Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) and Another v Hon. Fox Odoi-Oywelowo and 21 Others (Consolidated Constitutional Application 46 of 2023; Constitutional Application 47 of 2

Constitutional Court · d2e981d03adf3b95 Application Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Consolidated applications for leave to be admitted as amicus curiae in consolidated constitutional petitions challenging the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023

Decision

Applications for admission as amicus curiae disallowed; no order as to costs

The full judgment

Read the complete, verbatim text of this judgment.

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 Constitutional Court refused to admit the two applicant organisations as amicus curiae in the consolidated petitions challenging the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023. The Court held that neutrality and impartiality are essential requirements under the Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022, and that publicly documented support for LGBTIQ+ rights and condemnation of the impugned statute rendered the applicants partisan and hostile to the opposing party, offending Rule 8(1). The Court further held that an amicus curiae must address novel points of law overlooked by the parties; since the issues the applicants raised had already been canvassed by competent parties with commensurate expertise, their admission would be superfluous. The applications were disallowed.

Facts

Following enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, Constitutional Petitions No. 14, 15, 16 and 85 of 2023 were filed and consolidated, challenging the Act's constitutionality. The Southern African Litigation Centre filed Constitutional Applications No. 46, 47 and 48 of 2023 seeking admission as amicus curiae in petitions 14, 15 and 16, and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies filed Constitutional Application No. 53 of 2023 seeking the same in petition 15. The applications were supported by affidavits attesting to the applicants' human rights research and gender justice work. The petitioner respondents conceded the applications, but the Attorney General opposed them, contending the applicants were not proper entities for admission: their websites and social media demonstrated active support for LGBTIQ+ rights and outright condemnation of the impugned statute, showing partiality and limited Ugandan constitutional expertise. The applicants did not deny their alignment, arguing bias is assessed from intended submissions, not extraneous facts.

Issues

Whether the applicants satisfied the test of neutrality and impartiality required for admission as amicus curiae under the Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022.
Whether the applicants sought to address novel points of law not already raised by, or overlooked by, the parties to the constitutional petitions.

Orders

Constitutional Applications No. 46, 47, 48 and 53 of 2023 are disallowed.
No order as to costs.

Key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Neutrality and Impartiality as a Condition of Admission

Neutrality and impartiality are essential requirements for admission as amicus curiae under the Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022, and the relevance of an amicus brief hinges as much on the impartiality of its author as on the expertise it brings to the court.

Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Publicly Expressed Views as Evidence of Partiality

An applicant whose website or public statements explicitly pronounce support for a position in contention before the court, or condemnation of an impugned statute, cannot be ignored when assessing neutrality and falls foul of Rule 8(1)(c) and (d) of the Amicus Curiae Rules as being partisan and hostile to the opposing party.

Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Distinction from an Intervener

An amicus curiae has an interest only in providing objective, cogent assistance to the court to advance jurisprudence and may not advocate a point of view in support of one party, whereas an intervener, though lacking locus standi, may have a partisan interest and advocate for one side.

Civil Procedure — Amicus Curiae — Requirement of Novel Points of Law Overlooked by the Parties

Under Rules 6(3) and 7(a) of the Amicus Curiae Rules, admission is restricted to applicants seeking to address points of law not raised by, and overlooked by, the parties; where the issues have already been canvassed by parties with commensurate expertise, admission of an amicus to duplicate those positions is superfluous and unsustainable.

Constitutional Law — Costs in Public Interest Litigation — Departure from the General Rule

Where the matters in the consolidated parent petitions are of immense public interest, the court may depart from the general rule that costs follow the event and make no order as to costs even against unsuccessful amicus applicants.

Legislation cited (6)

Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022 r.5
Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022 r.6(2)
Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022 r.6(3)
Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022 r.7(a)
Judicature (Amicus Curiae) Rules, 2022 r.8(1)
Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023

Cases cited (6)

UHAI EASHRI and Another v Human Rights Awareness & Promotion Forum (HRAPF) and Another (Consolidated Applications No. 20 & 21 of 2014)
Trusted Society of Human Rights Alliance v Mumo Matemo & Others (Petition No. 12 of 2013)
United States Tobacco Co. v Minister for Consumer Affairs [1988] 83 A.L.R. 79 (F.C.A.)
Kenya Human Rights Commission & Others v Forum Pour le Renforcement de la Societe Civile (FORSC) & Others (EACJ Application No. 21 of 2017)
Doctors for Life International v Speaker of the National Assembly & Others (Constitutional Case No. 12 of 2005)
Male H. Mabirizi Kiwanuka & Others v Attorney General (Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 2018)

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.