Wakilii

Homs Company Limited and Another v The Commissioner Land Registration and another (Misc Cause No. 96 of 2022)

High Court · [2022] UGHCCD 196 · 2022 Judicial Review Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review seeking orders of certiorari to quash the Commissioner Land Registration's decision cancelling the applicants' certificates of title
Decision
Orders of certiorari granted quashing the Commissioner's cancellation decisions; applicants' certificates of title ordered reinstated

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that the Commissioner Land Registration acted ultra vires and unlawfully in cancelling the applicants' certificates of title on grounds of alleged illegality. Following the Supreme Court decision in Hilda Wilson Namusoke, the Commissioner lacks jurisdiction to cancel certificates of title on grounds of fraud without a court order. The court found that the Commissioner's characterisation of the matter as illegality rather than fraud was a scheme to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling, as the underlying allegations required full trial with cross-examination. Orders of certiorari issued quashing the cancellation and compelling reinstatement of the applicants' titles.

Outcome

Orders of certiorari granted quashing the Commissioner's cancellation decisions; applicants' certificates of title ordered reinstated

Facts

The applicants were registered proprietors of land comprised in Kyadondo Block 268 Plots 977, 978, 979 and 980 at Naziba. The land was originally registered in the names of Sepiriya Kawaganya in 1935, transferred to Yoana Maria Kiggundu in 1959, then to Saulo Bamuchumika in 1968, then to Juliet Kawagule Kafire in 1969, who subdivided the land. The applicants acquired their titles from subsequent transactions. In 2019, the Commissioner Land Registration issued a notice of intention to effect changes in the register. In February 2020, the Commissioner cancelled the applicants' certificates of title, stating that the land had been fraudulently transferred into the names of Saulo Bamuchumika and later Juliet Kawugule. The cancellation followed a complaint from Hassan Luyimbazi, claiming to be a grandson of Sepiriya Kawaganya, alleging the land was erroneously registered without consent. The applicants only learned of the cancellation when they applied for bank credit facilities and a search revealed their titles had been cancelled. The applicants filed for judicial review, arguing the Commissioner acted ultra vires and without according them a hearing.

Issues

  1. Whether the decision of the respondent was irrational, ultra vires and was in contravention of the law?
  2. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • An Order of Certiorari issues quashing the 1st respondent's decision cancelling the 1st applicants' certificates of title for land comprised and registered under Kyadondo Block 268 plots 978, 979 and 980 land at Naziba.
  • An Order issues compelling the 1st respondent to reinstate and or restore the applicants' certificates of title of land comprised and registered under Kyadondo Block 268 plot 978, 979 and 980 land at Naziba.
  • An Order of Certiorari issues quashing the respondent's decision cancelling the 2nd Applicants' certificate of Title for the land comprised and registered under Kyadondo Block 268 Plot 977 at Naziba.
  • An Order compelling the respondent to reinstate and or restore the 2nd Applicants certificates of Title for land comprised and registered under Kyadondo Block 268 Plot 977 at Naziba.
  • Each party should bear their own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Jurisdiction of Commissioner Land Registration — Power to Cancel Certificates of Title on Grounds of Fraud
The Commissioner Land Registration lacks jurisdiction to cancel a certificate of title on grounds of fraud without referring the matter to court. Section 91 of the Land Act deliberately excludes fraud as a ground for administrative cancellation, limiting the Commissioner's power to errors and illegalities that do not require the rigours of a full trial.
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Illegality — Characterisation of Fraud as Illegality to Circumvent Jurisdictional Limits
Where a Commissioner Land Registration characterises allegations of fraud as illegalities in order to exercise cancellation powers under section 91 of the Land Act, such action constitutes a scheme to defeat the Supreme Court's ruling that fraud allegations require full court proceedings with cross-examination. Allegations that require testing of evidence through cross-examination cannot be recharacterised as administrative illegalities.
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Grounds for Review — Illegality, Irrationality and Procedural Impropriety
Judicial review may be granted on three grounds: illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety. An applicant must plead and prove that the decision complained of was arrived at either illegally, irrationally or with procedural impropriety.
Land & Property — Registration of Title — Limitation — Stale Claims and Time-Barred Actions
The Commissioner Land Registration should not entertain complaints seeking to impeach titles based on transactions occurring decades earlier where such claims would be time-barred if brought before a court. If a court is barred from hearing a time-barred claim, the Commissioner should not exercise power to entertain such claims administratively.
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Time Limits — Extension of Time — COVID-19 Pandemic
A court may exercise its discretion to extend time for filing a judicial review application beyond the three-month limitation period where the delay occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns which restricted movements, and where the applicant only became aware of the decision when it affected their ability to obtain credit facilities.

Legislation cited (15)

Cases cited (3)

  • Hilda Wilson Namusoke & 3 Others v Owalla's Home Investment Trust (EA) Limited (SCCA No. 15 of 2017)
  • Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1985] 1 AC 374
  • R v Lord President of the Privy Council, ex parte Page [1993] AC 682

Full judgment

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Homs Company Limited and Another v The Commissioner Land Registration and another (Misc Cause No. 96 of 2022) [2022] UGHCCD 196 (30 September 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.