Mugisha Johnson v Attorney General and Another (Constitutional Petition No. 78 of 2023)

Constitutional Court · [2025] UGCC 21 · 2025 Petition Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Constitutional petition under Article 137 challenging statutory and regulatory provisions for vagueness

Decision

Petition dismissed; the impugned provisions held not to be unconstitutional

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 dismissed a petition contending that the Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 and S.I. 29-1 were impermissibly vague for failing to define 'expiry', contrary to Article 28(12). The lead judgment held that 'expiry/expired' carries a plain, ordinary grammatical meaning requiring no constitutional interpretation, so no question or controversy as to the meaning of the Constitution arose. Where statutory words are clear they must be given their ordinary meaning. The petitioner's claim that the company had obtained permission to extend the herbicide's shelf-life was a matter of defence for the trial court, not constitutional interpretation. Egonda-Ntende JCC concurred in the result but held the court had jurisdiction and answered the question in the negative.

Facts

The petitioner, a sales and marketing manager at Syova Seed (U) Limited, faced criminal charges over the company's dealing in 'Thrash 56 EC' herbicide alleged to be expired. With sales slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Syova Seed sought and obtained the Ministry of Agriculture's permission in 2020 to extend the herbicide's shelf-life by six months, after the Government Analytical Laboratory confirmed its chemical composition remained effective. A buyer, Dabanja Henry, later complained that the herbicide was expired and had caused him loss. An investigation attributed his poor results to improper farming methods, and a second laboratory analysis again confirmed the herbicide remained effective. The Director of Public Prosecutions nonetheless charged the petitioner with six offences relating to storing, displaying, distributing, possessing, labelling and altering labels of 'expired' agricultural chemicals. The petitioner contended that, because neither the Act nor the Regulations defined 'expiry', the offences were vague and ambiguous contrary to Article 28(12) of the Constitution.

Issues

Whether the petition raises any question for constitutional interpretation under Article 137 of the Constitution.
Whether the failure of the Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 and S.I. 29-1 to define 'expiry' renders the impugned provisions impermissibly vague and ambiguous contrary to Article 28(12) of the Constitution.

Orders

Petition dismissed.
Each party to bear their own costs.

Key headnotes

Constitutional Law — Jurisdiction under Article 137 — Question for interpretation

The Constitutional Court's jurisdiction under Article 137 is engaged only where there is a genuine dispute or controversy as to the meaning of a constitutional provision; a mere allegation of inconsistency of a law, act or omission with the Constitution, without raising a real question of interpretation, does not confer jurisdiction.

Statutory Interpretation — Plain meaning rule — Clear and unambiguous words

Where the words of a statute are clear and bear a plain, ordinary and grammatical meaning, they must be given that meaning without resort to interpretation, even if the result appears absurd, unless the context shows a special sense was intended.

Constitutional Law — Article 28(12) — Vagueness of penal provisions

A statutory term left undefined is not impermissibly vague or ambiguous contrary to Article 28(12) where the term has a plain, ordinary dictionary meaning; the word 'expiry' in relation to agricultural chemicals carries such a meaning and requires no constitutional interpretation.

Constitutional Law — Constitutional petition — Matters of defence in pending criminal proceedings

Where a petitioner's contentions (such as having obtained permission to extend a product's shelf-life) constitute a defence to pending criminal charges, they are matters for the trial court and do not raise a question of constitutional interpretation.

Legislation cited (10)

Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 Article 137
Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 Article 28(12)
Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 Article 44(c)
Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 s.3(1)
Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 s.3(2)
Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 s.3(3)
Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 s.15(1)
Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 s.15(2)
Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2006 s.15(3)
Control of Agricultural Chemicals (Registration and Control) Regulations S.I. 29-1 Regulation 34(6)

Cases cited (10)

Joyce Nakachwa v Attorney General and 2 Others (Constitutional Petition No. 2 of 2001)
Alenyo Vs. The Attorney General and 2 others (supra)
Ismael Serugo v Kampala City Council (Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 1998)
Attorney General v David Tinyefuza (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 1998)
Lwabayi Mudiba and Another v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 25 of 2012)
Ssekikubo Theodore and 10 Others v National Resistance Movement (Constitutional Petition No. 9 of 2019)
Great Western Railway v. Carpalla United China Clay Company Limited (1909) 1 Ch.218
Corporation of the City of Victoria v. Bishop of Vancouver Island (1921) A.C. 384
Reg. v. Judge of the City of London Court (1892) 1 Q.B. 273
Cooke v. Charles A. Vogeler Co. (1901) A.C. 102

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