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Ham Enterprises Limited and 2 Others v Diamond Trust Bank uganda Limited and Another (Civil Application 313 of 2020)

Court of Appeal · [2021] UGCA 205 · 2021 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for leave to appeal against a High Court ruling granting stay of execution pending appeal
Decision
Application and related appeal dismissed as moot and misconceived, with no order as to costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court dismissed an application for leave to appeal against the Principal Judge's order staying execution pending appeal. The Court held that because the stay had lapsed, the substantive appeal having been fixed for hearing, the application was moot and there was no reason to entertain it. Even otherwise, the application was misconceived: there is only one High Court in Uganda, and any High Court judge anywhere has jurisdiction to hear any matter, while the Principal Judge, Heads of Division, Registrars or an appellate court may reallocate files between judges. The Court accordingly dismissed both the application and Civil Appeal 313 of 2020, making no order as to costs.

Outcome

Application and related appeal dismissed as moot and misconceived, with no order as to costs

Facts

The applicants sought leave to appeal against a ruling of the Principal Judge dated 2 November 2020 in High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 846 of 2020. In that application the Principal Judge had granted the respondents an order staying execution of the judgment and decree of Justice Henry Adonyo in High Court Civil Suit No. 43 of 2020, pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal. By the time the application for leave came up for hearing, that order of stay had lapsed because the appeal to which it related had been fixed for hearing on the same day. The grounds of the application challenged the legality and propriety of the proceedings, ruling and orders issued by the Principal Judge, including questions about the allocation of court files between High Court judges.

Issues

  1. Whether leave to appeal should be granted against the Principal Judge's order staying execution pending appeal.
  2. Whether the application had been rendered moot by the fixing of the substantive appeal for hearing.

Orders

  • Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
  • Civil Appeal 313 of 2020 dismissed as overtaken by events.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Mootness — Application overtaken by events
Where the order sought to be appealed has lapsed because the substantive appeal to which it relates has been fixed for hearing, an application concerning that order becomes moot and the court will decline to entertain it.
Civil Procedure — High Court — Jurisdiction and allocation of cases between judges
There is only one High Court in Uganda, and every High Court judge has jurisdiction to hear and determine any matter, civil or criminal, at any stage; court files may be moved between judges or registrars as directed by the Principal Judge, Heads of Division, Registrars, or by order of an appellate court.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Rules of the Court of Appeal r.2(1)

Full judgment

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

Ham Enterprises Limited and 2 Others v Diamond Trust Bank uganda Limited and Another (Civil Application 313 of 2020) [2021] UGCA 205 (27 January 2021)
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.