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Attorney General of the Republic of Burundi v Niyongabo and Another (Application No.6 of 2022)

East African Court of Justice · [2022] EACJ 26 · 2022 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for leave to amend affidavit in support of pending application before the Appellate Division
Decision
Application granted with amendment of party names and affidavit title in Application No. 03 of 2022

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court allowed the application to amend the affidavit. The proposed amendment affected only the commencement section (party names and affidavit title), not the averments or evidence. The Court exercised its inherent powers under Rule 4 to grant leave, noting that Rules 48(c) and 51 cited by the applicant applied to the First Instance Division, not the Appellate Division. The amendment was permitted to meet the ends of justice.

Outcome

Application granted with amendment of party names and affidavit title in Application No. 03 of 2022

Facts

The Attorney General of Burundi filed an application seeking leave to amend an affidavit in support of Application No. 03 of 2022. The affidavit contained errors in the commencement section: the party names were reversed (applicant shown as respondent and vice versa) and the title incorrectly read 'Affidavit in reply' instead of 'Affidavit in support'. The respondents opposed the application, arguing that the amendment sought to alter evidence taken on oath, which was impermissible. The respondents also contended that the affidavit to be amended was sworn by one person while the correcting affidavit was sworn by another, making the application irregular.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court should grant leave to amend the commencement section of an affidavit to correct the interchange of party names and the title of the affidavit.

Orders

  • Application for amendment allowed.
  • Reference No. 1 of 2022 amended to read Application No. 03 of 2022.
  • Party names in the proceedings amended to correctly reflect Attorney General of Burundi as Applicant and Niyongabo Theodore (1st Respondent) and Niyongabo Gerald (2nd Respondent) as Respondents.
  • Averments in the impugned affidavit remain unchanged.
  • Costs to be in the cause.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Amendment of Pleadings — Amendment of Affidavit — Commencement Section
An application to amend the commencement section of an affidavit to correct party names and the affidavit title does not constitute an amendment of evidence and may be permitted with leave of court where it does not affect the averments or substantive content of the affidavit.
Civil Procedure — Inherent Powers of Court — Exercise to Meet Ends of Justice
Where a party relies on procedural rules applicable to the First Instance Division rather than the Appellate Division, the Appellate Division may exercise its inherent powers under Rule 4 to grant the relief sought in order to meet the ends of justice.

Full judgment

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

Attorney General of the Republic of Burundi v Niyongabo and Another (Application No.6 of 2022) [2022] EACJ 26 (11 May 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.