Wakilii

Kiggundu & 7 Others v Kiyaga (Miscellaneous Application 552 of 2024)

High Court · [2024] UGHCFD 57 · 2024 Application Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for leave to file taxation reference out of time arising from exparte taxation proceedings
Decision
Leave granted to file taxation reference out of time to rectify inclusion of matters where costs were not awarded, but costs of the application awarded against the applicants due to their deliberate non-attendance at taxation

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

Application allowed on the ground that the Bill of Costs taxed included matters where no costs had been expressly awarded. The court rejected the applicants' claim of non-service, finding they were duly served but deliberately refused to attend. However, costs in the taxation had improperly included Civil Suit No. 0073 of 2021 and Miscellaneous Application No. 0178 of 2021 when only costs of the appeal were awarded. Leave granted to file taxation reference within seven days but applicants ordered to bear costs of the application for their failure to attend taxation.

Outcome

Leave granted to file taxation reference out of time to rectify inclusion of matters where costs were not awarded, but costs of the application awarded against the applicants due to their deliberate non-attendance at taxation

Facts

Applicants filed Civil Suit No. 0073 of 2021 and Miscellaneous Application No. 0178 of 2021 for temporary injunction which was granted with costs by the Registrar. The Respondent successfully appealed in Miscellaneous Application Appeal No. 0001 of 2021 and was awarded costs of the appeal. The Respondent then filed a Bill of Costs which was taxed exparte in Taxation Case No. 0036 of 2023. The Applicants claimed they were not served with the taxation hearing notice and only learned of it when served with a Notice to Show Cause why execution should not issue. The Applicants also claimed the Bill of Costs improperly included costs for Civil Suit No. 0073 of 2021 and Miscellaneous Application No. 0178 of 2021 when costs were only awarded for the appeal.

Issues

  1. Whether there are sufficient grounds to warrant extension of time within which the Applicants should file a reference against the costs awarded by the taxing officer in Taxation Case No. 0036 of 2023.

Orders

  • Leave is granted to the Applicants to file a reference against the costs awarded in Taxation case No. 0036 of 2023.
  • The reference shall be filed within seven (7) days from the date of this Ruling and in any case not later than 4th October 2024.
  • The Applicants shall bear the costs of this Application (Miscellaneous Application No. 0552 of 2024).

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Service of Process — Effective Service on Counsel of Record
Where an advocate has at all material times represented a party, service of court documents on that advocate constitutes effective service even if the advocate refuses to attend court under protest.
Civil Procedure — Taxation of Costs — Scope of Costs Order
Costs must be expressly awarded and cannot be implied. Where an appeal award is silent on costs in the underlying suit or applications, those costs cannot be included in a bill of costs for taxation even if costs follow the event.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Sufficient Cause
Inclusion in a taxed bill of costs of matters where costs were not expressly awarded constitutes sufficient cause to grant leave to file a taxation reference out of time, notwithstanding that the applicant was properly served and chose not to attend the taxation hearing.

Legislation cited (4)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Kiggundu & 7 Others v Kiyaga (Miscellaneous Application 552 of 2024) [2024] UGHCFD 57 (26 September 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.