Margaret Lugarama v Nkumba College School (Miscellaneous Application No. 105 of 2012)

Court of Appeal · [2020] UGCA 4 · 2020 Application Granted ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Application to strike out a notice of appeal under Rule 82 of the Court of Appeal Rules

Decision

Respondent's notice of appeal struck out with costs

The full judgment

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Holding

The applicant sought to strike out the respondent's notice of appeal on the ground that the respondent had failed to file a memorandum or record of appeal within the time ordered. The Court found that, although the respondent had been granted an extension of time on 11 June 2012 with 14 days to file the appeal, no appeal had been filed in the seven years since. Holding that the respondent had failed to take a necessary essential step in the proceedings, the Court struck out the respondent's notice of appeal under Rule 82 of the Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions, with costs.

Facts

The respondent had sued the applicant for breach of tenancy, with judgment delivered on 28 March 2008. The applicant's appeal in the High Court was decided against the respondent, who learnt of the judgment only on 6 June 2011 and instructed lawyers to file a notice of appeal but was out of time. The respondent's former lawyers were said to have negligently handled the instructions. The respondent filed Miscellaneous (Civil) Application No. 105 of 2012 in the Court of Appeal for extension of time and leave to appeal, which was granted by the Registrar on 11 June 2012, requiring a memorandum to be filed within 14 days. The applicant contended that service of court process in that application was never effected on her lawyers and that leave was procured by fraud. By the time of this application, and for seven years after the extension order, the respondent had not filed any memorandum or record of appeal, claiming it had failed to trace the original file at the High Court.

Issues

Whether the respondent's notice of appeal should be struck out under Rule 82 for failure to take an essential step in the proceedings within the prescribed time.

Orders

The respondent's Notice of Appeal is struck out under Rule 82 of the Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions, with costs.

Key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Striking Out Notice of Appeal — Failure to Take an Essential Step (Rule 82)

A notice of appeal may be struck out under Rule 82 of the Court of Appeal Rules where the appellant has failed to take an essential step in the proceedings within the prescribed time; the prolonged failure to file a memorandum or record of appeal after an order extending time constitutes such a failure.

Civil Procedure — Essential Step — Meaning

Taking an essential step is the performance of a fundamentally necessary action demanded by the legal process; where such action is not performed as prescribed by law, the legal process becomes a nullity, subject to the permission of the court.

Legislation cited (3)

Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions Rule 82
Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions Rule 43
Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions Rule 44

Cases cited (1)

Andrew Maviri v Jomayi Property Consultants Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 224 of 2014)

Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.