Wakilii

African Gold Refinery v Enough Project Another (MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO 93 OF 2019)

High Court · [2020] UGHCCD 201 · 2020 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for temporary injunction arising from defamation suit in the High Court Civil Division
Decision
Application for temporary injunction dismissed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court dismissed an application for a temporary injunction restraining publication of an allegedly defamatory report hosted on United States-based websites. The court held that temporary injunctions in defamation cases are granted only in the clearest cases where the statement is unarguably defamatory and no defence could possibly apply. The applicant failed to satisfy this test where respondents raised defences of justification and truth supported by documentary evidence, and where there was no evidence of intention to repeat the publication.

Outcome

Application for temporary injunction dismissed

Facts

The applicant, African Gold Refinery, filed a defamation suit against two United States-based organisations that published a report titled 'Golden Laundromat: the Conflict Gold Trade from Eastern Congo to the United States and Europe' on their websites. The report alleged that the applicant refined illegally-smuggled conflict gold from Eastern Congo and exported it to the United States and Europe through a network controlled by Belgian tycoon Alain Goetz. The applicant sought a temporary injunction to restrain further publication, alleging severe harm to its reputation and loss of business. The respondents opposed the application, citing Belgian criminal convictions of the Goetzes for forgery and money laundering, and raised defences of truth and justification supported by documents from Ugandan regulatory authorities detailing the applicant's non-compliance with anti-money laundering and mining regulations.

Issues

  1. Whether the court has jurisdiction to issue an injunction restraining respondents domiciled in the United States from hosting and publishing a report on their websites in the United States.
  2. Whether the applicant satisfied the conditions for a temporary injunction in a defamation case.
  3. Whether the statements complained of are manifestly defamatory with no possible defence.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the respondents.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Interlocutory Injunctions — Defamation Cases — Special Test
Applications for interlocutory injunctions in defamation cases are treated differently from ordinary cases because they bring out a conflict between private and public interest. Courts must exercise the greatest caution and grant injunctions only in the clearest of cases where the statement complained of is unarguably defamatory and no defence could possibly apply.
Civil Procedure — Interlocutory Injunctions — Defamation — Requirements
To obtain an interlocutory injunction in defamation, an applicant must satisfy four conditions: (a) the statement is unarguably defamatory; (b) there is no good ground for the statement to be true; (c) there is no other defence which might succeed; and (d) there is evidence of an intention to repeat or publish the defamatory statement.
Tort Law — Defamation — Defence of Justification — Effect on Injunction
Where there is a defence of justification or truth, an injunction restraining further publication should not be granted unless it is shown that the defendant dishonestly and maliciously published information which he knew to be untrue.
Civil Procedure — Injunctions — Exercise of Discretion — Public Interest
The grant of a temporary injunction is an exercise of judicial discretion which must be exercised judiciously. The court should balance the applicant's right to reputation against the public interest in freedom of speech, exercising caution against interfering with freedom of speech prior to determination of the merits at trial.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (11)

  • Giella v Cassman Brown & Co Ltd [1973] EA 258
  • John Ntoiti Mugambi alias Kamukuru v Hon. Moses Kithinji alis Hon Musa 2016 eKLR
  • Micah Cheserem v Immediate Media Services [2000] 1 EA 371
  • Equator International Distributors Ltd v Beiersdorf East Africa Ltd & Others (Miscellaneous Application No. 1127 of 2014)
  • Yahaya Kariisa v Attorney General & Another (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 7 of 1994)
  • Titus Tayebwa v Fred Bogere and Eric Mukasa (Civil Appeal No. 3 of 2009)
  • Francis Atwoli and 5 Others v Hon Kazungu Kambi and 3 Others (High Court Civil Suit No. 60 of 2015)
  • Cheserem v Immediate Media Services and 4 Others [2000] EA 371
  • Greene v Associated Newspapers Ltd [2005] QB 972
  • Chin Bay Ching v Merchant Ventures Pte Ltd [2005] 3 SLR(R) 142
  • Hararkas & Others v Baltic Mercantile & Shipping Exchange Limited and Another [1982] 2 All ER 701

Full judgment

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

African Gold Refinery v Enough Project Another (MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO 93 OF 2019) 2020 UGHCCD 201 (28 September 2020)
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.