Giuliano v Calaudio (Civil Application 3 of 2013)

Observed later treatment

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

A single judge of the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to grant a substantive stay of execution, which must be granted by a full court, but may, in exercise of the court's inherent power under rule 2(2), grant an interim order staying execution to preserve the status quo until the full court hears the main application. Applying Alcon International Ltd, the conditions for an interim stay (a pending substantive application and a threat of execution) were satisfied, since the respondent had extracted a decree and obtained a certificate of taxation and could execute at any time, rendering the pending applications nugatory. The interim stay was granted, with costs to the respondent owing to the applicant's dilatory conduct.

Outcome

Interim stay of execution granted pending the full court's determination of the main application for stay of execution

Facts

Decrees and orders had been passed against the applicant in the High Court and Court of Appeal. The applicant attempted to appeal to the Supreme Court but counsel failed to file a valid Notice of Appeal in time and purported to obtain orders from the Registrar of the Court of Appeal rather than the court itself. When the appeal came before the Supreme Court, the respondent raised a preliminary objection that it was incompetent; on 29 January 2013 the court found the appeal incompetent and struck it out. The applicant then filed two applications: one to validate the appeal and one to stay execution. The respondent had extracted a decree and obtained a certificate of taxation but had not yet moved to execute, though he had held a High Court judgment since 2004. Because a stay of execution can only be granted by a full court, the applicant sought an interim stay before a single judge to preserve the position pending the full hearing.

Issues

1. Whether a single judge of the Supreme Court may grant an interim order staying execution pending the hearing of the main application for stay of execution by the full court.
2. Whether the conditions for granting an interim stay of execution were satisfied.

Orders

• Application allowed.
• Interim stay of execution granted until the court determines the main application for stay of execution.
• Costs of the application awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (4)

• Rules of the Supreme Court r.2(2)
• Rules of the Supreme Court r.6(2)
• Rules of the Supreme Court r.5(2)
• Constitution of Uganda art.126

Cases cited (2)

• Alcon International Ltd v The New Vision Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd & Another (Civil Application No. 4 of 2010)
• NAIROBI CITY COUNCIL -Vs- RISLEY [2002] 2 EA 487

Cases citing this judgment (4)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

• Apollo Mushabe v Mutumba Ismael and Another (Miscellaneous Application No. 225 of 2025)
• Strogen Limited and Others v Vehicle and Equipment Leasing Ltd (Misc. Application No. 353 of 2025)
• Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and Another v Basssajjabalaba and 3 Others (Civil Revision 3 of 2023)
• Mayimuna v Metropolitan Properties Ltd (Civil Application No. 48 of 2015)

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