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Citation
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Judgment date
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| June 2020 |
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Police owed a duty when deploying teargas near a hospital, but plaintiff failed to prove causation; claim dismissed.
Negligence – duty of care and foreseeability when police deploy teargas near civilian infrastructure; Use of force – proportionality and necessity in crowd control; Causation – requirement to prove on balance of probabilities that teargas exposure caused long-term injury; Humanitarian considerations – teargas as indiscriminate agent requiring operational guidelines and precautions.
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8 June 2020 |
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Whether photocopied sale agreements and unwitnessed customary land sales can establish title; locus in quo procedure; appeal timeliness.
Civil procedure – Appeal time computation; Evidence – Documentary evidence and authentication; Evidence Act sections on secondary evidence; Land law – customary land sale attestation and witnesses; Locus in quo inspection procedures; Damages – award in quiet-title actions.
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8 June 2020 |
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Stay granted pending appeal where eviction would cause substantial loss and the appeal raised arguable grounds.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution pending appeal — Requirements: notice/record of appeal lodged, risk of substantial loss, absence of undue delay, and security — Substantial loss need not be quantified — Appeal arguable where first appellate court failed to re-appraise evidence (error of law) — Security for costs acceptable condition instead of full decretal security.
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8 June 2020 |
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Appellant failed to prove an ascertainable common boundary; trespass and eviction claim dismissed.
Land law – Trespass to land – requirement of an ascertained boundary for eviction; Boundary determination – natural features, monuments, recognition and acquiescence, homogeneity/heterogeneity of use; Locus in quo – scope and limits of evidence; Appellate review – reconsideration of evidence, miscarriage of justice test under Civil Procedure Act s.70 and Evidence Act s.166.
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8 June 2020 |
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The respondent failed to prove causation between the appellant’s negligent refuelling and the engine damage.
Tort — Negligence: duty of care of pump attendants when refuelling; breach by refuelling petrol vehicle with diesel; causation and the 'but for' test; evidential burden to prove proximate cause on balance of probabilities; appellate re‑evaluation of conflicting factual evidence.
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8 June 2020 |
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Applicant succeeded in libel claim; qualified privilege rebutted by express malice, awarding damages, interest, injunction and costs.
Civil procedure – plaint and cause of action – requirement to plead the words complained of in defamation suits Defamation – elements: defamatory meaning, publication, identification Publication – communication to third parties and proof thereof Qualified privilege – occasion of privilege for administrative complaints; burden shifts to plaintiff to prove express malice Malice – express malice inferred from improper motive, inadequate verification and deliberate omission of factual basis Remedies – assessment of general damages; injunction preferred to speculative punitive award
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8 June 2020 |
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Alleged land use and tree-felling did not constitute contempt for breaching a stay of execution; application dismissed.
Contempt of Court – definition and elements – requirement of clear, unambiguous order, personal service and warning. Civil v criminal contempt – distinctions and remedies. Execution of decrees – commencement by application and prescribed modes (delivery, attachment and sale, arrest and detention, receiver, residual measures). Stay of execution restrains enforcement processes but does not automatically prohibit ordinary use of land absent an injunction. Contempt powers discretionary and a remedy of last resort
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8 June 2020 |
| May 2020 |
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Appellant in factual possession entitled to recovery; res judicata not proved; substantial trespass damages awarded.
Civil procedure – res judicata: burden to plead and prove prior judgment; inadmissibility of parol evidence to prove decree; possession and title – possession raises presumption of ownership absent proof of better title; appellate review – re‑hearing evidence and interfering where trial court misdirected; trespass – actionable per se and measure of damages for wilful trespass.
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22 May 2020 |
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Respondent’s actual occupation (burials) created an overriding interest binding the registered title; appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure – locus in quo evidence – Order 16 r.7 and s.100 Magistrates Courts Act; Land law – indefeasibility of title – impeachment for fraud requires particulars (Order 6 r.3) and high civil standard of proof; Overriding interests – s.64(2) Registration of Titles Act – actual occupation/adverse possession (burials) can bind registered proprietor.
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22 May 2020 |
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A bailee who accepts custody of a chattel is prima facie liable for its loss unless he rebuts negligence and validly notifies any exclusion.
