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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2019 |
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Registrar's failure to consider an affidavit in reply constituted an error apparent warranting review and setting aside of the interim ruling.
Civil procedure — Review for error apparent on the face of the record; interim injunction/interlocutory relief — prima facie case, irreparable harm, balance of convenience; administrative orders — correction of clerical errors under S.99; professional conduct — competence where counsel lacks instructions.
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20 December 2019 |
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Letters of administration revoked for failure to file inventory; applicants not granted administration for failing statutory procedure.
* Succession Act (s.234) – Revocation of Letters of Administration – failure to exhibit inventory as just cause.
* Evidence – burden to prove fraud – strict proof required; allegations of fraudulent disposition must be supported by admissible evidence.
* Administration of estates – requirement under Administrator General’s Act (s.5(1)) for Administrator General’s certificate or notice before grant to a family member.
* Civil procedure – consequences of non‑appearance and failure to comply with court-ordered duties – costs and revocation.
* Probate/administration – family meetings do not substitute statutory vetting and notice requirements.
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20 December 2019 |
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A co-administrator may depose for the estate; amendment to clarify estate-related fraud allegations permitted without creating new cause.
* Civil procedure – Amendment of pleadings – Leave to amend counterclaim – Timely amendment to clarify estate-related allegations permitted to achieve just and final disposal of matter.
* Civil procedure – Affidavits – O.1 r.12 CPR – Authority to depose – Where co-administrators act, one administrator may depose affidavit concerning estate matters under section 272 Succession Act.
* Succession law – Administrators’ powers – Section 272 – Powers of administrators exercisable by any one who has taken out administration.
* Cause of action – Bringing related estate allegations – Inclusion of another deceased’s property in pleadings does not necessarily create a new cause of action.
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20 December 2019 |
| November 2019 |
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Extension of time to serve Chamber Summons granted where delay caused by registry and applicant acted promptly.
Civil procedure – extension of time to serve process – O.5 r.1(2) and r.32 – Chamber Summons endorsed without hearing date – delay attributable to registry/court calendar – application filed within 15 days – costs stayed in the cause.
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25 November 2019 |
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A court granted a paternal grandmother’s adoption, finding suitability and that adoption served the child’s best interests.
Children Act – adoption – suitability under ss.45 and 46 – non‑Ugandan adopter requirements – best interests of the child under s.3(3) – parental consent – probation and social welfare report – medical/psychiatric evidence – inter‑country adoption documentation.
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19 November 2019 |
| October 2019 |
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Parent appointed guardian to effect corrective land transfers for minors, guided by the welfare principle and fiduciary duties.
Children law – Guardianship – Welfare principle – appointment of guardian to manage minors’ property; fiduciary duties of guardian; court oversight of property transfers; limited guardianship for corrective land registration.
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17 October 2019 |
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Court permitted inter-country adoption, waiving the 12‑month fostering requirement due to the child’s urgent medical needs and best interests.
Children law – Inter-country adoption jurisdiction under s.44(1)(b); Waiver of 12-month fostering requirement under 2016 amendment in exceptional circumstances; Welfare principle paramount – urgent medical need, bonding and lack of family care justify adoption; Requirements for adoptive parents – age, criminal clearance, country eligibility and probation/social welfare reports; Consent and disposition where parents unavailable or incapable.
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8 October 2019 |
| September 2019 |
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Intercountry adoption granted where petitioners met statutory requirements and adoption served the child’s best interests.
Children Act – Adoption – Intercountry adoption requirements: age and age-difference, one-year fostering under Probation and Social Welfare supervision, absence of criminal record, medical fitness, and foreign recognition; Welfare principle – best interests of the child – bonding, fostering history, failure to trace biological parents; Evidential sufficiency – probation officer’s report and fostering records substantiating adoption.
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18 September 2019 |
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Administrators can obtain a court-ordered DNA test to determine a legatee’s entitlement; presumption of legitimacy is rebuttable.
* Civil procedure – Originating summons (O.37 r.1) – administrators may seek court direction to ascertain class of legatees and rights of beneficiaries
* Succession – entitlement under a will – disputed paternity of a named legatee and effect on bequest
* Evidence – DNA/paternity testing – scientific proof and discretionary ordering by court
* Family law – presumption of legitimacy rebuttable where paternity is contested
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18 September 2019 |
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A biological parent may be appointed guardian to sell and reinvest minors' land if it protects the children's best interests, subject to safeguards.
