Wakilii

D'souza v Machado (Civil Appeal No. 20 of 1951)

East African Court of Appeal · [1952] EACA 87 · 1952 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from decision of H.M. Supreme Court of Kenya
Decision
Appeal dismissed; trial court's dismissal of the action upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court held that a person by becoming a member of a club binds himself to abide by the rules and thereby accepts a limitation on his rights as a co-owner. The Secretary or other officer of an unincorporated members' club has the right to eject a non-member whose presence is undesirable, even if invited by a member, where club rules disqualify that person from admission. Once informed of the disqualification, the non-member becomes a trespasser regardless of the member's continued invitation. The appeal was dismissed.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; trial court's dismissal of the action upheld

Facts

The appellant was introduced to the Goan Institute as a guest by a member, Mr. Zuzarte. The respondent, who held the office of assistant secretary, informed both the member and the appellant that under the club rules, the appellant was disqualified from admission to the premises as a guest. Despite this notification, the appellant remained on the premises. The trial judge found that there was no serious physical assault on the appellant and that the respondent acted appropriately to uphold the club rules. The appellant brought an action which was dismissed by the trial court.

Issues

  1. Whether the Secretary or other officer of an unincorporated members' club has the right to eject from the club premises a non-member whose presence he regards as undesirable, if such person is there by leave and license of a member of the club.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Clubs — Unincorporated Members' Clubs — Rights of Members as Co-owners
A person by becoming a member of an unincorporated members' club binds himself to abide by the rules and thereby accepts a limitation on his rights as a co-owner of the club premises.
Clubs — Authority of Officers — Power to Eject Non-members
The secretary or other officer of an unincorporated members' club has the right to eject from the club premises a non-member whose presence is undesirable, even if such person is there by leave and license of a member, where club rules disqualify that person from admission.
Trespass — Knowledge of Trespass — Effect of Notification
Once a person has been informed that he is disqualified from being on club premises under the club rules, he becomes a trespasser if he remains, regardless of whether a member continues to encourage his presence or whether he intended to commit a trespass ab initio.
Trespass — Mens Rea — Requirement
A person can be a trespasser without mens rea.

Full judgment

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

D'souza v Machado (Civil Appeal No. 20 of 1951) [1952] EACA 87 (1 January 1952)
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.