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Citation
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Judgment date
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| February 2024 |
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Counsel’s mistake was sufficient reason to set aside dismissal and reinstate the suit for hearing on its merits.
* Civil procedure – review of judgment – Order 46 Rule 1(2)/(3) – "any other sufficient reason" – counsel’s negligence as ground for review. * Dismissal for want of prosecution – Order XVII Rule 5 (amended) – abatement versus dismissal for non-appearance. * Service – omission to serve not fatal where purpose of service fulfilled by obtaining court file copy.
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29 February 2024 |
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29 February 2024 |
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29 February 2024 |
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Guardianship application dismissed for failing to meet mandatory statutory requirements despite welfare considerations.
Guardianship — Children’s (Amendment) Act 2016 (ss. 3, 43A, 43F) — welfare of the child paramount — mandatory preconditions for guardian appointment: continuous residence in Uganda, criminal record clearance, and recommendation from probation/social welfare — foreign-resident applicants — financial support insufficient to substitute statutory requirements.
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29 February 2024 |
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A stay pending appeal requires notice of appeal, proof of substantial loss, no undue delay, and provision of security.
Stay of execution pending appeal – Order 43 r.4 CPR – requirements: notice of appeal, substantial loss, no unreasonable delay, security – laches – consent judgment – protection of successful litigant’s fruits.
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29 February 2024 |
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Appellant failed to displace registered title where evidence showed pre-existing customary interests, so title rectification and costs ordered.
Land law – registered leasehold title – effect of registration and exceptions for fraud or pre-existing unregistered customary interests; burden of proof in title disputes; locus in quo procedure; effect and scope of consent judgments; rectification of title/registration.
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29 February 2024 |
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Applicant’s dismissal for want of prosecution set aside due to illness and counsel’s negligence; suit reinstated.
Civil procedure – setting aside dismissal under Order 9 r.23; sufficient cause/good cause – illness and counsel’s negligence; service and registry delays; res judicata/overtaken-by-events; limitation and claims against estate administrators.
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29 February 2024 |
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29 February 2024 |
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A court cannot dismiss a suit for no cause of action based solely on an inconclusive preliminary survey report.
Civil procedure — cause of action — plaint to be considered on its face; Evidence — preliminary/inconclusive survey report cannot displace right to fair hearing; Constitutional right to fair hearing — notice, opportunity to present evidence and cross‑examine.
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29 February 2024 |
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Court grants mandamus compelling respondent to issue appointment and awards damages for unlawful refusal.
* Judicial review – administrative decision – amenability to review and exhaustion of remedies; * Mandamus – compelling public officer to issue appointment; * Public service recruitment – legality and rationality of refusal to appoint; * Reliefs – damages and costs for unlawful administrative action.
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29 February 2024 |
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29 February 2024 |
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Counterclaim adding third parties without making the plaintiff a counter-defendant is irregular and struck out.
Civil Procedure – Preliminary objections: timeliness of filing defences (Order 8 r.1(2)) and effect of registry dating errors; Counterclaims – requirement that plaintiff be included as counter-defendant (Order 8) and limits on introducing third parties; Misjoinder and multifariousness – proper use of Order 1 r.10 or Order 14 third-party notice; Pleadings – requirement that plaint disclose a cause of action (Auto Garage test).
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29 February 2024 |
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29 February 2024 |
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Application to reinstate High Court appeal dismissed: no valid appeal existed and dismissal under Section 17(2) is final.
Appeal procedure – High Court appeals require a Memorandum of Appeal (Order 43 CPR, s.79 CPA); Notice of Appeal alone insufficient; Dismissal under s.17(2) Judicature Act constitutes a final decree not amenable to reinstatement; Duty on appellant to actively prosecute appeal and avoid undue delay.
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28 February 2024 |
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Stay of execution refused where applicant failed to show likelihood of success or substantial irreparable loss from paying taxed costs.
Civil procedure – stay of execution – criteria for stay pending appeal (likelihood of success; substantial/irreparable loss; appeal rendered nugatory) – money decrees ordinarily not stayed where restitution is available – execution relates to taxed costs, not land.
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28 February 2024 |
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Court extended time to appeal for an ill applicant despite delay, admitted late reply, but awarded costs to respondent.
Civil procedure – extension of time to appeal; sufficiency of cause (illness) to extend time; admission of late affidavits in interests of justice; validity of service and hearing notice; costs awarded for lax conduct.
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28 February 2024 |
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An appeal from an Order 36 ruling is not as of right; leave under Order 44(2) was required, so the appeal was struck out.
Civil procedure — Appealability — Appellate jurisdiction is statutory — Orders under Order 36 are not appealable as of right under Section 76(1) or Order 44(1)(k) — Requirement to seek leave under Order 44(2) — Article 126(2)(e) does not circumvent statutory appeal rules.
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28 February 2024 |
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Suit dismissed as res judicata and the court functus officio; respondent's claim on land was unmaintainable.
* Civil procedure — res judicata — earlier appeal and review finally decided ownership; subsequent suit raising same matter barred.
* Civil procedure — functus officio — court cannot revisit issues already finally determined by itself.
* Property law — transactions during pending appeal — transfer concluded while appeal pending incapable of vesting title; alleged purchaser cannot assert superior rights.
* Locus standi and cause of action — failure to establish/clear foundation for suit may render plaint unmaintainable.
* Remedies — application under inherent powers, s.98 CPA and s.33 Judicature Act to strike out duplicative suits.
