Matovu & Matovu Advocates v Attorney General and Others (Miscellaneous Application No. 15 of 2025)

Supreme Court · [2025] UGSC 44 · 2025 Application Struck Out for Want of Jurisdiction ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Application before a single justice of the Supreme Court for an interim order of stay of execution and stay of proceedings pending the hearing of a substantive application.

Decision

Both the interim application and the substantive application struck out for want of jurisdiction.

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

A single justice of the Supreme Court struck out an application for an interim stay of execution and stay of proceedings, together with the substantive application from which it arose, for want of jurisdiction. Under section 6(1) of the Judicature Act, an appeal lies to the Supreme Court only where the Court of Appeal confirmed, varied or reversed a decision of the High Court given in the exercise of its original jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal decision in issue arose from execution proceedings — which by sections 29 and 34 of the Civil Procedure Act are treated as a decree and questions of the High Court — and was an interlocutory order not resulting from the final determination of an appeal. Appellate jurisdiction springs only from statute; there being none, the proceedings were incompetent.

Facts

Matovu & Matovu Advocates represented over 1,600 former employees of Uganda Telecom and related entities whose High Court suit (HCCS No. 135 of 2003) succeeded, the dispute being conclusively determined by the Court of Appeal in consolidated Civil Appeals Nos. 230 of 2013 and 10 of 2014, with an award of pension arrears, general damages and interest. The firm sought to recover 20% of the decretal sums as legal fees and obtained orders from a single Justice of the Court of Appeal in Civil Application No. 560 of 2022 directing that 20% be paid to it and 80% to beneficiaries. The 2nd and 3rd respondents (beneficiaries) successfully applied to a three-justice panel in Civil Application No. 399 of 2024 to set those orders aside. The firm lodged an intended appeal to the Supreme Court and filed the substantive and interim applications seeking to stay execution and proceedings, contending the respondents' filing of affidavits in reply threatened execution. The respondents objected that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction and that the application had improperly bypassed the Court of Appeal.

Issues

Whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to entertain the intended appeal and the interlocutory applications arising from a Court of Appeal decision made in execution proceedings.
Whether the application for an interim stay of execution and stay of proceedings was competently before the Supreme Court.

Orders

The application for an interim order is struck out for want of jurisdiction.
The substantive application from which it is derived is also struck out under section 8 of the Judicature Act to avoid multiplicity of proceedings.
Costs shall abide the final result of the trial of any questions relating to the execution of the decree in question.

Key headnotes

Appellate Jurisdiction — Supreme Court — Right of Appeal Under Section 6(1) of the Judicature Act

An appeal lies as of right to the Supreme Court only where the Court of Appeal confirms, varies or reverses a judgment or order, including an interlocutory order, given by the High Court in the exercise of its original jurisdiction; the Supreme Court exercises the jurisdiction of a second appellate court and the High Court must have exercised original jurisdiction in the matter.

Appellate Jurisdiction — Interlocutory Orders of the Court of Appeal

There is no right of appeal to the Supreme Court originating from interlocutory orders of the Court of Appeal which are incidental to the appeal but do not result from the final determination of the appeal itself.

Execution of Decrees — Decree of Appellate Court Deemed Decree of Trial Court

Where an appeal in a civil matter is concluded, the decree issued by the appellate court is deemed a decree of the trial court under section 29(a) of the Civil Procedure Act and is to be executed by the court of first instance; questions arising in execution under section 34 are treated as a suit between the parties to be determined by the court executing the decree.

Jurisdiction — Appellate Jurisdiction Is a Creature of Statute

Appellate jurisdiction springs only from statute; there is no inherent appellate jurisdiction, and where statute confers none the proceedings are incompetent and no valid order can be made.

Legislation cited (11)

Judicature Act Cap 16 s.5(1)
Judicature Act Cap 16 s.6(1)
Judicature Act Cap 16 s.8
Civil Procedure Act Cap 282 s.29
Civil Procedure Act Cap 282 s.30
Civil Procedure Act Cap 282 s.34
Constitution of Uganda Article 132(2)
Judicature (Supreme Court) Rules r.41(1)
Judicature (Supreme Court) Rules r.41(2)
Judicature (Supreme Court) Rules r.42
Judicature (Supreme Court) Rules r.43

Cases cited (12)

Patrick Kaumba v Ismail Dabule No. 3 of 2018 SCCA
Hwang Sung Industries Limited v Tajdin Hussein and Others (Civil Appeal No. 19 of 2008)
Osman Kassim Ramathan v Century Bottling Company Limited (Civil Application No. 35 of 2019)
Attorney General and Another v Eddie Kwizera (Civil Applications Nos. 1 and 3 of 2020)
Zubeda Mohamed and Anor versus Laila Kaka Wallia and Anor Supreme Court Civil Reference No. 07 of 20
Katayira Francis v Rogers Bosco Bugembe (Civil Reference No. 9 of 2017)
Uganda National Examinations Board v Mparo General Contractors Ltd (Civil Application No. 19 of 2004)
Uganda Peoples' Congress & Anor v Professor Edward Kakonge (Civil Appeal No. 19 of 2020)
Attorney General v Kikwanzi (Civil Applications Nos. 13 of 2019 and 15 of 2020)
Kobusingye v Nyakana and Another (Civil Appeal No. 5 of 2004)
Attorney-General v Shah [1971] 1 EA 50
Bernard Mweteise and Another v Matovu & Matovu Advocates (Civil Application No. 399 of 2024)

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