High Court of Uganda

The High Court of Uganda is the third court of record in order of hierarchy and has unlimited original jurisdiction, which means that it can try any case of any value or crime of any magnitude. Appeals from all Magistrates Courts go to the High Court. 

The High Court is headed by the Honorable Principal Judge who is responsible for the administration of the court and has supervisory powers over Magistrate's courts. 

Physical address
Plot 2, the Square Kampala
524 judgments

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524 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
March 2023
Court granted conditional stay of execution pending appeal, requiring Ushs 30,000,000 security to preserve the appeal.
Civil procedure – Stay of execution pending appeal – Order 43 rule 4 – requirements: substantial loss, promptness, security for due performance; preservation of appeal – security as condition to prevent nugatory appeal; Article 126(2)(e) – substantive justice over technicalities.
31 March 2023
31 March 2023
Handwriting expert evidence established a forged will, leading to invalidation, intestacy and an injunction on enforcement.
Testamentary law – validity of wills – forgery – handwriting expert evidence corroborating anomalies; will declared void; intestacy; injunction against enforcement; Originating Summons inappropriate where oral evidence required; letters of administration ordered; no damages awarded; no costs.
31 March 2023
31 March 2023
31 March 2023
Temporary municipal allocation created a license extinguished on departure; respondent's customary ownership and possession upheld.
Customary land – ownership and effect of temporary municipal allocations; Licensee versus bona fide occupant under land law; Requirement of letters of administration to sue on deceased’s alleged estate rights; First appeal – reappraisal of evidence.
31 March 2023
31 March 2023
31 March 2023
30 March 2023
30 March 2023
27 March 2023
24 March 2023
24 March 2023
22 March 2023
22 March 2023
21 March 2023
Appeal against refusal of temporary injunction dismissed: irreparable harm not proved and balance of convenience favored respondent.
Civil procedure – Temporary injunction – Purpose to preserve status quo – Requirement to establish status quo on locus in quo. Interim relief – Conditions for injunction: prima facie case, irreparable injury, balance of convenience. Evidence – Proceedings on affidavit and role of locus in quo visit. Weight of undisputed sale agreement and payment of consideration in balancing convenience. Appellate review – Caution in disturbing trial factual findings but power to re-evaluate where appropriate.
21 March 2023
Fraudulent transfers vitiate title; court ordered cancellation, reinstatement of plaintiff's title, injunctions, damages and costs.
Property law – Registration of titles – Fraud vitiating transfer; forensic evidence of forged documents; instantaneous transfers as indicia of collusion; purchaser’s duty to inquire when land is in occupation; cancellation and substitution of certificate of title under Registration of Titles Act; damages and injunctions for fraudulent registration.
20 March 2023
Respondent vicariously liable for its driver's negligence causing the applicant's injuries; damages awarded, punitive damages denied.
Negligence – duty of care and breach by driver; Causation – injuries caused by negligent driving; Vicarious liability – employer liable for employee's torts committed in course of employment; Damages – proof and assessment of special, general and compensatory damages; Punitive damages – declined where vicarious liability and partial payment exist.
20 March 2023
17 March 2023
17 March 2023
17 March 2023
17 March 2023
16 March 2023
15 March 2023

 

14 March 2023
Court revoked defendants’ letters of administration for concealing a proved will and ordered distribution according to the will.
Succession law – probate and letters of administration – validity of prior grant of probate until set aside – revocation of letters of administration for concealment of a will under S.234 Succession Act – failure to challenge probate – costs and remedies.
11 March 2023
9 March 2023

 

9 March 2023
Appellate court held encroachment beyond a purchased half-acre was continuing trespass and not wholly time-barred; appeal allowed.
Land law – Trespass – continuing tort; Limitation Act – application to recovery of land of a deceased person; Evidence – parties bound by pleadings; Locus in quo – evaluation of boundary evidence; Procedural fairness – reliance on submissions not on record and perceived bias.
9 March 2023
7 March 2023
7 March 2023
3 March 2023
3 March 2023
3 March 2023
2 March 2023
2 March 2023
February 2023
Appellate court affirms trial finding that the appellant blocked a public access road; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil appeal — appellate duty to reevaluate evidence — trial court advantage of seeing and hearing witnesses; Evidence — locus in quo inspection and witness testimony as basis for finding obstruction of a public access road; Credibility — conflicting witness accounts assessed and weighed; Procedural irregularity — minor mislabelling of witnesses not necessarily fatal to judgment.
28 February 2023
Appellate court upheld respondent’s title based on family gift document and locus visit, dismissing the appeal.
Land dispute – locus inquo compliance and sketch plan; boundary identification – stone versus ridge/trees; credibility of witnesses; family meeting record as evidence of gift of land; insufficiency of sale agreements lacking boundaries or proper witnessing.
28 February 2023
A contemnor may be heard and a stay of execution granted where execution threatens to render a pending appeal nugatory.
Stay of execution — discretion to hear contemnor — contemnor need not always purge contempt before being heard — competency of notice of appeal for strike-out under appellate rules — stay where serious threat of execution may render appeal nugatory.
28 February 2023
A later suit re-litigating matters settled by a consent decree is barred by res judicata and the Limitation Act.
Civil procedure – res judicata – claim and issue preclusion where same parties and identical issue resolved by earlier competent court. Consent judgment/memorandum of settlement – binding and enforceable once endorsed by court; can only be set aside on grounds that vitiate agreement. Limitation – action upon a judgment barred after twelve years under s.3(3) Limitation Act.
28 February 2023
A plaint under Article 50 must plead a specific constitutional right infringement; failure to do so warrants dismissal as disclosing no cause of action.
Constitutional litigation — Article 50 — Claim must plead infringement or threat to a specific fundamental right or freedom; general regulatory complaints insufficient. Civil procedure — Preliminary objection/strike out — Pleading must disclose a cause of action; plaint failing this ground is liable to dismissal. Administrative law — Exhaustion of statutory/administrative remedies — Where specific procedures exist for removal of road encroachments, those remedies should be pursued before court action. Roads law — Statutory powers of roads authority to manage road reserves and remove obstructions.
28 February 2023
Mortgagee who complied with statutory default procedures entitled to vacant possession, eviction of mortgagor, and costs.
Mortgage law – Mortgage Act – compliance with Section 19 default notice requirement and exercise of remedy of sale under Section 20(e). Possession – entitlement of mortgagee to vacant possession and to evict mortgagor/agents after lawful sale to purchaser for value. Civil procedure – uncontested averments – effect of defendant’s failure to file reply or appear; costs awarded to successful party.
28 February 2023
Mortgagee entitled to vacant possession and eviction after statutory default notice and sale; costs awarded to mortgagee.
Mortgage law – Mortgage Act s.19 compliance and s.20 sale; entitlement to vacant possession and eviction; ex parte determination where defendant defaults; costs under Civil Procedure Act s.27.
28 February 2023
Applicant failed to show a bona fide triable issue or particularised defence to resist enforcement of a loan debt.
Civil procedure – Section 98 CPA, Order 36 r.2 and Order 52 r.1 & r.3 – leave to appear and defend; requirement of a bona fide triable issue and a defence pleaded with particularity; loan agreement enforcement – proof of payments and computation of interest and penalties; failure to rebut documentary evidence.
28 February 2023
27 February 2023
An appeal filed beyond the 30‑day statutory period without good cause is incompetent and dismissed.
Appeals – Civil Procedure Act s.79 – time for filing memorandum of appeal – requirement to take essential steps to prosecute appeal – good cause for extension – incompetence of late-filed appeal.
27 February 2023
25 February 2023
24 February 2023
22 February 2023