High Court: Execution and Bailiffs Division (Uganda)

Please note: this court does no longer exist, and is preserved here for historical reasons.

26 judgments
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26 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
October 2017
Court released Administrator General’s trust account from garnishee execution; government, not trust funds, meets decretal liabilities.
* Civil procedure – garnishee proceedings – garnishee order nisi and order absolute – completion of execution. * Trusts/Public trustee law – Administrator General/Public Trustee – liability of government under section 35 and Public Trustees Act. * Attachment of debts – prohibition on attaching third-party trust funds; illegality overrides procedural defects. * Remedies – objector proceedings or setting aside execution; court’s inherent jurisdiction to prevent unlawful conversion of trust property.
3 October 2017
September 2017
Execution of a 1990 decree in 2014 was time‑barred; liquidation did not indefinitely suspend limitation, compensation awarded.
Limitation — Section 3(3) Limitation Act and section 35 Civil Procedure Act — execution barred after 12 years; Liquidation/vesting in central bank does not indefinitely toll limitation (max six‑month exclusion); purchaser under court sale acquires good title; restitution limited — compensation under section 92 available; arrears of interest recoverable only within six years.
15 September 2017
A bona fide purchaser at a court execution sale acquires good title and is entitled to vacant possession despite collateral challenges.
Execution sales — purchaser’s title — Civil Procedure Act ss.49–50 protect bona fide purchasers; sale under warrant of execution becomes absolute on full payment; court-ordered vacant possession enforceable; magistrates’ compensation orders (MCA s.197) — procedural irregularities noted but do not impeach purchaser’s title; supervisory referral to Chief Registrar where jurisdictional concerns arise.
13 September 2017
August 2017
Court stayed eviction and payment of damages pending appeal, finding triable issues and potential irreparable harm; notice of appeal was sufficient.
Civil procedure – stay of execution – wrongly cited enabling provision cured and correct rule 0.43 r 4 C.P.R. applied; notice of appeal suffices to found stay application; stay granted where triable issues, risk of irreparable harm, timely application and balance of convenience favour preserving status quo; public body exempt from security under 0.43 r 6 C.P.R.
23 August 2017
Stay of sale and arrest granted where appeal process commenced and attached property provides sufficient security pending appeal.
Civil procedure – Stay of execution – Notice of appeal and steps to obtain ruling sufficient to ground stay; execution incomplete where attached property not sold; balance of convenience and risk of substantial loss justify stay; supplementary affidavit filed before replies admissible; attached property may suffice as security.
4 August 2017
An appellate court will not disturb a Taxing Master’s award absent proof of injudicious exercise of discretion; taxation decision upheld.
* Taxation of costs – appellate interference with Taxing Master – discretion exercised injudiciously or misdirection on law required to overturn award. * Advocates (Remuneration and Taxation of Costs) Rules (Schedule 6) – application of prescribed scales for instruction fees, attendance, copies and routine items. * Garnishee proceedings – taxation where judgment debtor absent. * Procedure for increased fees – application to Registrar for certificate to justify higher instruction fees.
1 August 2017
July 2017
Court ordered maintenance of status quo and stayed execution pending resolution of applicant’s Land Division suit.
Stay of execution – discretionary remedy to preserve status quo – factors: pending suit, irreparable harm, delay, security, balance of convenience – locus standi of non-party claiming equitable title – contempt and merits to be determined in pending civil suit.
31 July 2017
Stay of execution of taxed costs granted pending appeal, conditional on deposit of the taxed sum as security.
Civil procedure – Stay of execution – Taxed bill of costs – Appeal pending does not automatically stay execution – Court may grant conditional stay on security to prevent appeal being rendered nugatory – Balance of convenience and preservation of status quo.
27 July 2017
Court refused to compel Administrator General, allowed family to seek administration, and enjoined alienation pending administration and execution.
Administration of estates – Administrator General’s discretion; Letters of Administration – family appointment and certificate of no objection; interim injunction – restraint on alienation pending grant of administration and execution proceedings; eviction requires specific court order; preservation of status quo by injunction.
17 July 2017
June 2017
Stay of execution refused as sale had concluded; applicant must sue to challenge valuation or set aside the sale.
Civil procedure – stay of execution – application overtaken by events where sale completed; natural justice – buyer must be heard before sale set aside; remedy – sue respondent and buyer to challenge valuation or set aside sale; deposit of proceeds into court.
8 June 2017
Court substituted the respondent for judgment debtors and allowed execution against assets transferred to defeat the decree.
Civil procedure – Substitution of parties at execution stage; Order 1 r10(2) C.P.R. – addition of necessary parties; Powers of attorney – potential to bind donee to suffer judgment; Execution – attaching assets transferred to defeat decree; Judicial power under s.33 Judicature Act to grant complete relief.
5 June 2017
Stay of execution refused where purported appeal was filed out of time and annexures contained inconsistent jurats.
Stay of execution – requirement of a valid and timely appeal (or leave to file out of time) – procedural defects in affidavits and jurats – execution matters to be determined by execution court.
5 June 2017
Court stayed execution and released attached land pending the applicant’s substantive suit, finding preliminary objections premature.
