Wakilii

Kereni Bwomono V Titus Kidega Lak & 2 Ors (High Court Civil Suit No. MG 5 94)

High Court · [1996] UGHC 10 · 1996 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for adjournment in a civil suit
Decision
Suit dismissed for failure to proceed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

An application for adjournment on grounds that the plaintiff was too busy at work and witnesses failed to appear without explanation does not constitute sufficient cause under O.15 r.1 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The court dismissed the application and the suit under O.9 r.19 with costs to the defendants.

Outcome

Suit dismissed for failure to proceed

Facts

The plaintiff sought an adjournment when the case was called for hearing on 26 April 1996 on grounds that he was unable to leave his employment in the President's Office where he was alone in the Communication Section due to his colleague's illness, and that other witnesses from Kitgum were also not present though notified. The 2nd defendant's counsel opposed the application, arguing that the plaintiff was asking the court to adjourn at his convenience without sufficient cause.

Issues

  1. Whether sufficient cause was shown to justify grant of adjournment.

Orders

  • Application for adjournment dismissed.
  • Suit dismissed under O.9 r.19 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
  • Costs awarded to the 2nd and 3rd Defendants.

Rules and key headnotes

Adjournment — Sufficient cause — Discretion of court
Adjournment is a matter within the discretion of the court and under O.15 r.1 of the Civil Procedure Rules such discretion is exercised in favour of an applicant only where sufficient cause is shown.
Adjournment — Being too busy at work — Not sufficient cause
Being too busy at one's place of work is not sufficient cause to justify grant of adjournment, otherwise no court work would progress as every litigant would claim to be too busy at their respective place of work.
Adjournment — Non-appearance of witnesses — Insufficient explanation
The non-appearance of witnesses, though notified, without knowing the cause of the failure does not constitute sufficient cause to justify grant of adjournment.

Legislation cited (2)

  • Civil Procedure Rules O.15 r.1
  • Civil Procedure Rules O.9 r.19

Full judgment

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

Kereni Bwomono V Titus Kidega Lak & 2 Ors (High Court Civil Suit No. MG 5_94) [1996] UGHC 10 (26 April 1996)
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.