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Citation
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Judgment date
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| October 2025 |
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Appeal dismissed: applicant failed to prove requested documents were in respondents’ possession or relevant for discovery.
Civil procedure — Discovery of documents — Requirement to show documents exist and are in opponent’s possession, custody or power — Relevance and materiality to matters in issue — Avoidance of fishing expeditions — Public/third‑party records obtainable from URSB or banks — Appellate restraint in reviewing discretionary discovery rulings.
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31 October 2025 |
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High Court revised magistrate’s decree: principal debt upheld but punitive and compound interest awards set aside.
Civil procedure – Revision under Section 83 CPA – jurisdictional limits and review for illegality or material irregularity; Order 36 specially endorsed plaint – liquidated demand; punitive/penalty interest and compound interest not recoverable in summary suit where amounts are unascertained.
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31 October 2025 |
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Leave to defend summary suit refused where affidavit and proposed defence disclosed no bona fide triable issue.
Civil procedure – Order 36 summary procedure – leave to appear and defend – triable-issue test; proposed written statement of defence should be attached and sufficiently particular; bare denials or vague assertions are inadequate; refusal of leave under Order 36 Rule 5 results in judgment for plaintiff.
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31 October 2025 |
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Interim injunction dismissed: funds already disbursed and applicant failed to show irreparable harm; respondents lawfully implementing amended statute.
Interim injunctions — prerequisites (urgency, irreparable harm, status quo) — overtaken-by-events doctrine — limits on restraining implementation of Acts of Parliament — Political Parties and Organisations (Amendment) Act 2025 conditioning public funding on statutory IPOD membership — balance of convenience.
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29 October 2025 |
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The High Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the applicant's pre-Commission election complaint; application dismissed as premature.
* Constitutional and electoral law – jurisdiction – Articles 61(1)(f) and 64(1) – Electoral Commission as first-instance forum for pre-poll and polling complaints. * Administrative law – exhaustion of remedies – premature judicial review against matters pending administrative review. * Voter registration – parish tribunal recommendations and Commission review process; appeal to High Court lies only from final Commission decisions. * Binding precedent – Court of Appeal and Supreme Court authority that High Court is not first-instance forum for such election complaints.
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24 October 2025 |
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Court pierced corporate veil where respondent director used the company to frustrate execution through deliberate transfers.
Company law – lifting/piercing corporate veil – Companies Act s.20 – ‘‘alter ego’’ doctrine – abuse of separate legal personality to frustrate execution – fraudulent transfers to related company and to director’s personal account – execution remedies and costs.
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24 October 2025 |
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Detention beyond 48 hours violated the applicant’s right to personal liberty; torture allegations were not proved.
Constitutional law – Article 23 (personal liberty) – detention beyond 48 hours; Prohibition of torture – Article 24 and Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act – burden of proof and admissibility of medical evidence; Human Rights (Enforcement) Act – remedies and compensation for violated fundamental rights.
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23 October 2025 |
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Challenge to party primary cancellation dismissed as overtaken by events and therefore moot.
Administrative law – Judicial review – amenability and exhaustion of internal remedies; Elections – cancellation and fresh primaries; Mootness – application overtaken by events; Procedural impropriety vs correctness of decision; Party dispute resolution and tribunals' errors.
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22 October 2025 |
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Government may verify beneficiaries of representative judgments to prevent fraud without unlawfully interfering with execution.
Executive verification of beneficiaries; allegations of fraud in representative suits; use of security agencies to verify identities lawful to protect public funds; no interference with execution of court judgments where verification is justified.
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22 October 2025 |
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Habeas corpus dismissed where State denies custody and applicants are treated as missing persons.
Habeas corpus – constitutional non-derogable remedy – burden to produce detainee – returns and searches – absence of custody evidence – missing persons and missing-person investigations.
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22 October 2025 |
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Interdiction of a Head of Department was unlawful and procedurally improper; interdiction quashed, charges quashed, damages awarded.
Judicial review – administrative decision – interdiction of senior public officer – amenability to review; Illegality – disciplinary control and removal of Heads of Department reserved to the President – interdiction by non‑appointing authority ultra vires; Procedural impropriety – failure to give fair hearing, failure to frame charges and consult Solicitor General; Contempt – charging/prosecuting despite interim court order; Remedies – certiorari, prohibitory injunctions, quashing of charges, damages and costs.