Civil procedure – Execution and attachment – Application to release attached land – Preliminary objection as to absence of cause of action and res judicata – Preliminary objections premature where plaint/substantive suit is before another division – Allegations of fraud require full hearing – Stay of execution and release of property pending determination of substantive suit.
5 June 2017
May 2017
Execution stayed where consent-payment was conditional and enforcement would be premature pending related appeals.
Civil procedure – stay of execution – discretionary remedy to preserve status quo – factors: likelihood of success on appeal, irreparable loss, delay, security, balance of convenience; Consent judgment – condition precedent – execution premature where payment depends on related proceedings; Wrong citation of law – does not vitiate proceedings; Execution against deceased’s estate – cannot proceed until administrator/executor appointed.
29 May 2017
Court stayed execution pending appeal on condition applicant deposits half the decretal sum as a bank guarantee and released the goods.
Stay of execution – discretion to grant stay pending appeal – criteria: likelihood of success, irreparable harm, delay, security, balance of convenience; Possessory lien – common law lien requires lawful original possession; Inherent jurisdiction and correct procedural rule may be invoked when wrong rule cited; Security by bank guarantee and partial security accepted instead of full decretal sum.
29 May 2017
Notice of appeal and risk of eviction justified a conditional stay of execution for non-party residents pending appeal.
Civil procedure – Stay of execution – CPR 0.43 r 4 and 0.52 r 1(3); Notice of appeal as sufficient expression of intention to appeal; Non-parties/residents seeking stay to avoid eviction; Security for due performance not always required; Balance of convenience and irreparable harm.
29 May 2017
Stay of execution denied where the applicants failed to show irreparable harm or likelihood of success and disobeyed court orders.
Stay of execution — discretionary relief; criteria: likelihood of success, substantial/irreparable loss, delay, security, balance of convenience; notice of appeal without memorandum insufficient to assess prospects; pendency of appeal not an automatic bar to execution; non‑compliance with orders may amount to contempt.
16 May 2017
Stay of execution refused where no proper or pending challenge to taxation existed and the application amounted to abuse of process.
* Civil procedure – Stay of execution – requirements: likelihood of success, risk of substantial/irreparable loss, absence of undue delay, security and balance of convenience. * Advocates’ bill of costs – taxation – challenge to taxation must be properly instituted and pending to justify a stay. * Appeal procedure – mere intention to appeal or application for extension of time does not automatically stay execution. * Abuse of process – stay refused where applicant’s conduct and delay aimed to frustrate enforcement of taxed costs.
4 May 2017
March 2017
Mandamus granted to compel government to pay decretal sums and interest; claimed 10% damages denied.
Mandamus — enforcement of judgment debt against the State — requirements: clear legal right, corresponding duty, omission, lack of alternative remedy — Secretary to the Treasury/Attorney General obliged to pay decretal sums and interest — damages not awardable by mandamus where not decreed by court.
23 March 2017
Applicant not party to underlying suit obtained release of attached vehicles and set aside of execution.
Execution and attachment – objection proceedings – investigation limited to possession not title – constructive possession by a passenger service operator – joint ownership and mistaken attachment – setting aside execution and release of property – section 98 CPA and section 33 Judicature Act – costs for failure to oppose.
9 March 2017
Applicant, not a party to the underlying suit, proved constructive possession; court set aside execution and released attached vehicles.
Execution – Objection to attachment – Inquiry limited to possession not ownership – Applicant must plead and prove possession; Constructive possession; Attachment of property of a non-party; Setting aside execution; Costs awarded for wrongful attachment.
9 March 2017
An earlier-filed appeal may be heard before subsequent contempt proceedings if hearing contempt first would render the appeal nugatory.
Execution and garnishee proceedings – precedence of contempt proceedings versus earlier-filed appeals – discretion to stay contempt where hearing it first would render appeal nugatory – garnishee obligations and third-party interests.
7 March 2017
Respondent held in civil contempt for re‑occupying land; court ordered vacatur, demolition, damages, fine, injunction.
Contempt of court – civil contempt – requirements: existence of lawful order, knowledge, disobedience – remedies: committal, fine, exemplary damages, demolition and permanent injunction – enforcement of eviction and land possession orders.
1 March 2017
February 2017
Court stayed execution pending lower-court determination of an application to set aside an allegedly fraudulently obtained decree.
Execution – Stay of execution – Conditions for stay: substantial loss, no unreasonable delay, security; Allegations of fraud – entitlement to be heard; Ex parte decree – setting aside pending in lower court – stay to prevent nugatory outcome; Court’s discretion to stay without security in appropriate circumstances.
27 February 2017
Objector who proves possession and an independent interest is entitled to release of attached vehicle; title and forgery issues reserved for full suit.
Objection proceedings – attachment of goods – focus on possession and interest on applicant’s own account – title and allegations of limitation or forgery reserved for substantive suit – forgery not provable by affidavit alone – documents by advocate without practising certificate not automatically invalid.
20 February 2017
January 2017
Stay of execution granted pending determination of application to set aside ex parte orders amid fraud allegations and possession.
Stay of execution – ex parte orders – application pending to set aside ex parte ruling – allegations of fraud in consent judgment – possession and reinstatement – considerations: likelihood of success, irreparable injury, balance of convenience (Magunga v National Bank).
12 January 2017