Wakilii

Kitgum Taxi Owner & Drivers Assoc. v Richard Anywar & oers (Civil Suit No. 87 Of 2007) (Civil Suit No. 87 of 2007)

High Court · [2009] UGHC 31 · 2009 No Order as to Costs AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Ruling on costs following plaintiff's withdrawal of civil suit
Decision
Suit withdrawn; no order as to costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Where a plaintiff organisation withdrew a suit against defendants who were its own members and executive, and there were competing claims to legitimate executive status, the court exercised discretion to order each party to bear its own costs. The institution of the suit and defence could not be characterised as misconduct given the internal management disputes within the organisation.

Outcome

Suit withdrawn; no order as to costs

Facts

The plaintiff, a taxi owners and drivers association in Kitgum District, sued five defendants who were its members for reliefs arising from their management of the organisation between 2003 and 2006. The defendants filed a defence asserting they were the lawful executive of the plaintiff organisation. At the time of suit institution, there appeared to be a competing group claiming to be the legitimate executive. On 21 August 2008, the plaintiff withdrew the suit. The defendants did not object but sought costs. The plaintiff asked that each party bear its own costs.

Issues

  1. Who is to be awarded the costs of the withdrawn suit?

Orders

  • Each party does bear its own costs of the withdrawn suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Costs — Discretion on Withdrawal of Suit
The general rule that costs follow the event entitles a successful party to costs unless that party is guilty of misconduct or there is other good cause for not awarding costs.
Civil Procedure — Costs — Exercise of Judicial Discretion
In determining good cause for departing from the rule that costs follow the event, the court considers the conduct of the parties in actual litigation and also matters which led to the litigation, exercising its discretion judiciously and on the right principles.
Civil Procedure — Costs — Internal Organisational Disputes
Where a suit arises from internal management disputes within an organisation, and the defendants are members and asserted executives of the plaintiff organisation, with competing claims to legitimate executive status, the court may order each party to bear its own costs upon withdrawal, as neither the institution of the suit nor the filing of defence can be characterised as misconduct.

Legislation cited (1)

Cases cited (3)

  • Francis Butagira v Deborah Namukasa (1992-1993) HCB 98
  • D.N. Dattani v H.K. Dawda (1949) EACA 35
  • Multiholdings Ltd v Uganda Commercial Bank (1973) EA 28

Full judgment

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

Kitgum Taxi Owner & Drivers Assoc. v Richard Anywar & oers (Civil Suit No. 87 Of 2007) (Civil Suit No. 87 of 2007) [2009] UGHC 31 (29 January 2009)
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.