Results.
20 judgments found.
Citation
Sort by Citation ascending
Judgment date
Sort by Judgment date ascending
November 2025
Court granted temporary injunction preserving land status quo pending appeal, finding a triable issue and risk of irreparable harm.
Interlocutory injunction pending appeal; preservation of status quo; cause of action where High Court proceedings dismissed; American Cyanamid principles applied; risk of irreparable harm from resettlement of bibanja holders; appellate power to make consequential orders (Rule 32(1) and Rule 6(2)(b)).
24 November 2025
Whether long uninterrupted customary occupation amounted to a valid gift inter vivos conferring ownership.
Customary land law; gift inter vivos — elements and proof by long uninterrupted occupation; prescription and exclusive possession; judicial notice of public notoriety (LRA insurgency); limits of second appeal on questions of fact.
18 November 2025
Appellate court upheld title cancellation, found purchaser not a registered bona fide purchaser, and dismissed the appeal.
Land law — title cancellation — certificate of title susceptible to challenge where registration procured by fraud or inconsistent with deceased’s will; Bona fide purchaser doctrine — statutory protection under Registration of Titles Act available only to registered proprietors; Limitation Act — section 25 postpones limitation where action is based on fraud; Ancestral/Butaka land — customary evidence and wills can establish clan ownership; Damages — appellate restraint absent misapplication of principles.
18 November 2025
Appeal dismissed: Ugandan court had jurisdiction, service valid, ex parte trial proper, and evidence supported beneficial ownership declarations.
Civil procedure — service on foreign company carrying on business locally — Order 29 Rule 2 CPR and s.258 Companies Act; Jurisdiction — forum conveniens and cause of action arising locally; Ex parte proceedings — Order 9 Rule 25 and failure to comply with court directions; Beneficial ownership — evidence of trust, declarations and enforceability inter partes; Costs — follow the event.
18 November 2025
Appeal partly allowed because trial court relied on unpleaded customary law; grant of administration upheld under small‑estate exception.
Succession and estates — validity of letters of administration — application of section 2(5) Administration of Estates (Small Estates) (Special Provisions) Act — grant not revocable where beneficiaries not prejudiced. Civil procedure — pleadings — court must not decide on unpleaded grounds — trial judge erred in invoking customary law not pleaded by parties
Contracts — effect of minors signing as witnesses — minors witnessing does not per se invalidate a sale agreement
Evidence — appellate reappraisal of evidence and weighing of uncontradicted testimony regarding use of sale proceeds to purchase alternative land
18 November 2025
Unsigned and unsealed written statement of defence was incurably defective; late appeal validated for COVID-19 reasons but appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure — filing of defence — Order 9 Rule 1(1) CPR — registrar’s signature and court seal required to authenticate filing; non-compliance incurable. Constitutional law — Article 126(2)(e) — does not permit disregard of mandatory procedural rules
Appeals — validation of late appeal documents — Rule 5; COVID-19 movement restrictions may constitute sufficient reason
Procedure — hearing in absence after defence struck out — not necessarily a nullity if party had notice or could have ascertained date. Case management — failure to take out summons for directions/scheduling conference not fatal on these facts
18 November 2025
Court used the slip rule to correct currency, interest provisions, and typographical errors to reflect its original intention.
Civil procedure — Rule 36(1) (slip rule) — Correction of clerical or accidental errors to give effect to Court's intention
Interest — Harmonisation of interest rate and commencement date where judgment contains inconsistent provisions — intention determines correct rate (10% from trial judgment). Clerical corrections — currency/amount, typographical slips, and spelling errors amendable under slip rule
Expungement — removal of an order concerning interest on a sum already paid
18 November 2025
A second appeal dismissed: uncertified locus notes were not prejudicial and the High Court properly found respondent’s customary ownership.
Land law — customary tenure — capacity to hold customary land (public/local government vs private company); Civil procedure — second appeal — scope and duty of first appellate court to re-evaluate evidence; Evidence — admissibility/certification of public documents and locus in quo notes; Procedural fairness — when uncertified records and locus omissions vitiate appeal; Appeals — interference with factual findings supported by evidence.
18 November 2025
Respondent acquired title by adverse possession; appellant's registration was fraudulent and must be cancelled.
Land law — adverse possession and limitation — bona fide occupant under s.29(2)(a) requires occupation from before 1995 — possession after 1993 not qualifying — title by adverse possession can vest in occupant or successor; Registration of Titles — registration tainted by fraud can be cancelled; restitution — facilitation payments recoverable (money had and received).
