How to cite Ugandan cases and legislation
A practical guide to neutral citations, law-report citations and cause numbers for Ugandan courts — UGSC, UGCA, UGCC and the High Court — with worked examples.
Citing Ugandan authority correctly signals competence and lets the court find your source quickly. Ugandan practice uses three overlapping systems.
1. Neutral citations
Court-assigned, medium-neutral identifiers in the form [year] COURT number — for example [1998] UGSC 15 (Supreme Court) or [2017] UGCA 60 (Court of Appeal). Court codes you will meet most often are UGSC, UGCA, UGCC (Constitutional Court) and UGHC (High Court, sometimes with a division suffix such as UGHCCD for the Commercial Division).
2. Cause numbers
The court's own file reference, such as Civil Suit No. 2109 of 1984 or SCCA No. 11 of 2002. Prefer the cause number when no neutral citation has been assigned.
3. Law-report citations
Where a case is reported in a series (HCB, ULR, EALR), cite the report. Reported decisions carry more citation weight than unreported ones.
Statutes
Cite by short title and chapter — e.g. Penal Code Act, Cap. 128 — and pin to the section: s. 2(1)(a).
The 2023 Revised Edition and chapter renumbering
The Laws of Uganda were consolidated in the 2023 Revised Edition, which renumbered many chapters. Cite the 2023-Revision chapter as primary and, on first reference, add the former chapter where readers may know it — e.g. Land Act, Cap. 236 (formerly Cap. 227). Note that some chapters kept their numbers (the Limitation Act remains Cap. 80) and some old numbers now belong to different Acts, so always verify the chapter against the consolidated Laws of Uganda before filing.
Wakilii returns cited answers grounded in Ugandan statutes and case law.
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