Wakilii

ICEA Lion General Insurance Company Limited v Shark Media Limited (Appeal 2 of 2022)

Tribunal · [2023] UGIAT 7 · 2023 Application Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Taxation of bill of costs following dismissal of appeal on preliminary point of law
Decision
Bill of costs taxed and allowed at reduced amount

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the subject matter for taxation is the full amount claimed (USD 15,400) where the appellant admitted part of the claim but did not pay it until after the tribunal's decision. An admission must be unequivocal, unconditional, and acted upon by payment without unreasonable delay. Held further that instruction fees must be discounted where an appeal is determined on a preliminary point of law without proceeding to full trial, as an advocate's entitlement to fees grows as the matter progresses and is not earned in full upon instruction.

Outcome

Bill of costs taxed and allowed at reduced amount

Facts

The appellant filed an appeal before the Insurance Appeals Tribunal on 18 October 2022. The tribunal dismissed the appeal with costs on a preliminary point of law raised by the respondent. The respondent presented a bill of costs totaling UGX 14,821,200 for taxation. The appellant contended that USD 4,200 of the USD 15,400 claim had been admitted and should not form part of the subject matter for computing fees. The appellant also argued that the respondent should not receive full instruction fees because the appeal was determined on a preliminary point without proceeding to full trial. The USD 4,200 was only paid after the tribunal's decision on 19 December 2022.

Issues

  1. What is the subject matter for purposes of taxation of the bill of costs?
  2. Whether the respondent is entirely entitled to the instruction fees computed in accordance with the subject matter.

Orders

  • The subject matter of the appeal for purposes of taxation of the bill of costs is USD 15,400.
  • The instruction fees are taxed and allowed at UGX 5,376,720.
  • The final taxation certificate is UGX 9,011,720.

Rules and key headnotes

Taxation of Costs — Subject Matter — Effect of Admitted but Unpaid Claims
For purposes of taxation of costs, an admitted part of a claim does not cease to form part of the subject matter unless the admission is unequivocal, unconditional, and acted upon by actual payment without unreasonable delay.
Taxation of Costs — Instruction Fees — Matters Determined on Preliminary Points
An advocate's entitlement to instruction fees grows as the matter proceeds and is not earned in full upon instruction. Where an appeal is determined on a preliminary point of law without proceeding to full trial, the taxing officer has discretion to discount instruction fees to reflect the actual work done and the extent to which the matter progressed.

Cases cited (1)

  • Nijel Rawlins v Tito Turiyo (HCMA No. 73 of 2022)

Full judgment

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

ICEA Lion General Insurance Company Limited v Shark Media Limited (Appeal 2 of 2022) [2023] UGIAT 7 (2 January 2023)
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.