18 November 2025
Applicant failed to show sufficient cause to set aside judgment delivered in her absence; application dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — setting aside ex parte judgment — sufficiency of cause; Service — service on appointed advocate constitutes effective service absent notice of change; Second appeals — limited to questions of law; Fair hearing — burden to prove non-service or incapacity by admissible evidence.
18 November 2025
Second appeal dismissed: respondent’s long possession established ownership; licensee and res judicata defences failed; costs awarded.
Civil procedure — Second appeal — limited role of Court of Appeal — may not re-evaluate evidence on facts unless first appellate court failed to apply legal principles. Land law — ownership by long possession/prescription v. licensee — evidence of long undisturbed occupation supports ownership. Res judicata — requires same parties/privies and same subject matter; prior clan tribunal judgment did not bar fresh suit
18 November 2025
Court upheld aggravated defilement conviction but reduced sentence by deducting remand period.
Criminal law — Aggravated defilement — proof of age by medical report — admissibility of agreed documents — res gestae/contemporaneous complaints as exception to hearsay — proof of participation by circumstantial and corroborative evidence — sentencing discretion — obligation to deduct remand period under Article 23(8) and Rwabugande precedent — appellate power to vary sentence.
18 November 2025
The appellant's sentence was reduced after the trial court failed to consider mitigating factors; remand deduction was lawful.
Criminal law — Sentencing — Aggravated defilement — Trial judge must expressly balance mitigating and aggravating factors — Period on remand to be taken into account; arithmetic deduction not mandatory pre-Rwabugande — Appellate court may reassess and substitute sentence.
18 November 2025
Re‑exportation in breach of a duty‑free licence bars recovery of re‑export losses; duties on domestically sold duty‑free sugar are refundable and quantifiable from revenue records.
Administrative law — duty‑free import licence — scope and purpose of quota exemptions — consequence of re‑export in breach of licence terms; Contract/tort interface — whether public authority owes private duty of care in administering statutory exemption; Remedies — refund of wrongly charged duties; exclusion of damages for losses arising from illegal re‑export (ex turpi causa); Evidence — requirement to specifically plead and prove special damages and to establish payment for refund claims.
18 November 2025
No valid appeal (leave not shown) against contempt order; stay pending appeal dismissed for want of jurisdiction and merit.
Civil procedure — stay of execution pending appeal; appeal against contempt orders requires leave (Order 44, s.76 Civil Procedure Act); validity of notice of appeal as basis for stay; principles for grant of stay: prima facie success, irreparable harm, balance of convenience, absence of delay; taxation and execution by arrest.
14 November 2025
Plea-bargained sentence is unlawful if the court fails to expressly deduct remand time; appellate court may correct it.
Criminal law — Sentencing — Constitutional requirement to take remand time into account (Article 23(8)) — deduction must be arithmetical and expressly stated. Plea bargain — Judicial confirmation does not absolve court of duty to ensure sentence complies with constitutional sentencing rules. Appellate jurisdiction — Court of Appeal may correct illegality on record under Judicature Act by substituting a lawful sentence
10 November 2025
An appellate court upheld a 37-year sentence for aggravated defilement, finding it not manifestly excessive.
Criminal law — Aggravated defilement — sentencing range and discretion; appellate interference only where illegal, wrong principle, material factor overlooked, or sentence manifestly harsh or excessive
Sentencing Guidelines — Third Schedule and statutory range (30 years to death) applicable. Mitigating and aggravating factors — first offender status, family responsibilities, premeditation, victim’s age and injuries, and lasting harm. Consistency in sentencing — desirable but not binding; factual differences justify variance
10 November 2025
A single-judge's substantive finding cannot be corrected as a clerical error; omission on costs corrected to abide appeal.
Court of Appeal — correction of judgments — distinction between substantive errors and clerical/accidental slips — Rules 2(2), 35(2)(c), 36(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules — appropriate remedy under section 12(2) Judicature Act for single-justice decisions — correction of omission as clerical error — costs to abide appeal.
6 November 2025
Appeal dismissed; court upheld that the appellant’s hotel was not ready for occupation and breached the contract.
Contract — breach for failure to provide facilities by agreed date; proof of readiness — documentary and oral evidence; admissibility and weight of audit reports; occupation permit — evidential value affected by contradictions; contract rates — deviation supports damages; unpleaded facts inadmissible on appeal; burden of proof not shifted.
4 November 2025
Executing court improperly quashed certificates based on post‑judgment material; mandamus to enforce clear decretal rights granted.
Execution against Government — certificates of order — limits of execution; mandamus to compel government payment; functus officio of executing court; inadmissibility of post‑judgment extraneous evidence to undermine final judgment; suspension vs quashing of certificates.
4 November 2025
