HC: Land Division (Uganda)

The Land Division is a Division created at the High Court Head office at Kampala.

The Division is charged with the following functions:Responsibility of supervising the work of Land Tribunals, the adjudication of all land related dispute fall under this Division. The land Division is established with three judges with a separate registry for the Division .There is a Registrar for the Land Division who doubles as the Registrar of the Land Tribunals. A desk office was also established under the office of the Registrar to handle the activities of the District Land Tribunals.

 

Physical address
Twed Towers, along Kafu Road, Nakasero, Kampala.
13 judgments
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13 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
April 2018
Non-compliance with O.5 r1(2) 21-day service rule without seeking extension renders the application incompetent and is dismissed.
Civil Procedure — Service of summons and hearing notices — O.5 r1(2) — 21-day service requirement — strict compliance — sealing/endorsement by Registrar — failure to seek extension — dismissal of application.
19 April 2018
Leave granted to amend the plaint and add necessary parties under O.1 r10(2); procedural omission overlooked for lack of prejudice.
Civil procedure – Amendment of pleadings – Joinder of parties – Order 1 r 10(2) CPR – Person whose presence is necessary for effective adjudication – Omission of proposed amended plaint – Prejudice and discretion – Bona fide purchaser defence to be determined after pleadings.
13 April 2018
A temporary injunction restraining a mortgage sale was amended to be conditional on a 30% security deposit under Regulation 13(1).
* Mortgage law – injunctions restraining mortgagee sales – requirement to deposit 30% security under Regulation 13(1) Mortgage Regulations 2012 – non-compliance disentitles applicant to injunction; * Civil Procedure – amendment of interlocutory order under section 98 of the Civil Procedure Act; * Procedure – effect of absence of affidavit in reply on the court file.
12 April 2018
A purported sale was fraudulent and illegal; the applicant awarded damages, injunction and costs.
Land law – sale vs mortgage; protection of illiterate parties (Illiterates Protection Act) – jurat/translation requirements; spousal consent for sale of matrimonial land (Land Act s.39); falsification of transfer forms and false declarations (Registration of Titles Act s.190); fraud in land transactions; remedies – damages, injunction, costs.
11 April 2018
Registered title procured with notice of rival equitable interest is voidable; defendant entitled to lease, cancellation, damages and costs.
Land law – competing allocations and renumbered plots – constructive notice and bona fide purchaser doctrine – equitable proprietary interest and legitimate expectation – fraud vitiating registered title – remedies: cancellation of title, injunction, specific lease execution, damages and interest.
9 April 2018
Purchasers from a later administrator acquire protection where the earlier administrator’s prolonged mismanagement justifies equitable revocation.
Succession law – administration of estates – duties to exhibit inventory and account; revocation of letters of administration for misconduct or prolonged failure to account; effect of subsequent grants; protection of bona fide purchasers and proprietary estoppel; equity intervening where administrator mismanages estate.
9 April 2018
Repossession under the Expropriated Properties Act prevailed; plaintiff’s title was illegal, liable for mesne profits and ordered out to give vacant possession.
Land law – Expropriated Properties Act – certificate of repossession reverting property to former owner; ownership and validity of competing title deeds; periodical tenancy/occupier’s improvements – compensation and limitation; trespass to land and mesne profits; administrative error by District Land Board in granting lease.
9 April 2018
Appellant proved trespass after respondent shifted pre‑dispute fence; survey process was procedurally flawed, relief awarded.
Land law – boundary dispute; compliance with Land Regulations 2004 (notification and inspection by Area Land Committee) – weight of documentary planning/survey evidence vs customary boundary marks – fences/hedges presumption – trespass to land and measure of damages.
9 April 2018
High Court lacks jurisdiction to revise Local Council Court judgments under sections 83 or 98 of the Civil Procedure Act.
Local Council Courts — jurisdiction — Whether High Court may revise LCIII decisions under section 83 Civil Procedure Act; Magistrates' Courts defined — statutory creation of jurisdiction; Inherent jurisdiction (s.98) — cannot confer non‑statutory jurisdiction or substitute for express remedies.
6 April 2018
Whether the High Court can revise Local Council Courts' decisions under sections 83 or 98 of the Civil Procedure Act.
Civil Procedure – Revision under s.83 CPA – limited to Magistrates’ Courts; Local Council Courts not Magistrates’ Courts; Inherent powers s.98 CPA cannot cure lack of statutory jurisdiction; jurisdiction is statutory and cannot be assumed.
6 April 2018
Prior court decisions confirming registered title barred defendants’ succession claim; defendants found trespassers and ordered to vacate with damages.
Land law – res judicata – prior judgments determining succession and title bar later claims; Land law – trespass – registered proprietor’s title affords right to sue in trespass; Evidence/registration – indefeasibility of certificate of title in absence of proved fraud; Civil procedure – limitation – trespass as continuous tort; Pleading rules – time-bar defence must be pleaded and raised as an issue.
5 April 2018
A beneficiary defrauded of land under a will can obtain cancellation of a fraudulently procured title despite limitation, and recover damages.
* Succession/probate – beneficiary’s proprietary interest under a will – entitlement to demarcated one acre; * Land law – transfer and registration – validity of Powers of Attorney and transfer documents; * Registration of Titles Act – s77 and s177: certificates procured by fraud are void and subject to cancellation; * Fraud – understatement of consideration and evasion of stamp duty tainting title; * Limitation Act – s25: fraud exception to twelve-year limitation; * Remedies – cancellation of title, demarcation and registration of beneficiary’s share, general damages and costs.
4 April 2018
Grade I Magistrate lacks unlimited jurisdiction over trespass to registered land governed by statutory law; resulting ruling is null.
Magistrates’ Courts Act – pecuniary jurisdiction of Grade I Magistrate – trespass to land – distinction between matters governed exclusively by Civil Customary Law and those governed by statutory/common law – judgment without jurisdiction is a nullity.
4 April 2018