022 |
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15 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
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14 March 2022 |
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Court upheld that the transaction was a loan, the appellant was not a bona fide purchaser, but set aside unpleaded general damages.
Land law – security versus sale – when delivery of title and transfer form constitutes loan security rather than sale Admissibility – documents marked for identification and relied on in pleadings may be treated as evidence Equity/registration – bona fide purchaser for value without notice – burden to prove absence of notice and good faith Fraud – effect of fraudulent transfer on indefeasibility of title Damages – general damages must be pleaded and supported by evidence before they are awarded
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11 March 2022 |
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Court granted interim stay of execution pending substantive application, finding a serious threat despite Registrar’s limited stay.
Civil procedure – Interim stay of execution – Requirements: competent notice of appeal, substantive application pending, serious threat of execution; Inherent powers – Rule 2(2) Judicature (Court of Appeal) Rules Directions; Registrars’ powers – Practice Direction No.1 of 2004 – Deputy Registrar may grant interlocutory orders but such orders do not automatically stay execution; Preservation of status quo to prevent rendering appeals nugatory.
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10 March 2022 |
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Whether an execution warrant schedule ending with "ETC" renders attachment defective and what remedies exist for excessive attachment.
Civil procedure – execution and attachment – inventory to accompany application for attachment must contain a reasonably accurate description (Order 22 r.9) – use of "ETC" renders schedule ambiguous – effect on excessive attachment; Execution – bailiff executing an ambiguous warrant acts within warrant and not ultra vires; Valuation – post-attachment valuation and depreciation relevant to market value; Delay – objections after public sale may be refused under Order 22 r.55 as designedly delayed; Purchaser protection – Section 50 Civil Procedure Act bars suit against purchaser for irregular sale.
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10 March 2022 |
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Court refused to strike out notice of appeal where counsel’s negligence, not the client’s dilatory conduct, caused failure to take essential steps.
Civil procedure – Rule 82 – striking out notice of appeal where essential step not taken; Advocates’ negligence – when counsel’s errors are not fatal to client’s right of appeal; Precedent – client not penalized for lawyer’s dilatory or negligent conduct absent client's own delay.
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10 March 2022 |
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10 March 2022 |
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Court granted interim stay of execution to preserve possession pending determination of substantive application and appeal.
Civil procedure – interim injunction/stay of execution – requirements: competent notice of appeal, substantive application pending, and serious threat of execution – inherent powers of Court to preserve right of appeal and prevent abuse of process – ex parte procedure where respondents served but absent.
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4 March 2022 |
