Barugahare Moses v Byomuhangi Augustine (Civil Appeal No. 025 of 2020; Civil Suit No. 59 of 2018)

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.

Holding

The High Court struck out the civil appeal as incompetent for failure to extract a decree containing the final orders of the lower court. The court held that an appeal must be from a decree or order, not merely a judgment, and that absence of an extracted decree is a recognised defect in appellate practice. Limitation of time does not run until the decree is extracted, and this defect rendered the entire appeal incompetent.

Outcome

Appeal struck out as incompetent

Facts

The appellant appealed a decision of the Chief Magistrate's Court of Kabale in Civil Suit No. 59 of 2018, delivered on 21 July 2020, where he was declared indebted to the respondent to the tune of UGX 5,700,000. The appeal framed two grounds challenging the magistrate's finding of indebtedness and evaluation of evidence. When the matter came before the High Court for hearing on 19 June 2026 as part of backlog clearance, procedural irregularities were identified. The record showed requests for transmission of proceedings from the lower court dating from March 2022, but no decree had been extracted. The respondent raised a preliminary objection that the memorandum of appeal and record of appeal had not been properly served.

Issues

1. Whether the appeal was competent in the absence of an extracted decree containing the final orders of the lower court.
2. Whether the memorandum of appeal and record of appeal were properly served on the respondent as required by law.

Orders

• The appeal is incompetent and is ordered struck out.
• No order is made as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (8)

• Constitution of Uganda Article 139(1)
• Constitution of Uganda Article 139(2)
• Civil Procedure Act Cap 282 s.79(1)
• Civil Procedure Act Cap 282 s.79(2)
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I. 71-1 Order 43 Rule 1
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I. 71-1 Order 43 Rule 2
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I. 71-1 Order 5 Rule 1(2)
• Civil Procedure Rules S.I. 71-1 Order 15 Rule 3

Cases cited (3)

• Nyiraneza Beyata v Nzabanita Paul (Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2025)
• Tweheyo Stephen v Zikandusya Nyansio (Civil Appeal No. 21 of 2022)
• Kwitegese Bernard and Another v Tumwizere Frank (Miscellaneous Application No. 24 of 2025)

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