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24 judgments found.
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April 2017
Court granted representative‑suit leave and ordered mandatory personal service of a court‑directed notice detailing the suit and reliefs.
Civil procedure
— Representative actions — Order 1 r 8(1) — Permission to sue on behalf of numerous persons — Mandatory court‑directed notice
— Service of notice — Personal service v. public advertisement — Content requirements: nature of suit, reliefs, names of representatives and advocate, time to apply
27 April 2017
Extension of time granted where delay was due to counsel's omission, not the applicant's fault.
Civil Procedure — Appeals
— Enlargement of time — Good cause where advocates' omission delayed filing of appeal
— Access to justice versus finality — Mistakes of counsel may justify extension if applicant not culpable
27 April 2017
27 April 2017
25 April 2017
Ex‑parte judgment set aside where summons was served on a person not shown to be a company's principal officer.
Civil procedure
— Service on corporations — Whether service on an "administrator" constitutes service on a principal officer under Order 29 r 2(a) CPR — Requirement to show the functional role of the person served
— Default/ex‑parte judgment — Irregular judgment obtained after defective service must be set aside ex debito justitiae
Appeal — First appeal — Duty to re‑hear and re‑appraise findings of fact and law on service of process
24 April 2017
Revision refused: damages were within magistrate's pecuniary limit; costs and interest excluded from jurisdiction calculation.
Civil Procedure
— Revision under section 83 CPA — Scope and limits of revision jurisdiction — Revision cannot substitute for appeal where outcome, not jurisdiction or illegality, is challenged
— Pecuniary jurisdiction — Whether costs and interest form part of subject matter — Costs and interest excluded from pecuniary-jurisdiction calculation
— Taxation and judgment entry (O.17 r.4 CPR) — Proper remedies are appeal or review, not revision
24 April 2017
Email notice satisfied 14‑day written notice; plaintiff failed to prove large special damages, awarded Ushs 2,544,000/= with interest.
Contract law — Franchise agreements — Validity of termination by 14‑day written notice — Electronic communications as written notice under Electronic Transactions Act No. 8 of 2011
Damages — Special and general damages — Requirement that special damages be specifically pleaded and strictly proved; general damages require some evidential basis
20 April 2017
Court compelled Law Council by mandamus to decide delayed enrolment application, finding unreasonable inaction ultravires.
Administrative law
— Judicial review — Inaction and excessive delay by a statutory body — When inaction is amenable to judicial review
— Remedies — Mandamus to compel decision and daily penalty for non‑compliance
Professional regulation — Admission to the Bar — Law Council’s statutory duty to determine eligibility and limits of judicial substitution
20 April 2017
Unlawful retention of students’ academic documents warrants general damages and costs to affected students.
Civil law — Damages — General damages for unlawful withholding of academic documents — Assessment principles and presumption of damage
Education law — Academic records — Unlawful retention of certificates and transcripts — Remedy of damages and declaration
Civil procedure — Costs — Costs follow the event; successful plaintiffs awarded costs
20 April 2017
A fresh mandamus application is barred where an earlier unvaried mandamus order exists; enforcement is required.
Civil procedure
— Prerogative writs — Mandamus — Res judicata bar to relitigation of same claim
— Enforcement — Certificate of order against Secretary to the Treasury — Enforcement, not fresh mandamus, is the appropriate remedy
20 April 2017
Appellate court found malicious prosecution, ordered return of estate property, damages and costs.
Civil tort
— Appellate review — Duty of first appellate court to re-evaluate evidence and make fresh findings
— Malicious prosecution — Elements: institution by defendant; absence of reasonable/probable cause; malice; termination in favour — Proof and remedies
19 April 2017
A nuisance claim succeeded in part: both landowners contributed to wall collapse and respondent held 10% liable.
Tort — Nuisance — Liability for neighbouring land use causing damage and apportionment of responsibility where multiple causes contribute
Civil procedure — Locus visit — Importance of recording locus notes and sketch maps
13 April 2017
GCM lacked jurisdiction because the charge sheet failed to disclose the requisite aiding-and-abetting nexus under UPDF Act s119(1)(g).
Constitutional law — Right to fair trial — Military tribunals and jurisdiction — Requirement that charge sheet disclose aiding and abetting under UPDF Act s119(1)(g)
Criminal procedure — Framing of charges — Jurisdiction is determined from pleadings, not evidence — Particulars required to confer military jurisdiction
13 April 2017
Military tribunal lacked jurisdiction because charge sheet failed to allege aiding and abetting under UPDF Act s119(1)(g).
