Wakilii

Kato Sulaiman Kiggundu v Registered Trustees of Church of Uganda (Miscellaneous Application No. 256I of 2023)

High Court · [2024] UGHCLD 304 · 2024 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to strike out civil suit for offending the lis pendens rule
Decision
Application dismissed; pending suit to proceed to hearing

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The lis pendens rule under Section 6 of the Civil Procedure Act does not apply where the previously instituted suit between the same parties concerning the same subject matter was withdrawn before determination of the application. The application to strike out the pending suit on grounds of lis pendens was dismissed.

Outcome

Application dismissed; pending suit to proceed to hearing

Facts

The Respondent had filed Civil Suit No. 537 of 2021 against the Applicant seeking declarations that the Applicant was a trespasser on the Respondent's land at Kyanja, eviction, and demolition orders. On 7th November 2023, the Respondent instructed its lawyers to withdraw that suit, which was formally withdrawn by Court ruling on 15th March 2023 with costs to the Applicant. Meanwhile, the Respondent had filed Civil Suit No. 0052 of 2023 on 19th January 2023 against the Applicant and two others, seeking similar reliefs regarding the same land. The Applicant then brought this application to strike out Civil Suit No. 0052 of 2023 on grounds that it offended the lis pendens rule because Civil Suit No. 537 of 2021 was previously pending. The Applicant argued that both suits concerned the same subject matter and parties, thus violating Section 6 of the Civil Procedure Act.

Issues

  1. Whether the pending suit offends the lis pendens rule.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • No orders as to costs.
  • File to appear for hearing on 7th November 2025 at 12:45pm.

Rules and key headnotes

Lis Pendens — Application After Withdrawal of Earlier Suit
The lis pendens rule under Section 6 of the Civil Procedure Act does not apply where the previously instituted suit has been withdrawn before determination of the application alleging lis pendens.
Lis Pendens — Requirements
To establish lis pendens, a party must demonstrate that: (a) the matter in issue is directly and substantially in issue in a previously instituted suit; (b) the previously instituted suit is between the same parties or parties under whom they claim; and (c) the suit is pending in a court having jurisdiction to grant the reliefs claimed.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (1)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Kato_Sulaiman_Kiggundu_v_Registered_Trustees_of_Church_of_Uganda_(Miscellaneous_Application_No._256I_of_2023)_[2024]_UGHCLD_304_(5_June_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.