Wakilii

Kacaca v Byarugaba (Civil Appeal 29 of 2022)

High Court · [2023] UGHC 439 · 2023 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Magistrate Grade One decision arising from Civil Suit No. 017/2017
Decision
Appeal dismissed as incompetent on preliminary objections

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the appeal as incompetent on preliminary objections. The court held that the appeal was filed 16 months out of time without proper explanation, and that failure to serve the memorandum of appeal within 21 days as required by the Civil Procedure Rules rendered the appeal incompetent. The court declined to cure these procedural defects under Article 126(2)(e) of the Constitution.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed as incompetent on preliminary objections

Facts

The appellant appealed a decision of the Magistrate Grade One, Kanungu dated 20 March 2020 arising from Civil Suit No. 017/2017. The appellant denied allegations and contended that she acquired the suit land from her father who had bought it from the respondent's father in 1963 and had utilized it until his death when it was shared among family members. Records of proceedings were certified on 30 March 2020, meaning the appellant was required to file her appeal by 29 April 2020. The appellant filed the appeal on 28 August 2021, 16 months after the deadline. COVID-19 restrictions were lifted on 31 July 2021, allowing movement of public and private transport.

Issues

  1. Whether the appeal was filed out of time.
  2. Whether the appellant failed to serve a memorandum of appeal within the prescribed time.

Orders

  • Civil Appeal No. 029 of 2022 (formerly Civil Appeal No. 035 of 2020) is incompetent and is dismissed.
  • Costs of this appeal and that of the court below allowed.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Time Limits — Filing Out of Time
An appeal filed 16 months out of time without proper explanation renders the appeal incompetent and liable to dismissal.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Service of Memorandum of Appeal — Time Limits
Service of a memorandum of appeal must be effected within 21 days as provided under Order 5 Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules, which applies by implication to service of memoranda of appeal under Order 49 Rule 2, and failure to serve within this time renders the appeal incompetent.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Commencement — Memorandum of Appeal
A memorandum of appeal is the mode of commencement of an appeal, and failure to serve it properly renders the appeal incompetent.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (2)

  • D.R. Pandya v Republic [1957] E.A. 336
  • Frederick Zaabwe v Orient Bank & 5 Others (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 4 of 2006)

Full judgment

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

Kacaca v Byarugaba (Civil Appeal 29 of 2022) [2023] UGHC 439 (7 September 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.