Mugyenzi v Uganda Electricity Generation Co. Ltd. (Civil Appeal No. 167 of 2018) [2019] UGCA 120 (18 April 2019)

Flynote

Civil Procedure|Jurisdiction|Pleadings|Labour and Employment Law

Case summary

The court considered whether the trial court erred to find that a point of law could be raised without being pleaded. The court held that a party to a suit had to disclose all questions of fact and law to be determined in the pleadings but one was not precluded from raising a point of law upon uncontested facts simply because it wasn’t pleaded. The court was satisfied that the facts upon which the point of law of limitation arose could be discerned from the attachments to the claim such as the letter of complaint. The court accordingly concluded that the trial court didn’t err in finding that the point of law could be raise. The court also considered whether the appellant’s claim was time barred. The court held that section 71(2) of the Employment Act only prescribed the period within which to file a complaint but the labour officer had the discretion to allow the complaint outside the three months period. The court was satisfied that the labour officer had allowed the appellant to file the compliant after the three months period. The court concluded that the industrial court erred to strike out the appellant’s claim on ground of limitation.

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