Kizito v Nsubuga & 6 Others (Civil Application 28 of 2021)

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The applicant sought a certificate of urgency to have her pending interim-injunction application heard during the 42-day Covid-19 contingency period in which courts handle only urgent matters. She relied on evidence that the respondents intended to bury their late father on land decreed to belong to her in Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2018. The single Justice held that urgency is determined case by case on the evidence adduced, and found that the impending burial was an urgent matter that could not await the expiry of the 42-day period. The application was granted, Civil Application No. 27 of 2021 was declared urgent and directed to be heard within that period, with costs in the cause.

Outcome

Application granted; Civil Application No. 27 of 2021 declared urgent and to be heard within the 42-day Covid-19 contingency period

Facts

The applicant, Betty Kizito, had been declared entitled to land at Muyenga (Kyadondo Block 244 Plot 5091) by the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2018, which ordered her reinstatement onto the property and onto the certificate of title as tenant in common with the first respondent, and the Commissioner for Land Registration had complied. The respondents' late father, David Kizito, died on 9 June 2021, and the respondents planned to bury him on the same disputed land. The applicant adduced evidence, including communications and photographs of a freshly dug grave and construction materials being ferried to the site, indicating the burial was imminent. The Chief Justice had on 7 June 2021 issued Revised Contingency Measures suspending court hearings except urgent matters for 42 days, expiring on 17 July 2021.

Issues

1. Whether a certificate of urgency should be granted declaring Civil Application No. 27 of 2021 (for an interim injunction) urgent so that it may be heard within the 42-day period during which courts handle only urgent matters under the Judiciary's Revised Contingency Measures for Covid-19.

Orders

• A certificate of urgency is granted declaring Civil Application No. 27 of 2021 urgent and that it should be heard during the 42-day period.
• The costs of the application shall be in the cause.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (2)

• Supreme Court Rules r.2(2)
• Supreme Court Rules r.42(1)

Cases cited (1)

• Betty Kizito v David Kizito and Others (Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2018)

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