Wakilii

City Aluminium and Glass Services & 3 Ors v Ecobank Uganda Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 956 of 2015)

High Court · [2018] UGCOMMC 46 · 2018 Preliminary Objection Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ruling on preliminary objection to plaint
Decision
Preliminary objections dismissed; matter to proceed to trial

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The court held that a preliminary objection must be a pure point of law requiring no investigation of contested facts. Where the plaint raised factual matters requiring proof and evidence, the matter could not be disposed of as a preliminary objection. The preliminary objection was disallowed with costs to abide the final decision.

Outcome

Preliminary objections dismissed; matter to proceed to trial

Facts

The plaintiffs sued to recover UGX 2,584,164,879 based on a power of attorney given to the second plaintiff by the second defendant, a memorandum of understanding, and resolutions passed by the first plaintiff authorising it to borrow money from the first defendant using the second defendant's certificate of title as security. The first defendant advanced a loan based on these documents. The plaint alleged that the certificate of title was retrieved from one Tenywa and then mortgaged to the first defendant. Before the hearing could commence, the defendants raised a preliminary objection that the plaint did not disclose a cause of action.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaint disclosed a cause of action against the defendants.

Orders

  • Preliminary objections disallowed.
  • Costs to abide the final decision.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Requirements — Pure Point of Law
A preliminary objection correctly understood is a pure point of law which must not be blurred with factual details liable to be contested and requiring proof through the process of evidence. Any assertion which claims to be a preliminary objection yet bears factual aspects calling for proof or seeks to adduce evidence for its authentication is not as a matter of legal principle a true preliminary objection which the court will allow to proceed.
Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Cause of Action — Test for Disclosure
To determine whether a plaint discloses a cause of action on a preliminary objection, the court must ascertain from the plaint whether the plaintiff enjoyed a right, whether that right has been violated, and whether the defendant is liable. This is established upon perusal of the plaint and attachments with an assumption that the facts pleaded or implied therein are true.
Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Contested Facts — Inappropriate for Preliminary Determination
Where a court needs to investigate facts or where a plaint raises many disputed facts calling for proof and the adducing of evidence, the matter cannot be raised as a preliminary point and must instead proceed to full trial.

Cases cited (3)

  • Auto Garage v Motokov [1971] EA 514
  • Attorney General v Oluoch (1972) EA 392
  • El Busaidy v Commissioner of Lands and Others [2002] 1 KLR 508

Full judgment

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

City Aluminium and Glass Services & 3 Ors v Ecobank Uganda Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 956 of 2015) [2018] UGCommC 46 (11 July 2018)
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.