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28 February 2024 |
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Appeal dismissed: improving a pre-existing gate did not constitute contempt; appeal was timely under Section 79(2).
Civil procedure – Appeal against Registrar’s ruling – computation of time under Section 79(2) Civil Procedure Act; Contempt of court – ingredients: lawful order, knowledge, ability to comply, failure to comply; heightened standard of proof; Temporary injunctions – preservation of status quo; Improvement of pre-existing structure not necessarily contempt.
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28 February 2024 |
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Application for substitute title and vesting orders dismissed after High Court quashed underlying judgment for lack of contract and consideration.
* Land registration – substitute white page and special certificate – reliefs consequential to sale in execution and vesting orders.
* Civil procedure – review of lower court proceedings – quashing ex parte proceedings where judgment rests on unenforceable contract.
* Contract law – privity of contract and consideration – no contract between judgment creditor and judgment debtor; agreement to refund without consideration unenforceable.
* Execution law – auction and eviction consequent on quashed judgment held of no effect.
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28 February 2024 |
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28 February 2024 |
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Letters of administration procured by fraud can be revoked and title transfers founded on them set aside, with administratorship granted to rightful lineal descendants.
Succession law – fraudulent procurement of letters of administration – revocation of grant; lineal descendants’ entitlement to administration; registration of title – indefeasibility v fraud; bona fide purchaser for value without notice and duty of enquiry; remedies: revocation, re-registration, account, injunction, damages and costs.
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28 February 2024 |
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Appeal against refusal of stay of execution was incompetent because required leave to appeal was not obtained.
Appeals — statutory nature of right to appeal; interlocutory orders — Order 44 Rule 1(1)(u) applies to registrars' interlocutory orders only; refusal of stay of execution by a Magistrate Grade I requires leave to appeal; procedural requirement to seek leave first to the court that made the order.
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28 February 2024 |
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28 February 2024 |
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Failure to plead particulars of negligence and to attach a log book is curable by amendment; preliminary objections overruled.
Civil procedure – Pleading particulars of negligence – Failure to plead particulars not necessarily fatal; defects curable by amendment; proof of ownership not mandatory at pleading stage – Order 7 Rules 1(e) and 11, Order 6 Rule 19 CPR; preliminary objections overruled; leave to amend granted.
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28 February 2024 |
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Appellate court allowed appeal after trial court mis-evaluated evidence and improperly shifted burden in competing land ownership claim.
Land law – proof of ownership – burden of proof on claimant to establish purchase – evaluation of documentary evidence (sale agreement) – locus in quo evidence – gift by occupancy and exclusive possession – appellate reappraisal of credibility and misdirection by trial court.
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28 February 2024 |
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27 February 2024 |
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27 February 2024 |
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A trial court erred by dismissing a trespass suit based on an inconclusive, unadmitted preliminary survey, violating fair hearing rights.
Land law – Pleading – Cause of action – A plaint that alleges ownership and unlawful denial of use discloses a cause of action; Civil procedure – Preliminary survey – A preliminary survey not admitted in evidence and indicating outstanding work cannot dispose of a suit; Constitutional law – Right to fair hearing – Parties must be given notice and opportunity to present and challenge evidence before a dispositive finding is made; Costs – Where a dispositive ruling is legally unsound, an award of costs to the respondent cannot stand.
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27 February 2024 |
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26 February 2024 |
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23 February 2024 |
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23 February 2024 |
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22 February 2024 |
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22 February 2024 |
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21 February 2024 |
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Whether long usage and subsequent agreement created and preserved an enforceable easement for the respondent.
Property law — Easements — Right of way — Creation by long usage (12+ years) and by agreement — Reappraisal of evidence on first appeal — Remedies for blocking access.
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21 February 2024 |
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Court reduced a manifestly excessive instruction fee from UGX8,000,000 to UGX6,000,000 on taxation of costs.
Taxation of costs – Advocates’ instruction fees – Reasonableness and application of Sixth Schedule – Taxing Master’s discretion – Judicial interference only in exceptional cases (manifest excess or wrong principle).
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21 February 2024 |
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20 February 2024 |
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20 February 2024 |
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20 February 2024 |
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20 February 2024 |
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An appellate court refused to admit a post‑trial certificate of title as fresh evidence because it was known to the applicants and unrelated to the unregistered land dispute.
* Civil procedure – Admission of additional evidence on appeal – Section 80 Civil Procedure Act and Order 43 r.22 – exceptional circumstances required (Ladd v Marshall test, local authorities).
* Evidence – Newly produced certificate of title – relevance and admissibility where trial concerned unregistered customary land; certificate amounts to new cause of action.
* Jurisdiction – Issuance of title after trial does not retrospectively divest trial court’s jurisdiction or invalidate judgment; remedy lies in review or fresh suit.
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20 February 2024 |
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20 February 2024 |
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19 February 2024 |
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19 February 2024 |
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19 February 2024 |
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19 February 2024 |
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19 February 2024 |
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Consent orders obtained in bad faith or contrary to court directions can be reviewed; third parties may be aggrieved.
• Civil procedure – review of consent orders – locus to apply: third party who would be deprived of property may be an 'aggrieved person' under s.82 CPA; • Consent judgments – reviewable for fraud, collusion, abuse of process, misapprehension or ignorance of material facts; • Abuse of court process – obtaining orders contrary to prior court directions; • Costs awarded where review succeeds.
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15 February 2024 |
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15 February 2024 |