* Family law – Guardianship – Appointment of biological parent as guardian to deal with minors' property – Best interests of the child paramount; appointment can be conditional on safeguards (registered valuer, higher-value replacement land, protection of minors' interests and reversion at majority).
* Jurisdiction – High Court exercise of original jurisdiction over guardianship matters.
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12 September 2019 |
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Application to amend plaint dismissed because supporting affidavit was sworn by an unauthorized non‑party and was incompetent.
Civil Procedure — amendment of pleadings — leave to amend — application must be supported by competent affidavit; Affidavit competency — deponent must be a party or properly authorized; Evidence — lack of locus renders affidavit defective; Procedural irregularity — defective support warrants dismissal.
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12 September 2019 |
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Bank records sought to prove mortgage payments were irrelevant to the appeal; application dismissed with costs.
* Evidence Act s.6 – relevance: whether bank records occasion, cause or are effect of facts in issue on appeal
* Bankers’ Books – inspection/tendering of bank records in civil proceedings
* Civil procedure – scope of appeal and relevance of additional evidence sought after trial
* Costs – ex parte application costs awarded against applicant
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12 September 2019 |
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A plaint against alleged administrators must plead and prove letters of administration to disclose a cause of action.
* Civil procedure – Order 7 Rule 11 – plaint must disclose a cause of action – plaint examined with annexures only.
* Succession law – Section 180 Succession Act – letters of administration/probate required to vest estate property and confer representative capacity.
* Pleading requirements – need to plead legal nexus between defendants and transaction alleged to have violated plaintiff’s rights.
* Consequential relief – claims against registry/third parties dependent on primary successful claim cannot stand independently.
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11 September 2019 |
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Review dismissed: alleged misdirection and affidavit defects were errors of law/fact, appeal was the proper remedy.
Civil procedure – Review (Section 82; Order 46) – Scope of review – Error apparent on face of record must be manifest – Misapplication of law or misdirection is not reviewable; proper remedy is appeal; interlocutory affidavit defects and dismissal by Deputy Registrar reviewed on procedural appropriateness.
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10 September 2019 |
| August 2019 |
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Letters of administration obtained by false statements were revoked; administrators ordered to account and estate equitably distributed among beneficiaries.
Succession law – letters of administration – revocation for fraud, concealment and lack of jurisdiction; Limitation Act S.20 – running of time and open administration; Succession Act – duty to file inventory and accounts; fiduciary duties of administrators; equitable distribution among beneficiaries; remedies: revocation, accounting, damages, injunction.
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26 August 2019 |
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Respondent held in contempt for transferring estate land despite interim injunction; fined and ordered to pay exemplary damages.
* Contempt of court – breach of interim injunction – requirements: lawful order, knowledge, disobedience.
* Injunctions – purpose to preserve status quo pending main suit; transfers while injunction subsisted are illegal.
* Contempt sanctions – imprisonment discretionary; monetary penalties and exemplary damages as deterrence.
* Exemplary damages – awarded where conduct is malicious/high-handed or calculated to make profit; compensatory loss not prerequisite.
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26 August 2019 |
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Application to admit fresh evidence on appeal and for production order dismissed for lack of due diligence.
Civil procedure – Appeal – Admission of additional (fresh) evidence under Order 43 r.22 CPR – Exceptions to rule against fresh evidence; requirements: newly discovered despite due diligence, relevance, credibility, probable influence on outcome, proof attached, no undue delay – Production order under O.10 r.14 – Applicant’s failure to exercise due diligence disentitles admission – Finality of litigation vs ends of justice.
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26 August 2019 |
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Applicant failed to prove domestic violence; High Court had jurisdiction but protection order dismissed and interim residence directions given.
Domestic Violence Act – jurisdiction of Magistrates' Courts and Family & Children Courts – High Court's unlimited original jurisdiction; Protection orders – burden of proof under Evidence Act; Requirement of urgency (s.9(5)) – procedural compliance; Interim residence orders for peace pending appeal.
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26 August 2019 |
| July 2019 |
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Adoption petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because the child remained a Kenyan national, not Ugandan.
Children law – Inter‑country adoption – Jurisdiction depends on child’s nationality; proof of renunciation required for citizenship by registration; parental consent and best interests; foreign nationals and guardianship eligibility; evidentiary weight of social welfare reports.
