Wakilii

Byanyima v National Resistance Movement (Hct -05-cv-ma-no. 225 2013)

High Court · [2013] UGHC 252 · 2013 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for interim injunction arising from substantive application for judicial review
Decision
Interim injunction refused; main application for judicial review to proceed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court dismissed the application for an interim injunction to halt NRM primary re-run elections. The court held that interim orders are no longer expressly provided for in the Civil Procedure Rules or the Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009, having been removed to curb abuse. Interim orders can only be granted in rare and deserving cases. The applicant failed to prove he would have no remedy in the main application if the interim order was refused, and the balance of convenience favoured dismissal.

Outcome

Interim injunction refused; main application for judicial review to proceed

Facts

The applicant won the NRM primaries for Bukanga constituency. The respondent's electoral commission subsequently decided to conduct a re-run of the election in Ngarama Sub County. The re-run elections were proceeding on the day of the application. The applicant filed the matter initially at Kampala High Court Civil Division on 7 November 2013 and refiled it at Mbarara High Court. The applicant sought an interim injunction to stop the re-run pending the determination of a substantive judicial review application filed the same day.

Issues

  1. Whether the court should grant an interim order of injunction to restrain the respondent from conducting a re-run of NRM primaries in Ngarama sub county.
  2. Whether an interim order can be granted in judicial review proceedings under the Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009.
  3. Whether the balance of convenience favours granting the interim injunction.

Orders

  • Application for interim order of injunction disallowed.
  • No order as to costs since the respondent was not served.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Interim Injunctions — Removal of Provision for Interim Orders
The express provision for the grant of interim orders of injunction was removed from the Civil Procedure Rules by Statutory Instrument No. 217 of 1994, and the current law requires that notice of an application for injunction be given to the opposite party in all cases before granting an injunction.
Judicial Review — Interim Relief — Absence of Provision Under Current Rules
The Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 removed the requirement for leave before applying for judicial review and also removed the almost automatic stay of proceedings that formerly existed, and the Rules Committee did not provide for interim orders in applications for judicial review.
Civil Procedure — Interim Injunctions — Test for Grant in Rare Cases
An interim order can only be granted in rare and deserving cases to avoid circumventing the reason for removing interim orders from the rules, and will be granted only if it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that the applicant will not get any remedy in the main application if the interim order is not granted.
Civil Procedure — Interim Injunctions — Balance of Convenience
The balance of convenience will dictate that an interim injunction be refused where remedies remain available to the applicant in the main application if the interim order is not granted, but granting the interim order would cause gross injustice or unnecessary confusion if the applicant does not succeed in the main application.

Legislation cited (3)

  • Civil Procedure Rules O.37 r.3
  • Civil Procedure Rules O.41 r.3
  • Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009

Full judgment

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Byanyima v National Resistance Movement (Hct -05-cv-ma-no. 225_2013) [2013] UGHC 252 (8 November 2013)
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.