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21 October 2025 |
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Contempt application dismissed because the applicant lacked authority to represent the claimants, so merits were not considered.
Contempt of court — elements: lawful order, knowledge, ability to comply, disobedience; Standing/locus — authority to represent multiple claimants in contempt proceedings; Civil procedure — failure to prove representation justifies dismissal without addressing merits.
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21 October 2025 |
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Applicant admitted debt and failed to raise a triable issue; leave to defend dismissed and summary judgment entered for the plaintiff.
Summary procedure — Leave to appear and defend — Order 36 rule 3(1) — Bona fide triable issue required — Affidavit sufficiency — Admission of debt — Contractual terms not establishing defence — Entitlement to summary decree on refusal of leave.
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19 October 2025 |
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Stay of execution denied because applicant failed to show a prima facie likelihood of success on appeal.
* Civil procedure – Stay of execution pending appeal – Requirements under Order 43 r.4 – necessity of pending appeal, likelihood of success, absence of unreasonable delay, and security.
* Appellate procedure – Likelihood of success as primary consideration – importance of annexing grounds of appeal to enable assessment.
* Equity – Balance of convenience – protection of successful party’s fruits of judgment and compensability by monetary relief.
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18 October 2025 |
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Judicial review available where a party tribunal rescinded a declaration and re‑tallied votes without affording a fair hearing.
• Judicial review – amenability of political party organs and internal election tribunals; public body status of political parties.
• Administrative law – grounds for review: illegality, irrationality (Wednesbury), and procedural impropriety (natural justice).
• Functus officio – returning officer/district registrar lacks power to rescind a declared result once declared; errors fall to the tribunal.
• Procedural fairness – re‑tallying or verification exercises affecting rights must afford affected candidate opportunity to participate or witness.
• Remedies – certiorari to quash tribunal decision and mandamus to compel issuance of party flag/card.
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17 October 2025 |
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High Court lacks jurisdiction to stay or suspend a criminal contempt sentence for scandalising the court; remedy is appeal.
* Contempt of Court – classification – distinction between civil (remedial) and criminal (punitive) contempt.
* Scandalising the court – public statements/tweets as criminal contempt capable of undermining public confidence.
* Procedure and remedies – criminal contempt sentences are fixed and the sentencing court becomes functus officio; remedy lies in appeal.
* Indirect (not in the face of court) contempt can nonetheless be criminal where it scandalises the judiciary.
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16 October 2025 |
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Temporary injunction granted where society’s council constitutionality and fairness of meetings are in dispute.
Administrative law; injunctions – preservation of status quo pending trial; society governance – constitution of Council under s.9 Uganda Law Society Act; requisitioned meetings – interplay of s.16(1) and s.16(2); natural justice – right to fair hearing in removal/censure; disqualification by sentence – Regulation 15(2)(e).
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16 October 2025 |
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Defendants breached sale and refund agreements; plaintiff awarded UGX 68m refund, UGX 30m damages, interest and costs.
* Contract law – land sale – failure to deliver vacant possession – breach of contract and entitlement to rescission and refund.
* Evidence – burden on plaintiff to prove on balance of probabilities; admission and weight of documentary evidence (PEX1, PEX3, PEX4).
* Remedies – repayment of purchase price, general damages, interest (commercial and court rates), and costs.
* Civil procedure – defendants’ non‑attendance and non‑compliance; proceeding ex parte under Order 9 rule 20.
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13 October 2025 |
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Judicial review inappropriate to decide substantive appointment rights; applicant used wrong procedure and application was time‑barred.
Judicial review — amenability — procedural impropriety, illegality and irrationality — supervisory remedy not for determining substantive appointment rights — time‑bar under Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules (three months).
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13 October 2025 |
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Assignment of tenancy without landlord’s prior written consent amounted to trespass; eviction, damages and injunction granted.
Landlord and Tenant — Assignment/subletting — Prior written consent required by tenancy clause; Trespass — unlawful occupation after tenancy expiry; Unauthorized permanent structures — no compensation to trespasser; Remedies — eviction, special and general damages, interest, injunction, costs.
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13 October 2025 |
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Cancellation of title without statutory notice or hearing was procedurally irregular; certiorari and mandamus granted.
