Wakilii

Chint Solar (Zhejiang) Company Limited and Gao Shimiao v Mectron Technical Servcies (MISC APPLICATION NO. 1454 OF 2017)

High Court · [2020] UGCOMMC 177 · 2020 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for leave to appeal against interlocutory rulings in consolidated civil suits
Decision
Application dismissed; matter to proceed to hearing on the merits

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application for leave to appeal against interlocutory rulings dismissed. The court held that leave to appeal interlocutory orders should only be granted in exceptional circumstances involving a controlling question of law. No substantial question of law was raised. The parties' failure to progress with arbitration rendered the arbitration clause ineffective, and the matter should proceed to hearing before the court.

Outcome

Application dismissed; matter to proceed to hearing on the merits

Facts

The respondent sued the applicants in two consolidated suits (CS 31 and CS 32 of 2016) for breach of contract and recovery of money for work done installing solar energy packages. The applicants successfully applied to stay proceedings and refer the matter to arbitration pursuant to a contractual arbitration clause. The arbitration process failed because parties could not agree on arbitrators. Mediation before a judge also failed. The applicants' advocate then wrote to court requesting case management and a way forward. The applicants subsequently filed this application seeking leave to appeal against the court's earlier rulings and a stay of further proceedings, arguing the court erred in not discontinuing proceedings in favour of arbitration.

Issues

  1. Whether leave to appeal should be granted against interlocutory rulings made in the course of consolidated civil suits.
  2. Whether the failure of parties to proceed with arbitration renders the arbitration clause ineffective.

Orders

  • Application dismissed with costs.
  • Parties ordered to proceed with hearing of the consolidated suits.
  • Applicants may make this ruling one of the grounds of appeal after final decision.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Interlocutory Appeals — Leave to Appeal — Principles
Leave to appeal against interlocutory orders should be granted only in exceptional circumstances involving a controlling question of law which, if resolved, would determine the whole case.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Interlocutory Orders — Policy Against Piecemeal Appeals
It is not necessary to file separate appeals against interlocutory orders made in the course of hearing when such matters can more conveniently be considered in an appeal from the final decision. To allow appeals against every interlocutory decision would prolong suits and raise the cost of litigation.
Arbitration & ADR — Arbitration Clause — Effectiveness — Failure to Proceed
Where parties have been referred to arbitration pursuant to a contractual arbitration clause but fail to progress with the arbitration process, the arbitration clause becomes ineffective and the court may proceed to hear the matter.

Cases cited (2)

  • Sanya Musoke v Sam Galiwango (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 48 of 1995)
  • Leaf Tobacco & Commodities (U) Ltd v Mastermind Tobacco (K) Ltd (Misc Application No. 0443 of 2012)

Full judgment

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

Chint Solar (Zhejiang) Company Limited and Gao Shimiao v Mectron Technical Servcies (MISC APPLICATION NO. 1454 OF 2017) [2020] UGCommC 177 (28 August 2020)
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.