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10 July 2019 |
| June 2019 |
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Joint adoption by a couple (including the biological father) allowed as statutory requirements met and adoption served the child’s best interests.
Children Act – Adoption – Qualification of adoptive parents (age, residence/fostering) – Exception where one petitioner is biological parent – Welfare principle (s.3) – Best interests of the child – Role of probation and social welfare reports – Intercountry adoption safeguards (home study, criminal clearance, foreign recognition).
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19 June 2019 |
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Court allowed inter‑country adoption, waiving 12‑month fostering requirement due to proxy fostering and the child’s best interests.
Adoption – Inter‑country adoption requirements under Children Act (Cap 59) – 12‑month physical fostering requirement – waiver in exceptional circumstances – proxy/"constructive" fostering – welfare of the child paramount – home‑study and police clearances.
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13 June 2019 |
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The court granted the applicant's adoption petition, dispensing the absent biological father's consent as being in the child's best interests.
* Family law – Adoption – Intercountry adoption – qualifications of foreign applicant under Children Act (ss.45,46) * Family law – Best interests of the child – welfare principle and factors (s.3) * Adoption – dispensing with absent biological parent's consent where parent is unresponsive and uninvolved * Procedure – formal fostering requirement may be excused where marriage to mother created family bond
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7 June 2019 |
| May 2019 |
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Review denied: inventory not new and no apparent error; stay refused for delay and lack of appeal.
Civil procedure – Review of judgment – grounds: discovery of new evidence and error apparent on the face of the record; evidence and pleadings must be produced at trial; family resolutions and estoppel as basis for distribution; stay of execution – requirements: substantial loss, no unreasonable delay, security; delay and execution already carried out defeat stay.
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20 May 2019 |
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Applicant mother appointed manager of mentally ill adult son's estate to protect assets and support his family.
* Mental health law – Administration of Estates of Persons of Unsound Mind Act – appointment of a manager; * Evidence – magistrate's adjudication and psychiatric reports as basis for unsoundness of mind; * Guardianship/estate management – criteria for fit and proper person; * Remedies – bond, restrictions on alienation, inventory filing, gratuitous service.
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14 May 2019 |
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Desertion and denial of conjugal rights amounted to cruelty; adultery unproven; custody to petitioner; shared maintenance and costs to respondent.
* Family law – Divorce – Cruelty: desertion and denial of conjugal rights may constitute cruelty warranting divorce.
* Family law – Divorce – Adultery: circumstantial evidence requires corroboration to prove adultery.
* Child welfare – Custody: welfare of the child is paramount; stability and prior residence favour awarding custody to primary carer.
* Maintenance: both financially capable parents may be ordered to equally share children's upkeep.
* Costs: repeated non-appearance by a party may attract adverse costs orders.
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10 May 2019 |
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Court allowed intercountry adoption, waiving age and fostering requirements, finding adoption to be in the child’s best interests.
Children Act – intercountry adoption; waiver of statutory requirements (21‑year age gap, one‑year fostering) under Section 14; welfare principle paramount in adoption; constructive fostering and consent of relatives; transfer and registration of parental rights.
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9 May 2019 |
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Foreign foster parents met statutory requirements and the adoption was granted as being in the child’s best interests.
Adoption law – eligibility of prospective adoptive parents; fostering requirement and supervision; best interests of the child; vesting of parental rights on adoption; authorization for child's emigration; registration of adoption.
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9 May 2019 |
| April 2019 |
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Applicant appointed guardian and authorized to sell part of minors' land; sale proceeds ordered for their welfare.
Children Act – disposal of children’s property – guardianship appointment – welfare principle paramount – consent of biological parent – acceptance of short birth certificates in uncontested proceedings – limited sale of registered minors’ land with proceeds for minors’ welfare.
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16 April 2019 |
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An LC1 judgment on succession is void; admitting it as evidence was a material irregularity.
Local Council Courts – jurisdiction – succession matters not within LC1 jurisdiction – judgment of court without jurisdiction is a nullity; Civil procedure – res judicata – requirements for plea; Costs – preliminary points of law may attract costs.
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5 April 2019 |
| March 2019 |
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Court dismissed review: will/trust held res judicata, consolidation proper; only clerical errors corrected, application dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure – Review under Order 46 and section 82 CPA – Error apparent on the face of the record – Consolidation of proceedings and res judicata – Functus officio principle – Annulment of Letters of Administration – Correction of clerical errors.
