Wakilii

Historic Resources Conservation Initiatives & Ors v Attorney General (Civil Suit No. 53 of 2011)

High Court · [2012] UGHC 84 · 2012 Preliminary Objection Upheld — Suit Struck Out AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit seeking declaration and permanent injunction against alleged demolition of Uganda Museum
Decision
Suit struck out for non-compliance with statutory notice requirement

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court struck out the plaintiffs' suit seeking to prevent the demolition of the Uganda Museum for failure to serve the Attorney General with a 45-day statutory notice as required by the Civil Procedure (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act. The court held that the case did not fall within the recognized exceptions to the statutory notice requirement where pre-emptive action is needed to prevent imminent infringement of constitutional rights. The timing of raising the preliminary objection after evidence had been led was held to be proper.

Outcome

Suit struck out for non-compliance with statutory notice requirement

Facts

The four plaintiffs filed suit on 9 March 2011 seeking a declaration and permanent injunction against the proposed demolition of the Uganda Museum. The Attorney General filed a Written Statement of Defence denying any pending demolition, stating that while a sixty-storey building project was contemplated, it was in its infancy and environmental impact assessment would be conducted. The defence included a plea that the suit was barred for failure to serve statutory notice as required by law. After a scheduling conference on 21 April 2011, evidence was led by the plaintiffs' witnesses. On 18 April 2012, after evidence had been adduced, the State Attorney raised a preliminary point of law that the Attorney General had not been served with the mandatory statutory notice under Section 2 of the Civil Procedure (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act. The plaintiffs contended that the suit was brought to enforce constitutional and cultural rights and that serving a 45-day statutory notice would have defeated the purpose of protecting the museum from imminent demolition.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaint was competent where the plaintiffs failed to serve the Attorney General with a statutory notice as required by Section 2 of the Civil Procedure (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
  2. Whether the timing of raising the preliminary point of law after evidence had been led was proper.
  3. Whether the circumstances of the case constituted an exception to the statutory notice requirement.

Orders

  • Plaint struck out for being incompetent before the court.
  • Preliminary Point of Law raised by the defendant upheld.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Statutory Notice — Mandatory Requirement Before Suing Attorney General
Before instituting a suit against the Attorney General, a plaintiff has a statutory obligation under Section 2 of the Civil Procedure (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act to serve the Attorney General with a forty-five day written notice, and failure to do so renders the suit incompetent.
Civil Procedure — Statutory Notice — Exceptions to Mandatory Requirement
An exception to the statutory notice requirement exists where the rights and freedoms of people are being infringed or about to be infringed and there is need for the court to take pre-emptive action in order to prevent or forestall damage from the alleged violations.
Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Timing of Raising Objections
A preliminary point of law that has been pleaded may be raised at any time before the conclusion of the hearing, even after a scheduling conference and after evidence has been led, to avoid the futility of proceeding with a trial only to find later that the proceedings are incurably defective.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Civil Procedure (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap 72 s.2

Cases cited (5)

  • Platform for Labour Action and Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda v National Social Security Fund (Civil Suit No. 223 of 2008)
  • Dr. Rwanyarare v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 3 of 2002)
  • Greenwatch v Uganda Wildlife Authority (Miscellaneous Application No. 92 of 2004)
  • Ruth Asiimwe Kanyaruju v Hon Grace Namara (Civil Suit No. 198 of 2010)
  • NASSAN WASSWA & 9 OTHERS -VS - UGANDA RAYON TEXTILES [1982] HCB 137

Full judgment

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

Historic Resources Conservation Initiatives & Ors v Attorney General (Civil Suit No. 53 of 2011) [2012] UGHC 84 (30 April 2012)
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.