Contract law – Bailment: creation by possession and custody; possession v. ownership; presumption of bailee negligence where chattel is stolen; burden to rebut presumption; exclusion clauses require reasonable notice; vicarious liability for servants' acts; measure of damages for loss and loss of use.
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22 May 2020 |
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A bailee is prima facie liable for loss of a bailed chattel unless he rebuts the presumption of negligence.
Bailment – existence of bailment by conduct and receipts; Possession v ownership – bailor’s locus standi despite lack of registered title; Bailee’s prima facie liability where chattel stolen while in custody; Burden on bailee to rebut presumption of negligence; Exclusion clauses – must be reasonably brought to bailor’s attention to be effective; Measure of damages – market value immediately prior to loss (with depreciation) and general damages for loss of use.
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22 May 2020 |
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Claim to land was time-barred; adverse possession extinguished the respondent's title and appeal was allowed.
Limitation Act (ss.5,16) – recovery of land – twelve-year bar – time runs from date of adverse possession. Adverse possession – extinctive prescription – uninterrupted possession vests title in adverse possessor. Extension for disability (s.21) – claimant must plead disability (Order 7 r.6 CPR); failure to plead defeats extension
Appeal – appellate re-appraisal where trial court misdirects on limitation and title
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22 May 2020 |
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Suit filed in the name of a deceased plaintiff is a nullity; respondent held bona fide occupant, appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure — Suit filed by deceased is a nullity; Limitation Act s.5 and s.16 — accrual and running of time for recovery of land; Locus in quo inspections — procedural requirements (Order 18 r.14) and effect of irregularities; Section 70 Civil Procedure Act — irregularities do not vitiate judgment absent miscarriage of justice; Evidence — material contradictions may justify rejection of testimony; Possession and bona fide occupancy in land disputes.
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22 May 2020 |
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Family communal customary tenure gives members usufructuary rights; alienation requires collective customary consent; sale valid absent proved fraud.
Land law – Communal family customary tenure; family communal ownership v. individual usufruct; requirements for alienation of family communal land; validity of customary sale evidenced by witnesses; proof of fraud in land transactions; locus standi of family member without letters of administration; appellate reappraisal of trial evaluation.
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22 May 2020 |
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Admissions at scheduling conferences about un-surveyed land are not conclusive; locus in quo and monuments govern boundaries.
Land law – disputed boundaries and acreage of unsurveyed land – admissions at scheduling conferences not conclusive; locus in quo and monuments prevail over lay acreage estimates; occupation and burial as evidence of beneficial interest; costs – discretionary award and family disputes may warrant each party bearing own costs.
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22 May 2020 |
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Appellate court recharacterised pleadings, found acquisition by gift and dismissed respondent's encroachment claim.
Civil procedure Grounds of appeal Order 43 r 1(2) — grounds must be concise, non-argumentative and non-narrative; Pleadings construed liberally to give effect to substance over form. Land law Boundaries and possession Locus in quo evidence, trees and long occupation as markers of boundary; dispute as extent of holdings not title. Appellate duty Re-hearing evidence and interfering where trial court misdirected
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22 May 2020 |
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Appellants failed to prove gift or dependency; customary clan subdivision vested the disputed land in the respondent; appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure; Land & succession — gift inter vivos requires divestiture and delivery of possession; succession under Section 28(1) — lineal descent and dependency rules; customary partition and clan determinations admissible and enforceable where not repugnant to statute; appellate re-evaluation of factual findings and locus in quo evidence.
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22 May 2020 |
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Applicant granted conditional stay of execution; taxation certificate not set aside; security for costs required.
Civil procedure – stay of execution pending appeal – Order 43 rules; security for costs vs full decretal security; taxation of costs – service on advocate and effect; civil imprisonment in execution not a final remedy; twelve‑year enforcement period.
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22 May 2020 |
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Joinder of a witness as a plaintiff was improper and defective locus in quo proceedings justified a retrial.
Civil procedure – Order 1 r.10(2) joinder – Necessary party vs. witness; Locus in quo – proper procedure, swearing, cross‑examination and sketch map; Appellate powers – re‑hearing of facts and ordering retrial under s.80 Civil Procedure Act where trial materially defective; Land disputes – proof of title, conflicting evidence and boundaries.
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22 May 2020 |
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A widow has standing to sue for her intestate husband's land; monuments govern land extent and vacant possession was ordered.
