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Tulsa Investments Limited and Another v Attorney General and Another (Consitutional Petition No. 8 of 2015)

Constitutional Court · [2022] UGCC 9 · 2022 Petition Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Constitutional petition under Article 137 of the 1995 Constitution challenging the constitutionality of provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 and related regulations and their application by the respondent bank
Decision
Petition dismissed with no order as to costs; the panel was unanimous.

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Holding

The Constitutional Court (per Musoke JCC) held that its jurisdiction under Article 137 extends only to matters requiring interpretation of the Constitution, not mere enforcement of rights. The claims concerning the freezing of the petitioners' bank accounts and the suspension of the 2nd petitioner's employment were matters of rights enforcement governed by specific laws and Article 50, properly brought elsewhere. On the merits, Section 1 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 is a definition section imposing no obligations and conferring no powers, and the money-laundering offence is adequately defined under sections 3, 116 and 136 consistently with Article 28(12). The petitioners failed to identify the offending provisions. The Petition was dismissed with no order as to costs.

Facts

Parliament enacted the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 as part of Uganda's efforts to combat money laundering, placing obligations on financial institutions to identify customers, keep records, and report suspicious transactions. In 2014 KCB Bank Uganda Ltd, the 2nd respondent, froze the bank accounts of the 1st petitioner, Tulsa Investments Ltd, one of its customers, on suspicion that the accounts were being used for money laundering. KCB reported the matter to the Financial Intelligence Authority. The 2nd petitioner, Ms. Kasangaki Georgeous, was a director of Tulsa and a signatory to its account and was also employed by KCB; following the accusations she was subjected to disciplinary proceedings and suspended from employment. The petitioners challenged the freezing of the accounts and the suspension as unconstitutional, and also challenged the constitutionality of provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 and the Financial Institutions (Anti-Money Laundering) Regulations 2010, alleging violations of rights to privacy, property, association, contract and a fair hearing.

Issues

  1. Whether the Petition before the Court raises any questions for constitutional interpretation.
  2. Whether the freezing of the 1st petitioner's bank accounts without a court order or hearing deprived the petitioners of property without due process contrary to the Constitution.
  3. Whether the offence of money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 and Regulation 2 of the Financial Institutions (Anti-Money Laundering) Regulations 2010 is omnibus, undefined, discriminatory and speculative and unconstitutional.
  4. Whether the cited provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 and the Financial Institutions (Anti-Money Laundering) Regulations 2010 are inconsistent with the Constitution.
  5. Whether Section 1 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013, by its inclusion of judicial officers in a competent authority exercising executive functions, violates separation of powers and judicial independence contrary to the Constitution.
  6. Whether the indefinite suspension of the 2nd petitioner without cause is inconsistent with the Constitution.
  7. What remedies are available to the parties.

Orders

  • Petition dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Key headnotes

Constitutional Law — Constitutional Court Jurisdiction — Interpretation versus Enforcement of the Constitution
The Constitutional Court may entertain a petition under Article 137 only where the determination of the allegations requires interpretation of a provision of the Constitution; matters concerning mere enforcement of rights, or which are governed by specific laws, fall outside its jurisdiction and must be brought before another competent court.
Constitutional Law — Article 137 — Rights Enforcement under Article 50
Allegations of rights violations that do not turn on the interpretation of the Constitution, such as the unlawful freezing of bank accounts or the unlawful termination of employment, are matters of enforcement to be pursued under Article 50 or the relevant statute, and are not properly before the Constitutional Court.
Constitutional Law — Definition of Criminal Offences — Article 28(12)
A criminal offence is adequately defined for the purposes of Article 28(12) where the provision creating it gives a fair definition and sufficient notice of the prohibited conduct; the Article does not require every word used in the law to be defined, nor that the offence be defined within the section that creates it.
Statutory Interpretation — Definition Sections — No Substantive Effect
A definition or interpretation section of a statute, of itself, imposes no obligations and confers no powers, and cannot found a claim that the statute fuses powers, deprives a person of rights, or is otherwise unconstitutional.
Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Parties Bound by Pleadings
Parties are bound by their pleadings, and a court is not obliged to resolve issues that were not raised in the pleadings.

Legislation cited (18)

  • Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 art.137
  • Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 art.50
  • Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 art.28(12)
  • Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 art.79(2)
  • Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 art.2(2)
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.1
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.2(2)
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.3
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.6
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.7
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.8
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.20(1)
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.116
  • Anti-Money Laundering Act 2013 s.136
  • Financial Institutions (Anti-Money Laundering) Regulations 2010 reg.2
  • Financial Institutions (Anti-Money Laundering) Regulations 2010 reg.14
  • Employment Act 2006
  • Constitutional Court (Petitions and References) Rules, S.I. 91 of 2005

Cases cited (10)

  • Mbabali Jude v Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi (Constitutional Petition No. 28 of 2012)
  • Ismail Serugo v Kampala City Council and Another (Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 1998)
  • Attorney General v Tinyefuza (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 1997)
  • Baku Raphael and Another v Attorney General (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 2003)
  • Uganda National Roads Authority v Irumba Asumani and Another (Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 2014)
  • Charles Kabagambe v Uganda Electricity Board (Constitutional Petition No. 2 of 1999)
  • United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda and 11 Others v Attorney General and 2 Others (Constitutional Petition No. 3 of 2013)
  • Attorney General v Abuki (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 1998)
  • Fang Min v Belex Tours and Travel Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2013)
  • Attorney General v Ssemwogerere and Another (Constitutional Appeal No. 3 of 2004)
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