Wakilii

East African Courier (U) Ltd v Hima Cement Ltd (HCT-00-CC-CS 337 of 2011)

High Court · [2014] UGCOMMC 157 · 2014 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance commercial suit for recovery of debt for courier services rendered
Decision
Plaintiff recovered Ugx.11,320,000/= on admission; remaining claim dismissed but plaintiff awarded costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Where a defendant admits partial liability and judgment is entered on admission, with the remaining claim dismissed after the plaintiff concedes it cannot prove the balance, the plaintiff is entitled to costs on the decretal sum as costs follow the event. The fact that the defendant was indebted and only reconciled figures after being brought to court does not entitle the defendant to costs on the dismissed portion.

Outcome

Plaintiff recovered Ugx.11,320,000/= on admission; remaining claim dismissed but plaintiff awarded costs

Facts

East African Courier (U) Ltd contracted to perform courier services for Hima Cement Ltd between January 2006 and October 2011. The defendant paid for most services but left unpaid Ugx.51,909,507/=. The plaintiff sued to recover this amount plus interest at 30% from 4 October 2010. When the matter came for hearing on 3 July 2012, the defendant admitted liability for Ugx.11,320,000/= and judgment on admission was entered for that sum. The unadmitted part was scheduled for hearing. At the subsequent hearing, the plaintiff conceded through counsel that it could not prove the remaining sum after calling one witness. The defendant opposed an award of costs to the plaintiff and argued it should receive costs on the dismissed portion.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaintiff was entitled to costs after conceding it could not prove the full amount claimed beyond the sum admitted by the defendant.
  2. Whether the defendant was entitled to costs in respect of the dismissed part of the claim.

Orders

  • Plaintiff's claim for the remaining part of the original claim dismissed.
  • Costs of the suit to be borne by the defendant.
  • Instruction fees to be based on the decretal sum of Ugx.11,320,000/=

Rules and key headnotes

Costs — Award of Costs — Judgment on Admission — Partial Success
Where judgment is entered on admission for part of a claim and the remaining claim is dismissed, the plaintiff is entitled to costs based on the decretal sum as costs follow the event unless good reason exists to order otherwise.
Costs — Reservation of Costs — Judgment on Admission
A decree entered on admission that is silent on costs and schedules the unadmitted part for hearing constitutes a punctuation in the proceedings, not a final determination, with the issue of costs reserved for decision after the whole suit is concluded.
Costs — Unsuccessful Claims — Defendant's Entitlement
A defendant who was indebted to the plaintiff and admitted liability only after being brought to court is not entitled to costs in respect of the portion of the claim the plaintiff fails to prove, notwithstanding that the plaintiff did not win the entire sum claimed.

Legislation cited (1)

Cases cited (1)

  • Dauda v Ahmed & Ors (1987) KLR 665

Full judgment

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

East African Courier (U) Ltd v Hima Cement Ltd (HCT-00-CC-CS 337 of 2011) [2014] UGCommC 157 (20 November 2014)
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.