Succession — Widow’s standing — Section 27 Succession Act — beneficiary’s right to sue for recovery, preservation and protection of estate. Land law — Trespass — Right to immediate exclusive possession/constructive possession sufficient to maintain trespass action; ownership not prerequisite
Boundaries — Monuments and sketch map prevail over admeasurements/acreage in defining land extent. Civil procedure — Missing locus-in-quo notes not fatal where remaining record suffices
Remedies — Injunction, damages and vacant possession appropriate where trespass and entitlement established
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22 May 2020 |
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Failure to call an available material witness justified an adverse inference and supported upholding the trial court’s ownership finding.
Civil procedure – provisional/tentative memorandum of appeal not a proper document to commence appeal; Evidence – locus in quo observations and admission of evidence of non-testifying persons; Evidence Act s.166 and Civil Procedure Act s.70 – improper admission/rejection not automatically fatal unless miscarriage of justice; Adverse inference where party fails to call material, available witness under their control; Appellate duty to re-hear and re-appraise evidence on credibility and probabilities.
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22 May 2020 |
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Unsigned sale agreement may be enforceable by conduct, and adverse possession vests title after statutory uninterrupted possession.
Contract law – formation by conduct; enforceability of unsigned written agreements where payment and delivery of possession occurred; Land law – adverse possession (extinctive prescription) – required elements: actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous possession for over twelve years and claim/colour of title; Survey/mark-stones as corroborative evidence of possession; Appellate review – re-evaluation of factual findings.
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22 May 2020 |
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Appellate court affirms boundary decision: visible monuments prevail, missing locus record not fatal, no proven judicial bias; appeal dismissed.
Land law – locus in quo procedure and evidentiary requirements; Boundary disputes – monuments prevail over admeasurements; Civil procedure – missing locus in quo record and partial records; Judicial bias – reasonable apprehension test requires clear evidence; Appeal time limits and appellate re-evaluation of facts.
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22 May 2020 |
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Court set aside a manifestly excessive taxation award and remitted the bill for taxation de novo.
Civil procedure — Taxation of costs; ex parte taxation where service proved; discretionary nature of taxation; error in principle and manifestly excessive awards; certificate of complexity required before enhanced instruction fees; taxation de novo where original taxation was flawed.
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22 May 2020 |
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Appellants proved ownership by exclusive occupation; respondents held trespassers and ordered to vacate and pay damages.
Land law – gift inter vivos and proof by exclusive occupation; licence v. exclusive possession; actual occupation requires permanence and physical indicia; trespass actionable per se – damages principles and assessment.
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22 May 2020 |
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Part performance and parties' conduct can render a partly written land sale enforceable; prior dismissal not res judicata.
Civil procedure – res judicata – dismissal for want of prosecution not decision on merits; Contract law – land sale – interpretation of ambiguous/partly written agreement; Parol evidence and surrounding circumstances admissible to resolve ambiguity; Equity – part performance (payment, possession, improvements) enforces otherwise unenforceable land contract; Remedy – specific performance for land sale; Judicial conduct – critical remarks do not necessarily establish disqualifying bias.
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22 May 2020 |
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Appellate court orders partial retrial to determine customary boundary after trial court misapprehended key factual issues.
Civil procedure – Appeals – section 80(2) Civil Procedure Act – appellate powers and duties; Retrial – partial retrial ordered where trial court misapprehended facts; Land law – customary inheritance – boundary disputes; Locus in quo – evidentiary value and sketch map; Bona fide purchase – issue to be determined on retrial.
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22 May 2020 |
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Appeal allowed and retrial ordered due to missing locus-in-quo record and failure to apply urban planning law.
Civil procedure – retrial – section 80(1)(e) Civil Procedure Act – appellate power to order retrial where record incomplete; Physical Planning Act – subdivision, consolidation and compliance with approved local physical development plan; urban plot disputes – necessity of detailed locus-in-quo sketch maps and consideration of minimum plot sizes and planning standards; judgment per incuriam where statute or material legal standard ignored.
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22 May 2020 |
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Whether an alleged gift of customary land was perfected and whether the mast site belonged to the donor's beneficiary.
