Simba Properties Investment Co Ltd and Others v Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership and Another [2025] UGCA 279

Court of Appeal · 2025 Application Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal against interlocutory orders of the High Court made in proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act

Decision

Application for leave to appeal dismissed with costs; no appeal lies against the interlocutory orders

The full judgment

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions — always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Court of Appeal held that before considering the merits of the leave application it had to decide whether any appeal lay against the decision sought to be appealed. The orders were interlocutory orders made in proceedings for recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award, governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. By section 9 of that Act, no court may intervene in matters governed by the Act except as provided, and the Act creates no right of appeal against such orders. Following Babcon Uganda Ltd v Mbale Resort Hotel Ltd, the Court held that no appeal lies, directly or with leave, and refused leave to appeal. The application was dismissed with costs.

Facts

The High Court (Ocaya, J.) made several interlocutory orders in proceedings concerning the recognition and enforcement of a final arbitral award and its addendum, including orders restraining the Commissioner of Lands and the Uganda Registration Services Bureau from acting on mortgaged titles, and suspending certain board resolutions and share transfers affecting the applicant companies pending determination of the main suit. The applicants were dissatisfied and filed an application for leave to appeal, later withdrawn to avoid a particular judge, before filing the present application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. The decision sought to be appealed arose in proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.

Issues

Whether an appeal lies, with or without leave of court, against the interlocutory orders of the High Court made in proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.

Orders

Application for leave to appeal refused.
Application dismissed with costs.

Key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Right of Appeal Must Be Created by Law

For the Court of Appeal to have jurisdiction on appeal from a decision of the High Court under section 10 of the Judicature Act, there must be a right of appeal, with or without leave of court, created by law.

Arbitration & ADR — Court Intervention — No Appeal Against Interlocutory Orders in Arbitration Proceedings

Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act provides that, except as provided in the Act, no court shall intervene in matters governed by the Act; consequently no appeal lies, directly or with leave, against interlocutory orders made in proceedings governed by the Act.

Legislation cited (2)

Judicature Act s.10
Arbitration and Conciliation Act s.9

Cases cited (2)

Babcon Uganda Ltd v Mbale Resort Hotel Ltd [2015] UGCA 2016
Babcon Uganda Ltd v Mbale Resort Hotel Ltd [2017] UGSC 83

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.