Land law; judicial review; procedural fairness and natural justice; Section 88 Land Act notice and hearing requirement; illegality and ultra vires administrative action; certiorari and mandamus as remedies.
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13 October 2025 |
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Court pierced the corporate veil and held directors personally liable for deliberately frustrating execution of a valid judgment.
* Company law – Corporate personality – Piercing the corporate veil where company used to frustrate execution of a valid decree or to evade legal obligations.
* Civil procedure – Execution of decrees – Scope and effect of Section 34(1) Civil Procedure Act; executing court’s powers and when a fresh suit may be entertained.
* Jurisdiction – Pecuniary limits of Magistrate Grade I; award within jurisdictional limits.
* Remedies – Personal liability of directors where company is used as instrument to defeat judgment enforcement.
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13 October 2025 |
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Official Receiver exceeded statutory powers by halting liquidation over a disputed, unsubstantiated creditor claim.
Judicial review – administrative law – amenability and scope; Insolvency law – liquidator’s discretion to admit/reject proofs of debt (s.9; Reg.176); limits on Official Receiver’s investigatory powers (s.203; Insolvency (Investigation & Prosecution) Regs) – ultra vires intervention; remedies – certiorari, mandamus, prohibition; damages not ordinarily available in judicial review.
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13 October 2025 |
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No interim injunction where title was lawfully cancelled; no status quo, no prima facie case, and balance of convenience favours respondent.
Land law – Interim injunctions – Status quo – Cancellation of title under Land Act s91 – Judicial review – Prima facie case – Irreparable harm – Balance of convenience – Judicial restraint of statutory functions.
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8 October 2025 |
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Court authorized personal representatives to convene an EGM under s138 to appoint directors and regularize company affairs.
* Companies Act s138 — court power to order meetings where it is impracticable to convene under articles; * Standing of personal representatives to seek court-ordered meeting; * Inherent equitable jurisdiction of High Court to prevent corporate collapse; * Adequacy of notice by publication; * Relief to appoint directors and regularize company affairs (filing of annual returns).
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8 October 2025 |
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Court granted habeas corpus on reasonable-ground affidavit alleging forcible removal and secret detention.
Habeas corpus — reasonable grounds standard under s.34 Judicature Act — particularised affidavit required; naming state officers; remedy for alleged unlawful or secret detention.
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8 October 2025 |
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Counter claimant entitled to UGX 146,060,000 and UGX 10,000,000 damages for breaches by the 1st and 3rd counter defendants.
Contract – loan agreement – failure to repay and failure to perform payment terms under a memorandum of loan settlement – breach established; Contract – collaboration agreement – unauthorized release of stock held as security – breach established; Remedies – award of principal, general damages, interest (on damages) and costs; No award of interest on principal where criteria for compound interest not met.
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7 October 2025 |
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Interim injunction denied for failure to show imminent threat or irreparable harm from continued office occupancy.
Administrative law — public service appointment and continuation after retirement; Interim injunction — requirements: prima facie case, substantive application, imminent threat/irreparable harm; Public interest and continuity of government services; Balance of convenience — no compelling reason for interim relief.
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2 October 2025 |
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Habeas corpus granted where a police officer alleged unlawful military detention without charge or production to court.
* Constitutional law – Habeas corpus – Article 23(9) inviolable; * Judicature Act s.38(a) – prerequisites for writ of habeas corpus; * Civil procedure – joinder/striking out respondents (Order 1 r.10(2)); * Detention without charge or production – deprivation of personal liberty.
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2 October 2025 |
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Contempt application dismissed because applicant failed to prove the respondent had effective knowledge of the court order.
Contempt of court – civil contempt – elements: lawful order; knowledge of order; disobedience – knowledge must be proved clearly and beyond reasonable doubt – non‑party liability – proof of service/notice required.
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2 October 2025 |
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Court granted a limited interim injunction preventing the EC from declaring the party’s executive committee expired, but refused to order nominations.
Electoral law – interim injunction – conditions for interim relief – balance of convenience and public interest under Article 61(2) – party organs and sponsorship of candidates – court’s inherent equitable powers (Section 37 Judicature Act; Section 98 Civil Procedure Act).
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1 October 2025 |