Land law – gift inter vivos of customary land – requirement of donor intent, acceptance and delivery/severance; imperfect gift cannot be perfected by equity where boundaries/monumentation absent. Customary tenure – limits on non‑traditional institutions acquiring customary land without conversion/registration. Possession and boundary disputes – locus in quo observations, natural monuments and adverse possession; recovery of rents where beneficiary proved entitlement
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22 May 2020 |
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Administrator may trace and recover estate land wrongfully disposed; sale void if purchaser had notice or failed reasonable inquiry.
Succession law – letters of administration vest legal title in administrator; beneficiaries retain equitable proprietary interests
Equity – tracing and following estate property; remedies include restitution, resulting/constructive trust, charge. Property law – nemo dat quod non habet; bona fide purchaser for value without notice defeats tracing. Equitable defences – estoppel by conduct inapplicable where administrator not privy to transaction; knowing/unconscionable receipt defeats purchaser’s claim
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22 May 2020 |
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Suit to recover land dismissed as time‑barred; adverse possession and unpleaded disability under Limitation Act proved fatal.
Civil Procedure – Limitation – Sections 5 and 16 Limitation Act – twelve-year bar to actions to recover land; time runs from adverse possession. Prescription/Adverse possession – uninterrupted, hostile possession for prescribed period may extinguish original owner’s title
Limitation – Section 21 – extension for disability must be pleaded per Order 7 rule 6; statutory caps apply. Locus in quo – purpose is to test oral evidence; court must not fill gaps in witnesses’ testimony
Appeals – appellate duty to re‑hear evidence; grounds of appeal must be specific, not general fishing expeditions
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22 May 2020 |
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Appellate court held that long possession and neighbours’ firsthand evidence established customary ownership; trial errors were not fatal.
Civil procedure – locus in quo inspections – need for contemporaneous record of sworn testimony, cross-examination and features observed; irregularities do not vitiate judgment absent miscarriage of justice
Evidence – possession and ownership – section 110 Evidence Act: possession raises presumption of ownership; burden to prove better title on challenger
Appeals – first appellate court duty to rehear and re-appraise evidence; may overturn trial findings where balance of probabilities favors other version. Land law – customary tenure – long user, burial and neighbours’ firsthand testimony as proof of possession and title
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22 May 2020 |
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Appellate court upheld respondent’s customary possessory title but ordered partial retrial limited to valuation and damages.
Land law – boundaries – road not a boundary marker absent clear agreement; evidence of occupation and user controls boundary issues. Family law – succession – Succession Act s.191 (letters of administration) and customary intestacy applicability
Evidence – Evidence Act s.56(2)&(3) – judicial notice of notorious customary practices
Possession – factual possession plus intention to possess. Civil procedure – relief confined to pleadings; exceptional allowance where parties tried the issue
Appeals – scope for partial retrial where only discrete issues (valuation and damages) remain
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22 May 2020 |
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Involuntary abandonment from insurgency does not extinguish customary title; adverse possession not proved; substantial trespass damages awarded.
Land law – customary ownership and Acholi intestacy; adverse possession and limitation; involuntary abandonment (insurgency) and disability; locus in quo procedure; trespass actionable per se – substantial damages.
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22 May 2020 |
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Constitutional law—human rights—illegal detention—torture and rights violations—misuse of Public Order Management Act—breach of constitutional duties—declarations and damages granted—costs awarded
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15 May 2020 |
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High Court exercised revision under s83, nullified LCIII judgment for lack of jurisdiction and ordered each party to bear their own costs.
Civil procedure – Revision jurisdiction – Section 83 Civil Procedure Act – High Court’s unfettered supervisory powers
Costs – Discretion under section 27 – factors justifying departure from costs following the event. Appeal procedure – incompetence for want of memorandum of appeal – strike out versus dismissal
Jurisdiction – illegality of lower court proceedings cannot be sanctioned and must be nullified
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12 May 2020 |
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Commissioner lacked jurisdiction and breached natural justice in cancelling the applicant's title; cancellation set aside and title reinstated.
Land law — title cancellation — limits of Commissioner for Land Registration’s jurisdiction — allegations of fraud require full inquiry — companies cannot hold customary tenure — procedural fairness and Section 91 Land Act compliance required.
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8 May 2020 |
| April 2020 |
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Appellant failed to prove superior title; earlier purchaser’s estate holds the land and appeal is dismissed with costs to respondent.
