Wakilii

Eagle Investiments Limited v Surjit and Another (HCCS 20 of 2018)

High Court · [2022] UGHCCD 276 · 2022 Preliminary Objection Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ruling on preliminary objection challenging plaintiff's locus standi in first instance civil suit for land ownership
Decision
Preliminary objection dismissed; matter to proceed to full trial

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

A preliminary objection challenging a corporate plaintiff's locus standi on grounds of failure to attach a Certificate of Incorporation and lease agreement to the plaint is premature where the matter has not yet proceeded to trial. The plaintiff may still produce these documents as evidence during the trial. A preliminary objection must raise a pure point of law on assumed facts and cannot be sustained where facts must be ascertained by evidence.

Outcome

Preliminary objection dismissed; matter to proceed to full trial

Facts

The Plaintiff company claims to be the rightful unregistered owner of suit land which it began using in 1987 and for which it obtained a lease offer and paid for a Certificate of Title. The Plaintiff alleges the Certificate was fraudulently issued to the 1st Defendant by the 2nd Defendant (Jinja District Land Board). In 2018, the 1st Defendant allegedly forcefully entered the land, evicted the Plaintiff's workers and a telecom company tenant, and began erecting a perimeter wall. The 1st Defendant raised a preliminary objection that the Plaintiff lacked locus standi because it failed to attach its Certificate of Incorporation and the lease agreement to the plaint.

Issues

  1. Whether the Plaintiff has locus standi to bring this suit.

Orders

  • Preliminary objection dismissed as premature.
  • Final decision on the objection to await full trial.
  • Costs in the cause.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Requirements and Timing
A preliminary objection must raise a pure point of law argued on the assumption that all facts pleaded by the other side are correct, and cannot be raised if any fact has to be ascertained by evidence.
Civil Procedure — Locus Standi — Corporate Plaintiffs — Certificate of Incorporation
Where a corporate plaintiff has not attached its Certificate of Incorporation to the plaint, a preliminary objection challenging locus standi is premature if the matter has not proceeded to trial, as the plaintiff may still produce the Certificate as evidence during trial.
Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Attachments to Plaint — Evidentiary Documents
The failure to attach supporting documents such as a lease agreement to a plaint does not render the suit frivolous or vexatious where those documents can be produced as evidence at trial and are not mandatory attachments under the Civil Procedure Rules.

Legislation cited (2)

Cases cited (4)

  • Advocates for Natural Resources Governance and Development and 2 Others v Attorney General and Uganda National Road Authority (Constitutional Petition No. 40 of 2013)
  • Mukisa Biscuit Manufacturing Co. Ltd Vs West End Distributors Ltd [1969] E. A
  • James Katabazi and 21 Others v Secretary General of the East African Community and Another (Reference No. 1 of 2007)
  • King's College Buddo Staff Savings Scheme Limited v Zaverion Samula Lukanga Bosco (HCCS No. 26 of 2020)

Full judgment

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

Eagle Investiments Limited v Surjit and Another (HCCS 20 of 2018) [2022] UGHCCD 276 (7 December 2022)
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.