Wakilii

Bwende Rwabwana v Jjuko Peter (Miscellaneous Application No. 0039 of 2025)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 916 · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for leave to amend written statement of defence and add counterclaim arising from Civil Suit No. 0074 of 2024
Decision
Application dismissed with costs to the respondent

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application for leave to amend defence and add counterclaim dismissed. Court held that the application was filed outside the fourteen-day cutoff period after scheduling prescribed by Order 12 Rule 3 CPR. Further, the applicant failed to attach the proposed amended pleading for scrutiny, and a counterclaim cannot be introduced by amendment where none existed in the original defence. The applicant did not satisfy the conditions for grant of leave to amend.

Outcome

Application dismissed with costs to the respondent

Facts

The respondent filed Civil Suit No. 0074 of 2024 against the applicant and others on 25 August 2023. The applicant filed a defence on 28 August 2024. On 25 October 2024, the applicant filed an amended written statement of defence and counterclaim without seeking leave of court. On 31 January 2025, the court struck out the amended defence and counterclaim for being filed out of time without leave. On 4 March 2025, the applicant filed the current application seeking leave to amend his written statement of defence and add a counterclaim. The matter had been scheduled on 29 September 2024, making the application filed well beyond the fourteen-day cutoff period prescribed by the Civil Procedure Rules.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant should be granted leave to amend his written statement of defence and add a counterclaim in Civil Suit No. 0074 of 2024.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Costs of the application awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Amendment of Pleadings — Time Limits for Interlocutory Applications
Under Order 12 Rule 3 of the Civil Procedure Rules, all interlocutory applications must be filed within fourteen days after the scheduling conference where there has not been alternative dispute resolution, and that date is referred to as the cutoff date. An application filed outside this period offends the provisions designed to avoid dragging hearings by filing incessant applications.
Civil Procedure — Amendment of Pleadings — Requirement to Attach Proposed Amendment
When seeking leave to amend pleadings, the applicant must attach the proposed amended pleading for scrutiny by the court. One of the considerations on whether to grant leave to amend is that the court should not exercise its discretion to allow an amendment which has the effect of substituting one distinctive cause of action for another, and this can only be assessed if the proposed amendment is attached.
Civil Procedure — Counterclaims — Introduction by Amendment
A counterclaim is a separate suit that introduces a whole new cause of action and is not a defence. It is not in order to apply for an amendment of a defence and therein include a counterclaim which was not part of the pleadings at the time of filing the defence. For an amendment to a counterclaim to be made, the initial pleadings should have contained that counterclaim.

Legislation cited (6)

Cases cited (5)

  • Matico Stores Ltd and Another v James Mbabazi and Another (1993) HCB 31
  • Gaso Transport Services (Bus) Ltd v Martin Adala Obene (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 4 of 1994)
  • Mulowoza Brothers Ltd v N. Shah & Co. Ltd (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 26 of 2010)
  • Charles Kamudda v F.X Mubuuke (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 0230 of 2022)
  • Nabugabo Updeal JV v BIN Services Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 0297 of 2018)

Full judgment

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

Bwende Rwabwana v Jjuko Peter (Miscellaneous Application No. 0039 of 2025) [2025] UGHC 916 (2 June 2025)
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.