Land dispute – burden of proof in civil cases; unregistered land – importance of Local Council and neighbour evidence for boundaries and prior possession; credibility of seller; possession and earlier purchase as basis for title; caretaker holds property for deceased's estate; costs follow the event.
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28 April 2020 |
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Court set aside ex parte land-order despite negligence, conditioning relief on payment of taxed costs and recall costs.
Civil procedure – Order 9 r.21 CPR and section 98 CPA – setting aside ex parte orders – sufficiency of cause for non-appearance; negligence and delay; inherent jurisdiction; protection of right to property in land disputes; costs and conditional relief.
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28 April 2020 |
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Failure to follow Practice Direction on locus in quo procedures amounted to miscarriage of justice and remittal for proper hearing.
Land law – locus in quo – Requirement to follow Practice Direction No.1 of 2007: call witnesses, allow testimony and cross‑examination, record proceedings and draw sketch plan – Failure to comply may amount to miscarriage of justice – Remittal for proper locus in quo and redetermination.
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28 April 2020 |
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A non‑compliant power of attorney under the Illiterate Protection Act is void and vitiates the trial, requiring retrial.
Civil Procedure – Power of Attorney – Illiterate Protection Act s.3 mandatory compliance – failure renders document inadmissible and void
Evidence – testimony given by attorney under a void power of attorney is of no legal consequence. Trial irregularity – admission of an irregular power of attorney may occasion miscarriage of justice and justify retrial de novo. Personal evidence – witness cannot delegate first‑hand testimony; use of commission (Order 28 CPR) where necessary
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28 April 2020 |
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Respondent’s customary interest upheld; trespass established, limitation did not bar the recovery claim.
Land law – customary tenure – Land Reform Decree (sections 4 & 5) – absence of defined prescribed authority for rural land – effect on validity of transfers; Limitation Act – recovery of land vs continuing trespass – accrual on dispossession (s.6(1)); Evidence – admissibility of sketch maps under s.87 Evidence Act; boundary opening and oral evidence on possession and trespass.
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28 April 2020 |
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Kasunga land remains part of the intestate estate; Administrator General to administer and defendant restrained from alienation.
Succession — Intestacy — No letters of administration — Property vests in estate pending administration; requirement of section 191 — Estoppel by consent judgment — Injunction preventing alienation — Administrator General directed to administer estate.
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28 April 2020 |
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Unlawful, high‑handed evictions without proved forest boundaries warranted damages but not declaration of lawful occupancy.
Constitutional law – Eviction – Requirement of notice, due process and protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (article 24). Land law – Status of occupants – distinction between lawful occupants and licensees; effect of gazettement and need to open boundaries of a Central Forest Reserve. Proof of boundaries and survey evidence required to determine whether land falls within a Central Forest Reserve
Remedies – entitlement to general and exemplary damages for unlawful evictions; assessment and interest
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28 April 2020 |
| March 2020 |
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Review granted where judge’s undisclosed commercial interest as out grower created a real likelihood of bias.
Judicial recusal – apparent bias – undisclosed commercial relationship; Review under section 82 Civil Procedure Act vs Order 46 CPR; discovery of new and important evidence; fair hearing and impartiality under Uganda Judicial Code of Conduct and Article 28(1).
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31 March 2020 |
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24 March 2020 |
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A land claim was struck out as time‑barred and barred by res judicata following prior administration proceedings.
Land law – succession and estate administration – ownership dispute over land listed in deceased’s estate – certificate of passing of final accounts. Civil procedure – preliminary objections – timeliness of written statement of defence
Limitation – section 20 Limitation Act – claims to a deceased’s estate barred after 12 years; no pleaded disability. Res judicata – prior administration proceedings preclude re‑litigation of same matter
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23 March 2020 |
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The respondents’ suit was struck out as both time‑barred under s.20 and barred by res judicata.
Civil procedure – res judicata (s.7 Civil Procedure Act) – requirements: same matter directly and substantially in issue, same parties or those under whom they claim, final decision; Limitation – s.20 Limitation Act – claims to deceased’s estate barred after 12 years; Pleadings – O.8 r.2 CPR – timely filing of written statement of defence.
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23 March 2020 |
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20 March 2020 |
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20 March 2020 |