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29 March 2019 |
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Applicant appointed manager of a person of unsound mind’s estate subject to bond, inventory and property-dealing restrictions.
Mental health / administration of estates – person of unsound mind adjudication – appointment of manager for estate – fitness of proposed manager – bond, inventory and restrictions on dealing with immovable property.
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27 March 2019 |
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Court granted adoption by the child’s adoptive aunt, waiving the 12‑month fostering requirement as being in the child’s best interests.
Children Act – Adoption; Inter-country adoption (s.46) – exceptional waiver of 12‑month fostering requirement; Best interests of the child – continuity and identity; Probation and Social Welfare report preferred to petitioner-prepared home study; Requirement for Registrar and Consular notification.
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26 March 2019 |
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Court granted intercountry adoption, waived absent mother's consent, finding adoption in the child's best interests.
* Children Act (ss.44–48, 47) – intercountry adoption by non-citizens – statutory requirements (age, one-year supervised fostering, good conduct, home country recognition). * Welfare principle – paramountcy of best interests in adoption decisions; factors to consider (child’s wishes, needs, effects of change, parental capacity). * Parental consent – circumstances allowing waiver of a parent’s consent (abandonment/unavailability). * Procedural/post-adoption obligations – registration, embassy notification, periodic reports.
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21 March 2019 |
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Intercountry adoption granted; absent mother’s consent waived where abandonment and child’s welfare justified.
Children law – Intercountry adoption – Welfare principle paramount – Statutory requirements for foreigners (age, foster period, criminal record, home-study, recommendation) – Waiver of parental consent where parent abandoned or cannot be found – Ancillary orders (registration, embassy notification, periodic reports, costs).
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21 March 2019 |
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Foreign adopters failed to meet statutory residence/fostering and bonding requirements; adoption refused in children’s best interests.
Adoption law – foreign applicants – statutory residence and one‑year fostering requirement; welfare of the child paramount; discretionary power to waive requirements in exceptional circumstances; foster care placement and physical custody; limits of “constructive fostering” and use of power of attorney in adoption assessments.
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19 March 2019 |
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Court refused to waive statutory residence and fostering requirements for foreign adopters, prioritizing the children’s welfare.
* Children Act (as amended) – adoption by non-citizens – statutory residence and fostering requirements (s.46) – discretionary power to waive in exceptional circumstances. * Foster care placement – meaning requires physical custody and supervised evaluation by Probation and Social Welfare Officer. * Adoption – paramountcy of the child’s welfare; cultural acclimatization and bonding as key factors. * Power of attorney arrangements – limitations where foster parents lack physical custody.
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19 March 2019 |
| February 2019 |
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Adoption is a last resort; court denied applicants' petition where children were adequately cared for by their parents.
Children Law – Adoption – jurisdiction to hear cross‑border adoption petitions; care orders and foster placement under the Children Act; welfare principle and best interests of the child; adoption as a last resort; evidentiary weight of probation and social welfare reports.
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28 February 2019 |
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Court appointed patient's adult children as estate managers based on medical evidence of dementia, subject to protective conditions.
Administration of estates of persons of unsound mind; sufficiency of medical affidavit where patient not produced in court; standard for 'unsound mind' (incapable of managing affairs); appointment of relatives as managers with protective conditions (inventory, bond, prohibition on disposal without court leave).
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6 February 2019 |
| January 2019 |
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Reseal refused where applicant’s inconsistent domiciles and exceeded authority conflicted with the will selecting foreign law.
Probate (Resealing) Act – reseal discretionary; publication invites objections; caveats by interested third parties permissible; contested reseals should ideally proceed by ordinary civil suit; inconsistent domiciliary assertions and powers of attorney vs. scope of foreign grant; testator’s choice of foreign law precludes reseal enforcing contrary foreign grant.
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24 January 2019 |
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15 January 2019 |
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Appellate court set aside an unpleaded divorce decree, finding misframing of issues and improper evaluation of evidence.
Family law – Judicial separation versus divorce – Framing of issues and amendment of pleadings; standard of proof for matrimonial offences under the Divorce Act; evaluation and weight of DNA evidence; consequential property and custody orders following dissolution.
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14 January 2019 |