Wakilii

Acaye Jenesio v Abeditho Ventherina (Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2017)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 972 · 2025 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Chief Magistrate's Court judgment on land ownership dispute
Decision
Appeal struck out as incompetent for being filed out of time without leave of court

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

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 High Court struck out the appeal as incompetent for failure to file a memorandum of appeal within the statutory thirty-day period. A notice of appeal does not commence an appeal from the Magistrate's Court to the High Court; a memorandum of appeal is required under Order 43 rule 1(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules. The appellant filed the notice of appeal on 31 March 2017 but did not file a memorandum of appeal until 23 May 2018, over one year after the lower court's decision.

Outcome

Appeal struck out as incompetent for being filed out of time without leave of court

Facts

The Appellant filed a civil suit in the Chief Magistrate's Court claiming ownership of half an acre of land at Akwanki Trading Center, which he alleged he inherited from his father in 2012. The Respondent counterclaimed, asserting she inherited the land from her late father who received it in 1957. The trial magistrate divided the land between the parties and issued a permanent injunction against mutual trespass. Dissatisfied, the Appellant filed a Notice of Appeal on 31 March 2017, but did not file a memorandum of appeal until 23 May 2018, over one year after the lower court's judgment of 22 December 2016. An amended memorandum followed on 5 June 2019.

Issues

  1. Whether the appeal was properly filed within the time prescribed by law.
  2. Whether a Notice of Appeal alone is sufficient to commence an appeal from the Magistrate's Court to the High Court.

Orders

  • The 'Appeal Reason' and amended memorandum of appeal are struck from the court record.
  • Costs awarded to the Respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Commencement of Appeal — Memorandum of Appeal Required
A notice of appeal does not commence an appeal from the Magistrate's Court to the High Court; an appeal is commenced by filing a memorandum of appeal in the High Court as required by Order 43 rule 1(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Time Limits — Mandatory Thirty-Day Period
Under Section 79(1)(a) of the Civil Procedure Act, every appeal must be entered within thirty days from the date of the decree or order; the use of the word 'shall' in Order 43 rule 1(1) makes this requirement mandatory and failure to comply renders the appeal incompetent.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Filing Out of Time — Incompetence Without Leave
An appeal filed out of time without the leave of court is incompetent and will be struck out; pleadings submitted after the statutory deadline without court permission are filed unlawfully.

Legislation cited (2)

Cases cited (4)

  • Geoffrey Nangumya T/a Nangumya & Co. Advocates v Security Plus (U) Ltd (HCMA No. 858 of 2021)
  • Maria Onyango Ochola and others v J. Hannington Wasswa [1996] HCB 43
  • Loi Kageni Kiryapawo v Gole Nicholas Davis (SC Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 15 of 2007)
  • Hajj Mohammed Nyanzi v Ali Sseggane [1992-1993] HCB 218

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Acaye Jenesio v Abeditho Ventherina (Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2017) [2025] UGHC 972 (26 August 2025)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.