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In the Matter Of Application For Leave To Be Added As Amicus Curiae by The Secretariat Of Joint United Nations Program On HIV AIDS (UNAIDS) (Consolidated Constitutional Application

Constitutional Court · 91ff06dbbfe01a0e Application Partly Allowed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Applications for leave to be admitted as amicus curiae in consolidated constitutional petitions
Decision
UNAIDS admitted as amicus curiae on conditions; pharmaceutical companies' application declined

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Holding

The Constitutional Court reaffirmed that admission of amicus curiae is at the court's discretion, governed by the tests in Rule 5 of the Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022. Although UNAIDS's website statements appeared non-neutral, its unique global mandate against HIV/AIDS made it a useful friend of the court, and the documents in its brief provided important information on the right to health; it was admitted on conditions. The pharmaceutical companies' materials were largely general corporate LGBTQ-support policies that did not amount to important information or expertise, and as profit-driven commercial enterprises they failed the impartiality test; their application was declined.

Facts

The court heard two consolidated applications for leave to be admitted as amicus curiae in consolidated Constitutional Petitions 14, 15, 16 and 85 of 2023, which challenge the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023. In Application 055, UNAIDS, a joint programme of eleven UN agencies working to end HIV/AIDS, sought to address the impact of the Act on efforts to curtail HIV/AIDS and on the right to health. In Application 060, four pharmaceutical companies sought to present perspectives of the healthcare sector on access to health services for affected groups. The Attorney General opposed both, pointing to the applicants' public statements and corporate policies as evidence of bias against the impugned law and absence of neutrality and novel points of law.

Issues

  1. Whether the Secretariat of UNAIDS satisfied the requirements under the Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022 for admission as amicus curiae.
  2. Whether the applicant pharmaceutical companies satisfied the requirements, in particular the neutrality and impartiality test, for admission as amicus curiae.
  3. Whether the applicants' publicly stated positions on the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 rendered them non-neutral or biased so as to bar admission.

Orders

  • UNAIDS admitted as amicus curiae on conditions: it must file a brief relating its expertise as shown in the documents presented to the dispute; no further documents may be added; and it must do so no later than Friday 15th December 2023.
  • The application by the pharmaceutical companies to be admitted as amicus curiae is declined.
  • Each party to bear its own costs.

Key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Discretionary Nature of Admission
The admission of an amicus curiae is purely at the discretion of the court, and the court is not bound to rely on documents presented and admitted by it.
Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Statutory Tests for Admission
Admission of an amicus curiae under Rule 5 of the Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022 requires that the applicant be neutral and impartial, offer assistance the court would not otherwise have, raise novel points of law or fact that aid the development of jurisprudence, demonstrate fidelity to the law, draw attention to useful and principled matters of law, participate in the public interest, and possess demonstrable expertise in the area in dispute.
Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Impartiality and Commercial Interest
An applicant that is a commercial enterprise run for profit may have its impartiality compromised, and general corporate policy documents that do not amount to important information or expertise on the question before the court will fail the impartiality test for admission as amicus curiae.
Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Nexus Between Brief and Dispute
An amicus applicant's brief must create a nexus between the documents it supplies and the matters before the court; where an applicant's strategic mandate and the information in its brief assist the court on an issue genuinely raised in the proceedings, admission may be granted on condition that the brief relates that expertise to the dispute.

Legislation cited (5)

  • Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022 (SI 54 of 2022) r.4
  • Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022 (SI 54 of 2022) r.5
  • Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022 (SI 54 of 2022) r.6
  • Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022 (SI 54 of 2022) r.7
  • Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules 2022 (SI 54 of 2022) r.8

Cases cited (1)

  • In re Prof J. Oloka Onyango and 8 Others v Amama Mbabazi and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Civil Application No. 2 of 2016)
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.