Wakilii

Jubilee Insurance Co. Limited & Another v United Bank of Africa Limited & 2 Others (Miscellaneous Application 467 of 2023)

High Court · [2024] UGCOMMC 233 · 2024 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for consolidation of two pending civil suits arising from a construction contract dispute and performance guarantee
Decision
Application dismissed; suits to proceed independently

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Court refused to consolidate two related civil suits arising from a construction contract and performance guarantee dispute. Although the suits arose from the same underlying contract, they involved different parties and had progressed significantly before different judicial officers. Consolidation at this advanced stage would require fresh pleadings and waste resources. Court held that consolidation is appropriate only at an early stage of litigation. Application dismissed with costs to the respondents.

Outcome

Application dismissed; suits to proceed independently

Facts

On 16 September 2019, the 2nd Applicant (AC Yafeng Construction Co. Ltd) entered into a construction contract with the 2nd Respondent (The Living World Assembly Ltd) to construct a 10,000-seater prayer city project in Kajjansi-Wakiso District for USD 11,372,367. The 1st Applicant (Jubilee Insurance Co. Ltd) issued a performance guarantee for UGX 4,169,772,511.40 in favour of the 2nd Respondent through the 1st Respondent (United Bank of Africa Ltd). On 23 December 2020, the 2nd Respondent terminated the building contract alleging breach by the contractor. The 1st Respondent subsequently called on the guarantee and filed Civil Suit No. 445 of 2021 against the 1st Applicant for breach of the deed of guarantee. The 2nd Applicant then filed Civil Suit No. 739 of 2021 against all three respondents challenging the termination and seeking recovery of the guaranteed sum paid. Civil Suit No. 445 of 2021 was before Hon. Lady Justice Patricia Kahigi Asiimwe at scheduling conference stage and subsequently under mediation. Civil Suit No. 739 of 2021 was before Hon. Justice Stephen Mubiru, who had already heard the plaintiff's case on 28 September 2023. The Applicants sought to consolidate the two suits or alternatively to stay Civil Suit No. 445 of 2021 pending determination of Civil Suit No. 739 of 2021.

Issues

  1. Whether Civil Suit No. 445 of 2021 and Civil Suit No. 739 of 2021 should be consolidated
  2. What remedies are available for the parties

Orders

  • Application for consolidation dismissed.
  • The suits shall proceed independently before the different judicial officers.
  • Costs of this application awarded to the respondents.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Consolidation of Suits — Discretion of Court
The court has discretion under Order 11 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules to consolidate suits where the same or similar questions of law or fact are involved and where the same parties are involved in pending suits in the same court.
Civil Procedure — Consolidation of Suits — Timing and Stage of Proceedings
An order for consolidation will generally be appropriate only where the proceedings are at an early stage in the litigation process. Where actions have progressed significantly before different judicial officers, consolidation should be refused to avoid waste of resources and multiplicity of fresh pleadings.
Civil Procedure — Consolidation of Suits — Different Parties to Suits
Consolidation should be refused where the suits involve different parties, as consolidation would compel a party to proceed against parties it did not originally sue.

Legislation cited (9)

Cases cited (4)

  • Willy Jagwe v Wilfred Bugingo (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 114 of 2016)
  • [1960] 1 All ER 397
  • [1921] 2 KB 1
  • Visare Uganda Limited v Muwema & Co. Advocates and Solicitors (Miscellaneous Application Nos. 826 and 827 of 2023)

Full judgment

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

Jubilee Insurance Co. Limited & Another v United Bank of Africa Limited & 2 Others (Miscellaneous Application 467 of 2023) [2024] UGCommC 233 (8 August 2024)
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.