Wakilii

Kiryankusa v Crown Beverages Limited (Labour Dispute Miscellaneous Application No. 5 of 2022)

Industrial Court · [2022] UGIC 8 · 2022 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for orders to produce documents for inspection arising from Labour Dispute Reference No. 31 of 2020
Decision
Application dismissed with no order as to costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Industrial Court dismissed an application for production of a daily attendance register dating back seven years. The Court held that affidavits in reply constitute evidence rather than pleadings and should not be struck out for late filing where no prejudice is occasioned. On the substantive application, the Court found that seeking records seven years after the fact was unreasonable and amounted to a fishing expedition, as the claimant must prove his case with his own evidence rather than rely on documents the respondent may or may not possess.

Outcome

Application dismissed with no order as to costs

Facts

The applicant, a former employee of the respondent, sought production for inspection of a human resource manual dated September 2010 and a daily attendance register (muster roll) for the period October 2012 to October 2015. The application arose from Labour Dispute Reference No. 31 of 2020 in which the applicant claimed overtime payments. The respondent provided the human resource manual after the application was filed. The respondent opposed production of the attendance register, contending it did not possess records older than one year as it only kept such records for annual audit purposes. The applicant argued that under the Collective Bargaining Agreement 2015-2016, the respondent was required to keep attendance records of all employees. The respondent filed its affidavit in reply outside the 15-day timeline prescribed by the Civil Procedure Rules.

Issues

  1. Whether the affidavit in reply filed out of time should be struck out.
  2. Whether the respondent should be ordered to produce the daily attendance register (muster roll) for the period October 2012 to October 2015.

Orders

  • The affidavit in reply shall not be struck out.
  • The application for production of the daily attendance register is dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Affidavits in Reply — Nature and Time Limits — Whether Affidavit in Reply is a Pleading or Evidence
An affidavit in reply is evidence rather than a pleading and time constraints applied to defences may be misplaced when applied to affidavits, as affidavits are a way of giving evidence to the court other than by oral evidence and are intended to allow a case to run more quickly and efficiently.
Civil Procedure — Late Filing — Affidavits in Reply — Discretion to Accept — Substantive Justice over Procedural Technicality
Where a party files an affidavit in reply out of time but the opposing party has an opportunity to rejoinder and suffers no prejudice, the court should exercise its discretion to admit the affidavit in the interests of substantive justice rather than strike it out on procedural grounds.
Civil Procedure — Discovery and Production of Documents — Preconditions — Relevance and Pending Suit
The party seeking production of documents must have a suit in the same court with issues pending determination, and the documents sought must be relevant to the determination of the pending suit. The grant of an order for discovery is discretionary and the court will deny discovery if the applicant is using it as a fishing expedition.
Employment & Labour — Record Keeping — Duration of Retention — Reasonableness of Seeking Old Records
Seeking employment records seven years after the fact is unreasonable where legislation does not contain unanimity on the time an employer is required to keep records. The proof of a claimant's case is not dependent on what documents the respondent possesses but on the claimant's own evidence.
Evidence — Burden of Proof — Fishing Expeditions — Claimant's Duty to Establish Case
A claimant who issues proceedings must be taken to know what his case is and must prove it with requisite evidence. An application for production of documents to discover whether a case exists amounts to an undesirable fishing expedition and should not be encouraged.

Legislation cited (18)

Cases cited (9)

  • Edison Kanyabwera v Pastori Tumwebaze (SCCA No. 6 of 2004)
  • Samuel Mayanja v URA (HCMA No. 17 of 2005)
  • Bakaluba Peter Mukasa v Nambooze Betty Bakireke (Supreme Court Election Petition Appeal No. 4)
  • Stop and See (U) Ltd v Tropical Africa Bank Ltd (HCMA No. 333 of 2010)
  • Lam Lagoro v Muni University (HCMA No. 7 of 2016)
  • Attorney General v Ida Ntege (LDMA No. 23 of 2021)
  • Gerald Kafureka Karuhanga & Another v Attorney General & Others (HCMA No. 60 of 2015)
  • Patricia Mutesi v Attorney General (HCMA No. 912 of 2016)
  • Gale v Denman Picture Houses Ltd [1930] KB 588

Full judgment

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

Kiryankusa_v_Crown_Beverages_Limited_(Labour_Dispute_Miscellaneous_Application_No._5_of_2022)_[2022]_UGIC_8_(12_October_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.