Wakilii

Bexus International Limited V The Departed Asians' Property Custodian Board & Another (MISC. CAUSE NO. 293 OF 2018)

High Court · [2019] UGHCCD 186 · 2019 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review seeking to quash cancellation of temporary land allocation and related orders
Decision
Application dismissed; applicant directed to pursue claims in existing civil suit

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court held that while the decision of a public official can be challenged by judicial review, where a party has already commenced ordinary civil proceedings to vindicate private law rights over land, public law issues arising from the same facts should be determined in those proceedings rather than through separate judicial review. The application was dismissed as the applicant could vindicate the public law issues in the existing civil suit filed earlier.

Outcome

Application dismissed; applicant directed to pursue claims in existing civil suit

Facts

The applicant was granted a temporary allocation of land (Block 270 Plot 2, Kajjansi) by the 1st respondent in 2014. In 2016, the applicant's director filed a criminal complaint against the 2nd respondent for trespass. During police investigations, it was discovered that the land had been repossessed by its original owner in 1992 under Certificate Authorising Repossession No. 1259 and subsequently transferred to other parties, with the 2nd respondent being the current owner. The 1st respondent's Executive Secretary cancelled the temporary allocation in March 2017, finding it had been issued based on erroneous information. The applicant had already filed HCCS No. 43 of 2017 in January 2017 against the 2nd respondent claiming ownership of the same land. The applicant then brought this judicial review application seeking to quash the cancellation decision and obtain various orders including survey and cancellation of the 2nd respondent's titles.

Issues

  1. Whether the impugned decision and actions of the respondents can be challenged in a court of law by judicial review.
  2. Whether the 1st respondent acted legally, rationally and properly in cancelling the allocation of the suit property to the applicant.
  3. Whether the applicant is entitled to the remedies sought.

Orders

  • Application for judicial review dismissed.
  • Applicant may vindicate public law issues in HCCS No. 43 of 2017 (Bexus International Ltd v Kikonyogo Investments Ltd & 2 Others).
  • Each party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Judicial Review — Scope and Purpose — Concerned with Decision-Making Process Not Merits
Judicial review is concerned not with the decision in issue but with the decision-making process through which the decision was made. It is concerned with the courts' supervisory jurisdiction to check and control the exercise of power by those in public offices or persons/bodies exercising quasi-judicial functions. The orders sought under judicial review do not determine private rights but are discretionary in nature.
Judicial Review — Alternative Remedies — Private Law Rights Should Be Pursued Through Ordinary Proceedings
Where a person asserts a private law right, whether by way of claim or defence, he should proceed by ordinary private law proceedings notwithstanding that the proceeding might involve examination of a public law issue. Courts are unlikely to strike out private law proceedings as an abuse of process where a private law right is at stake, particularly where it dominates the proceedings.
Civil Procedure — Public Law Issues in Private Law Proceedings — May Be Raised in Same Action
It is not an abuse of court process to raise public law issues in a private law matter. Public law claims may proceed in the same ordinary action as private law issues where they arise from the same facts and are inextricably linked with private law issues. However, a party cannot first pursue private law claims through ordinary proceedings and then separately file judicial review for public law issues arising from the same facts.
Administrative Law — Temporary Allocations — Do Not Create Legally Recognised Rights in Land
The issuance of a temporary allocation by an administrative body is not a statutory duty but merely an administrative measure. Such temporary allocation does not create any legally recognised rights in land that would be conclusive of ownership.

Legislation cited (17)

Cases cited (9)

  • John Jet Tumwebaze v Makerere University Council & 2 Others (Miscellaneous Cause No. 353 of 2005)
  • DOTT Services Ltd v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause No. 125 of 2009)
  • Balondemu David v The Law Development Centre (Miscellaneous Cause No. 61 of 2016)
  • Commissioner of Land v Kunste Hotel Ltd [1995-1998] 1 EA (CAK)
  • Wandsworth LBC v Winder [1985] AC 461
  • Roy v Chelsea Family Practitioner Committee [1992] 1 AC 624
  • Trustees of Denis Rye Pension Fund v Sheffield City Council [1998] 1 WLR 840
  • Ann Bord Bainne Co-operative (Irish Dairy Board) v Milk Marketing Board [1984] 2 CMLR 584
  • Mercury Communications Ltd v Director General of Telecommunications [1996] 1 WLR 48

Full judgment

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

Bexus International Limited V The Departed Asians' Property Custodian Board & Another (MISC. CAUSE NO. 293 OF 2018) [2019] UGHCCD 186 (16 August 2019)
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.