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Byabalema and 2 others v Uganda Transport Company (1975) Limited (Civil Appeal No. 10 of 1993)

Supreme Court · [1993] UGSC 60 · 1993 Appeal Allowed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal to the Supreme Court against the High Court's assessment of general damages for personal injury
Decision
Appeal allowed; trial court awards set aside and substituted with general damages of shs 9,000,000 (first appellant), shs 1,500,000 (second appellant) and shs 2,000,000 (third appellant), with costs

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Holding

The Supreme Court considered whether general damages awarded to three accident-injured bus passengers were inordinately low. Affirming that an appellate court may interfere only where the trial judge applied a wrong principle or the award is a wholly erroneous estimate, the Court held the judge erred: he treated above-knee and below-knee amputations as equivalent, and relied on outdated 1980s awards despite drastic currency devaluation. It raised the first appellant's award from 4 million to 9 million shillings and the second's from 600,000 to 1.5 million. The dismissal of the third appellant's claim, after liability was admitted, was wrong; she was awarded 2 million shillings. Appeal allowed with costs.

Facts

On 8 August 1988 the three appellants were passengers in the respondent's bus when it collided with an army lorry on the Kampala–Masaka Road. All three sustained personal injuries and sued the respondent for general and special damages. The respondent admitted 80% liability, attributing the balance to the army lorry, though the Attorney General was not joined. The matter proceeded to assessment of damages. The first appellant, a 40-year-old mason and painter, suffered a crush injury to the right ankle and foot leading to an above-knee amputation, with 60% permanent disability. The second appellant, a 32-year-old carpenter, sustained a compound fracture of the left femur that united with one-inch shortening and knee stiffness, with 25% disability. The third appellant, a 32-year-old tailor, sustained a fractured right hip reduced by 30 degrees, with 30% disability. The trial judge awarded the first appellant 4 million shillings and the second 600,000 shillings, and dismissed the third appellant's claim on the basis of an apparent contradiction between her evidence of a dislocation and the doctor's evidence of a fracture.

Issues

  1. Whether the general damages awarded to the first appellant were inordinately low so as to justify appellate interference.
  2. Whether the general damages awarded to the second appellant were inordinately low so as to justify appellate interference.
  3. Whether the trial judge erred in dismissing the third appellant's claim and failing to assess the quantum of damages due to her.

Orders

  • Appeal allowed with costs to the appellants.
  • The awards and order of the trial court set aside.
  • Award of shs 9,000,000 substituted as general damages for the first appellant.
  • Award of shs 1,500,000 substituted as general damages for the second appellant.
  • Award of shs 2,000,000 as general damages to the third appellant.
  • Costs of the appeal and of the High Court proceedings to the appellants.

Key headnotes

Damages — Appellate review — Interference with trial court's assessment
An appellate court may interfere with an award of damages only where the trial judge applied a wrong principle of law or the award is so inordinately high or low as to amount to a wholly erroneous estimate of the damage.
Damages — Personal injury — Amputation — Distinction between above-knee and below-knee
In assessing damages for leg injuries involving amputation, the court must distinguish between amputation below the knee and amputation above the knee, since greater disability and larger awards attend an amputation in the thigh.
Damages — Assessment — Effect of currency devaluation on comparable awards
Damages should be assessed by reference to the current value of money measured by the goods and services it can purchase, with the most recent decisions providing the best guide; older awards offer little guidance where the currency has drastically devalued, and converting old awards via historical exchange rates is not a realistic guide.
Civil Procedure — Admission of liability — Reversal by trial judge
Once liability has been admitted, the trial judge cannot reverse that admission and dismiss the claim absent valid grounds; a minor, non-material contradiction in the lay description of an injury does not justify dismissal where the medical evidence proves the injury.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Supreme Court Rules r.97

Cases cited (12)

  • Ilanga v Manyoka [1961] EA 705
  • Nance v British Columbia Electric Railway Co Ltd [1951] AC 601
  • Flint v. Level (1935) 1 KB 354
  • Davies v. Powell Duffyrun Associated Colleries Ltd (1842) A.C. 601
  • Associated Architects v Christine Nazziwa (Civil Appeal No. 5 of 1981)
  • yg v Jmbe Mines Ltd (1972) EA 341
  • Kyambadde v Uganda Electricity Board (HCCS No. 1 of 1990)
  • Godfrey Katerega v Uganda Electricity Board (HCCS No. 93(b) of 1989)
  • Wamala Stephen v Abdu Kabuzi (HCCS No. 981 of 1989)
  • Erisa Musamali v Uganda Electricity Board (HCCS No. 8 of 1990)
  • Christopher Kiggundu and Another v UTC (1975) Limited (Civil Appeal No. 7 of 1993)
  • Marion Akankwasa v Attorney General [1982] HCB 69
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