Wakilii

Attorney General of Rwanda v Union Trade Centre and Others (Application No.4 of 2021)

East African Court of Justice · [2022] EACJ 27 · 2022 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application arising from pending appeal challenging counsel's authority to represent respondent company following liquidation order
Decision
Application struck out with costs to the respondent

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court struck out the application as an abuse of process. The applicant sought to challenge counsel's authority to represent the respondent company following liquidation, but the Trial Court had already addressed and dismissed this issue in Application No. 24 of 2020. The applicant failed to appeal that ruling and was estopped from re-litigating it by motion. The liquidation order did not affect ongoing proceedings commenced by the company against the applicant.

Outcome

Application struck out with costs to the respondent

Facts

Union Trade Centre filed Reference No. 10 of 2013 challenging the takeover and sale of its mall by the Attorney General of Rwanda. Appeal No. 10 of 2020 arose from the First Instance Division decision. During the pendency of the appeal, minority shareholders obtained a liquidation order from the Commercial Court of Rwanda appointing Mr. Rutabingwa Athanase as liquidator. The Attorney General then filed this application challenging the authority of counsel Francis Gimara and Hannington Amol to continue representing Union Trade Centre, arguing that only the liquidator could appoint counsel. The Trial Court had previously dismissed a similar challenge in Application No. 24 of 2020, finding the liquidation proceedings were initiated in bad faith after written submissions had been filed.

Issues

  1. Whether counsel for the respondent company had authority to represent it following appointment of a liquidator by the Commercial Court of Rwanda.
  2. Whether the application challenging counsel's authority constituted an abuse of court process.

Orders

  • Application struck out.
  • Costs awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Abuse of Process — Re-litigation of Issues Already Determined
Where a court has ruled on an issue and that ruling is not appealed, a party is estopped from re-litigating the same issue by way of motion in subsequent proceedings.
Company Law — Liquidation — Effect on Existing Proceedings
Insolvency law protects a company from proceedings commenced against it by creditors, but does not prevent continuation of proceedings commenced by the company against its debtors. A liquidation order does not require a liquidator's consent for the company to continue prosecuting claims it initiated before liquidation.
Civil Procedure — Representation — Corporate Parties
A corporation may be represented by an advocate in court proceedings. Where representation has been established and accepted by the court, a party challenging that representation bears the onus of proving the advocate lacks authority.
Civil Procedure — Abuse of Process — Bad Faith Conduct
Initiating liquidation proceedings against a party to ongoing litigation at the tail end of protracted proceedings and after filing of submissions constitutes bad faith and may be grounds for refusing relief sought on the basis of such liquidation.

Legislation cited (15)

  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 4
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 19(1)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 19(5)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 25(4)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 94(1)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 95(1)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 110(4)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure 2019 Rule 127
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 30(1)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 33(2)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 35A
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 38
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 38(2)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 46
  • Law No. 23/2018 of 29/04/2018 on Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Rwanda) Article 103

Cases cited (3)

  • Hon. Dr. Margret Zziwa v Secretary General of the East African Community (Appeal No. 2 of 2017)
  • Mary Ariviza and Another v Attorney General of Kenya and Secretary General of the East African Community (Appeal No. 3 of 2012)
  • Application No. 24 of 2020 (The Attorney General of The Republic of Rwanda & others [The Interveners])

Full judgment

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

Attorney General of Rwanda v Union Trade Centre and Others (Application No.4 of 2021) [2022] EACJ 27 (30 August 2022)
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.