Wakilii

Bisangwa & Another v Commissioner Land Registration & Another (MISCELLANEOUS CAUSE NO. 314 OF 2016)

High Court · [2019] UGHCCD 257 · 2019 Application Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Judicial review application challenging the removal of a caveat and subsequent land transfer during a court-ordered stay
Decision
Application succeeded in part — court found contempt of court order but declined to set aside the transfer, directing parties to resolve the underlying ownership dispute

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court held that the Commissioner Land Registration acted unlawfully and in contempt of court by transferring land while a court order staying all transactions was in force. However, the court declined to set aside the transfer, finding that doing so would create further injustice and that the underlying ownership dispute between the original landowners and the applicants should be determined first in separate proceedings before deciding whether to invalidate the transfer.

Outcome

Application succeeded in part — court found contempt of court order but declined to set aside the transfer, directing parties to resolve the underlying ownership dispute

Facts

The applicants lodged a caveat on land in Busiro block Magula close plots 18-25 in July 2015 pursuant to a memorandum of understanding with customary landowners to finance registration in exchange for land. The registered proprietor applied to remove the caveat, claiming no contractual obligations existed. Notice was served on the applicants on 15 October 2015. The caveat was removed. On 18 December 2015, the High Court granted an interim order staying all transfers and transactions on the land until 19 January 2016. The order was served on the Commissioner Land Registration on 21 December 2015. On 22 December 2015, the Commissioner effected a transfer of plots 18-25 to Azhar Jaffer. The applicants brought judicial review proceedings seeking certiorari, mandamus, and damages.

Issues

  1. Whether the first Respondent acted illegally and irrationally when it vacated the Applicants' caveat on the suit land.
  2. Whether the first Respondent in transferring the suit land acted in contempt of a court order that stayed all pending transfers and transactions on the suit land.
  3. What are the available remedies?

Orders

  • Application succeeded in part.
  • Declared it was contemptuous and unlawful for the Registrar to have any dealings with the land during the sustenance of the court order.
  • No orders of setting aside the transactions were given in the court's discretion.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Grounds — Illegality — Contempt of Court Order
Where a public authority continues to deal with property subject to a court order staying all transactions, such conduct constitutes contemptuous and unlawful action amenable to judicial review on the ground of illegality.
Administrative Law — Remedies — Certiorari — Discretion to Refuse Relief
Even where a public authority's actions are found to be unlawful and contemptuous, the court retains discretion to refuse certiorari where setting aside the impugned decision would create further confusion and injustice, and where an underlying substantive dispute requires prior determination.
Land & Property — Caveats — Removal — Notice Requirements
Under section 140(2) of the Registration of Titles Act, every caveat lodged against a proprietor is deemed to have lapsed upon the expiration of sixty days after notice is given to the caveator that the proprietor has applied for removal of the caveat.
Civil Procedure — Interim Orders — Disobedience — Contempt of Court
Where a court grants an interim order staying all transactions on land until a specified date, a Registrar of Titles who effects a transfer during the period of the stay commits contempt of court and acts unlawfully.

Legislation cited (11)

Cases cited (4)

  • Rosemary Nalwadda v Uganda Aids Commission (HCMA No. 0045 of 2010)
  • Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 374
  • Stream Aviation Ltd v The Civil Aviation Authority (Miscellaneous Application No. 377 of 2008)
  • Semwo Construction Company v Rukungiri District Local Government (HC MC 30 of 2010)

Full judgment

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

Bisangwa & Another v Commissioner Land Registration & Another (MISCELLANEOUS CAUSE NO. 314 OF 2016) [2019] UGHCCD 257 (10 April 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.