Constitutional law — Right to fair trial — Jurisdiction of General Court Martial over civilians — Charge sheet must disclose aiding and abetting nexus under UPDF Act s119(1)(g)
13 April 2017
Whether a registered cultural institution has capacity to sue and whether government recognition was procured by fraud.
Constitutional/Cultural law — Institution of traditional leaders — Corporation sole and capacity to sue under Institution of Traditional or Cultural Leaders Act 2011
Evidence — Fraud — Higher standard of proof required for allegations of fraud in civil proceedings
Civil procedure — Counterclaim — Requirement that a counterclaim discloses a cause of action and is properly pleaded
12 April 2017
Consent judgment upheld where forgery unproven and counsel’s apparent authority bound the applicant.
Civil procedure
— Consent judgment — Setting aside for fraud, mistake or misapprehension — Requirements and standard of proof
— Advocacy/agency — Apparent authority of counsel to enter consent judgments — Client must prove express withdrawal of instructions or advocate’s fraud
— Formal irregularity — Wrong court seal on judgment — Mere irregularity not invalidating judgment
12 April 2017
An heir may sue without letters of administration; appellant failed to rebut the respondent’s oral and documentary proof of sale.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Role of first appellate court — Re‑evaluation of evidence and interference only for misdirection or miscarriage of justice
Succession law — Locus standi — Heir may sue to protect estate property without letters of administration (Succession Act ss.27–28; Israel Kaba v. Martin Banoba Musiga)
Evidence — Documentary evidence — Relevance of unsigned/uncorroborated documents and effect of failure to rebut or produce expert handwriting report (Evidence Act ss.60,101–103)
10 April 2017
Mandamus will not compel confirmation or recruitment where Ministry clearance and wage availability are lacking, rendering the act illegal.
Administrative law — Mandamus — Compelling public authority to perform promotion/confirmation — Requirement of prior Ministry clearance and wage availability
Public service law — Recruitment and confirmation — Necessity of clearance/approval and confirmed funds before filling vacant posts
Administrative law — Illegality — Court will not order performance of an act that is illegal or entails unauthorized expenditure
7 April 2017
Manufacturer liable in tort for contaminated drink; damages reduced and unpleaded business loss disallowed.
Tort — Manufacturer’s negligence — Contaminated consumable — Duty of care under Donoghue v Stevenson
Evidence — Burden of proof — Plaintiff to prove defect present at consumption; manufacturer must rebut presumption of responsibility
Damages — Quantum and pleadings — Reduction for excessive award; unpleaded business loss not recoverable
6 April 2017
Employment Act 2006 ousts magistrates' jurisdiction over employment disputes; magistrate's reversal was a material irregularity, file transferred to Industrial Court.
Employment law — Jurisdiction — Allocation of employment-dispute jurisdiction to Labour Officers with appeals to the Industrial Court — Employment Act 2006 ss 93, 99
Civil procedure — Revision/Functus officio — Magistrate reversing earlier jurisdictional ruling on review constitutes material irregularity justifying revision under s 83 CPA
6 April 2017
A goodwill owner cannot prevent a landlord’s distress for rent absent direct tenancy or a clear restraining injunction.
Civil procedure — Revision of magistrates’ court orders — Section 83 CPA — Jurisdiction and material irregularity
Landlord and tenant — Distress for rent — Locus of registered proprietor versus managing agent and effect of tenant default
Interim injunctions — Preservation of status quo — Requirement for clear restraining language to prevent conflict with other proceedings
4 April 2017
Respondent’s prolonged failure to deploy the applicant was illegal, unreasonable and procedurally unfair; deployment and damages ordered.
Administrative law
— Judicial review — Timeliness and availability of remedy — Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules
— Public appointments — Advertising and recruitment without budgetary assurance; failure to issue appointment letter within one month — Public Service Commission Regulations rr. 26 & 29(1)
— Procedural fairness — Right to be heard and Wednesbury unreasonableness in prolonged non‑deployment
4 April 2017
An out-of-time amended plaint adding personal injury claims and pleading evidence can be disallowed as time‑barred and defective.
Civil procedure
— Amendment of pleadings — Disallowing out‑of‑time amendments that alter cause of action
— Pleadings — Requirement to state material facts not evidence — Order 6 r.1
Limitation — Tort — Personal injury claims subject to three‑year limitation under Limitation Act s.3
4 April 2017
Review of a consent judgment dismissed: applicants lacked representative status, standing and failed to show fraud or material mistake.
Civil procedure
— Consent judgments — Setting aside — Grounds limited to fraud, collusion, fundamental mistake or ignorance of material facts
— Representative actions — Requirement for representative order (Order 1 rule 8) — Non‑compliance renders suit incompetent
Contract law — Privity — Non‑party cannot be bound by or sue on a consent agreement
3 April 2017