Wakilii

Kasiita and 2 Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 57 of 2018)

Court of Appeal · [2022] UGCA 239 · 2022 Appeal Struck Out AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from the Court Martial Appeal Court to the Court of Appeal
Decision
Appeal struck out for lack of jurisdiction; the appeal was found incompetent before the Court of Appeal.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal held that it lacks jurisdiction to entertain appeals from the Court Martial Appeal Court. Appellate jurisdiction is purely a creature of statute, and neither the Constitution (Article 134(2)) nor the Judicature Act confers on the Court of Appeal jurisdiction over decisions of the Court Martial Appeal Court, whose decisions are made final by Regulation 20 of the UPDF (Court Martial Appeal Court) Regulations. Following PTE Muhumuza Zepha v Uganda, the Court found the appeal incompetent and struck it out without addressing the merits of the sentence enhancement grounds.

Outcome

Appeal struck out for lack of jurisdiction; the appeal was found incompetent before the Court of Appeal.

Facts

During January and February 2015 a group of about twenty people planned to rob a forex bureau in Kampala. On or about 3 March 2015, at Esso Corner on Kampala-Jinja Road, the appellants, wearing army uniforms and using a firearm, robbed UGX 525,000,000 belonging to Mr. Maddy Mulema Kalembe of Sports Forex Bureau. As civilians falling under section 119 of the UPDF Act, they were charged with aggravated robbery and tried by the General Court Martial. After initially pleading not guilty, they changed their pleas to guilty and were convicted and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment each. They appealed to the Court Martial Appeal Court on the ground that the sentence was manifestly harsh; that court instead enhanced the sentence to fifteen years after deducting time on remand. The appellants then appealed to the Court of Appeal challenging the enhancement procedure and jurisdiction, whereupon the respondent raised a preliminary objection on the Court of Appeal's jurisdiction.

Issues

  1. Whether the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Court Martial Appeal Court.

Orders

  • The appeal is incompetent before this court and is hereby struck out.

Rules and key headnotes

Appellate Jurisdiction — Appeals from Court Martial Appeal Court — Jurisdiction of Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Court Martial Appeal Court, whose decisions are made final by Regulation 20 of the UPDF (Court Martial Appeal Court) Regulations.
Jurisdiction — Appellate Jurisdiction as a Creature of Statute
Appellate jurisdiction springs only from statute; there is no such thing as inherent appellate jurisdiction, and the limits of a court's authority are imposed by the statute under which it is constituted.
Jurisdiction — Effect of Want of Jurisdiction — Nullity
Lack of jurisdiction goes beyond mere error or technicality; where a court entertains a matter without jurisdiction the proceedings are a nullity and the matter must be struck out.

Legislation cited (11)

  • Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act No. 7 of 2005 s.119(1)(g)
  • Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act No. 7 of 2005 s.119(1)(h)
  • Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act No. 7 of 2005 s.8
  • Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act No. 7 of 2005 s.236(a)
  • Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act No. 7 of 2005 s.236(b)
  • Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act No. 7 of 2005 s.239(2)
  • Penal Code Act s.285
  • Penal Code Act s.286
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 134(2)
  • Judicature Act Cap 13 s.10
  • Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (Court Martial Appeal Court) Regulations, Statutory Instrument 307-7, Regulation 20

Cases cited (9)

  • Kiwalabye v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 143 of 2001)
  • Kimera Zaverio v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 427 of 2014)
  • Kwamusi Jacob v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 22 of 2014)
  • Ambrose Ogwang v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 107 of 2013)
  • Nasasira Grace and Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 250 of 2017)
  • Muhumuza Zepha v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 31 of 2016)
  • Attorney General v Shah (No.4) [1971] U.A.50
  • Paul K. Semogerere and 2 Others v Attorney General (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 2002)
  • Desai v. Warsama (1967) EA 351

Full judgment

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

Kasiita and 2 Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 57 of 2018) [2022] UGCA 239 (28 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.