Wakilii

Isaac Wanzige Magoola V Attorney General (MISC. APPLICATION NO. 49 OF 2019)

High Court · [2019] UGHCCD 184 · 2019 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for review of High Court judgment arising from Civil Suit No. 655 of 2002
Decision
Application for review dismissed with costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Court held that review jurisdiction is limited to errors apparent on the face of the record — those self-evident without elaborate argument. Disagreement with a judgment's reasoning or conclusions does not constitute such error. Where alleged errors require detailed examination and could support an appeal, the proper remedy is appeal, not review. Application filed over four years after judgment dismissed as frivolous, vexatious, and abuse of court process.

Outcome

Application for review dismissed with costs

Facts

The applicant had successfully sued the Attorney General in Civil Suit No. 655 of 2002, obtaining judgment on 4 September 2014 relating to his unlawful termination from public service. He had been a First Secretary in foreign service at the Ugandan diplomatic mission in Pretoria, South Africa, earning USD 1,360, and later held the position of Director Finance and Administration in the External Security Organisation earning UGX 2,201,300. Over four years after judgment, the applicant filed this application seeking review of the trial court's computation of his emoluments, gratuity, salary arrears, ex gratia payment, damages, repatriation allowance, and interest. He claimed multiple errors apparent on the face of the record affecting quantum calculations. The respondent opposed the application as frivolous, an abuse of process, and filed out of time.

Issues

  1. Whether there were errors apparent on the face of the record in the trial judgment justifying review under Section 82 of the Civil Procedure Act.
  2. Whether the application for review was filed within a reasonable time.
  3. Whether the application constituted an abuse of court process.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Review — Errors Apparent on Face of Record — Test
An error apparent on the face of the record must be self-evident and manifest without requiring examination, argument, or elaborate reasoning to establish it. An error which requires a long drawn-out process of reasoning on points where there may conceivably be two opinions cannot be said to be an error apparent on the face of the record.
Civil Procedure — Review — Distinction from Appeal
Review jurisdiction should not be confused with appellate powers. The power of review does not enable a court to correct all errors that may have been committed in a judgment. Where alleged errors involve erroneous views of evidence or law, erroneous conclusions, or misapprehension of procedure or substantive law, the proper remedy is appeal, not review.
Civil Procedure — Review — Disagreement with Reasoning Not Grounds for Review
Mere disagreement with a judgment's reasoning or conclusions does not constitute an error apparent on the face of the record sufficient to ground a review application. An erroneous view of evidence or law and an erroneous conclusion of law are not grounds for review, though they may constitute good grounds of appeal.
Civil Procedure — Abuse of Court Process — Review Applications as Disguised Appeals
Filing a review application on grounds that properly constitute grounds of appeal amounts to an abuse of court process. It is neither fair to the court which decided the matter nor to the administration of justice to file review applications indiscriminately and fight over again the same battle which has been fought and lost.
Civil Procedure — Frivolous and Vexatious Applications
An application is frivolous when it is without substance or unarguable. An application is vexatious when it lacks bona fides, is hopeless or oppressive, and tends to cause the opposite party unnecessary anxiety, trouble and expense. Court will dismiss applications that are frivolous and vexatious as they amount to an abuse of the process of the court.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (7)

  • MK Financiers Limited v Shah & Co Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 1056)
  • Edison Kanyabwera v Pastori Tumwebaze (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 2004)
  • Caneland Ltd & Others vs Delphis Bank Ltd Civil Application No. 344 of 1999 (Kenya Court of Appeal)
  • Benkay Nigeria Limited vs Cadbury Nigeria Limited No. 29 of 2006 (Supreme Court of Nigeria)
  • Seraki vs Kotoye (1992) 9 NWLR (pt 264) 156 at 188
  • Nsereko v Lubega [1982] HCB 51
  • Zachary Olum & Another v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 6 of 1999)

Full judgment

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

Isaac Wanzige Magoola V Attorney General (MISC. APPLICATION NO. 49 OF 2019) [2019] UGHCCD 184 (16 August 2019)
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.