Wakilii

Komakech & 4 Ors v Gulu Municipal Council (Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 10 of 2018)

High Court · [2019] UGHCCD 60 · 2019 Application Dismissed (Costs to Applicants) AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review of decision by Municipal Council to dissolve Standing Committees and curtail applicants' term of office as Chairpersons
Decision
Application dismissed on discretionary grounds after finding the decision to curtail term of office was illegal but that circumstances did not justify grant of relief given that the term would have expired by date of judgment

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the Municipal Council acted ultra vires its powers by dissolving Standing Committees six months before the expiry of their conventional two-and-a-half-year term, in breach of an established uncodified convention binding on both parties. The decision was illegal for premature curtailment of the term without grounds for removal under the Local Governments Act. Procedural irregularities in convening the meeting were directory rather than mandatory and did not invalidate the decision. The decision itself was not irrational. However, since the applicants' term would have expired by the date of judgment and new committees were constituted, the court declined to grant discretionary relief. Application dismissed with costs to the applicants.

Outcome

Application dismissed on discretionary grounds after finding the decision to curtail term of office was illegal but that circumstances did not justify grant of relief given that the term would have expired by date of judgment

Facts

The five applicants were elected as Chairpersons of Standing Committees of Gulu Municipal Council on 18 July 2016 for what both parties understood as a conventional two-and-a-half-year term. On 29-30 June 2018, six months before the conventional term expiry, the Council dissolved the committees and elected new chairpersons. The applicants challenged this decision by judicial review. At the hearing, it emerged that the minutes of the Council meeting of 29 June 2018 had not been approved by Council; the version signed by the Chairperson and Secretary was signed only for evidential purposes in the proceedings. The court found evidence of the dissolution decision through the overt administrative act of constituting new committees on 18 July 2018.

Issues

  1. Whether the court had subject-matter jurisdiction to review unapproved Council minutes as evidence of a reviewable administrative decision.
  2. Whether the decision to dissolve the respondent's standing committees and replace them with new ones was bad for illegality.
  3. Whether there was any fatal procedural impropriety in the process leading up to the decision to dissolve the standing committees.
  4. Whether the respondent's decision was irrational.
  5. Whether the circumstances justified the grant of the prerogative orders sought.

Orders

  • The applicants succeeded in challenging the legality of the decision to curtail their term of office by a period of six months.
  • The applicants failed to establish a basis for the grant of substantive discretionary remedies.
  • The application is dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the applicants.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Reviewable Decisions — Characteristics of Administrative Decisions
An administrative decision subject to judicial review must have the character of finality and must be a substantive determination that is final, operative, or determinative of the issue, rather than merely a step in the reasoning process toward an ultimate decision. Intermediary findings not expressly required by statute are not reviewable as decisions.
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Evidence of Administrative Decisions — Minutes Not Approved by Council
Minutes of a Council meeting that have not been read to and approved by Council cannot be relied upon as a true record of deliberations and resolutions, even where signed by the Chairperson and Secretary solely for evidential purposes. However, a decision may be inferred from overt official acts such as the constitution of new committees.
Administrative Law — Conventions — Uncodified Administrative Practices — Legal Effect
Conventions are uncodified rules and practices by which political institutions operate. Where parties consistently adopt a convention limiting the term of office of standing committees and both parties regard it as binding, they are bound by that convention. The convention may modify the application of statutory rules, but an uncodified adaptation must be statutorily authorised and should be promulgated properly to avoid manipulation for political purposes.
Administrative Law — Illegality — Acting Ultra Vires — Premature Curtailment of Term of Office
Where parties have adopted a convention limiting the term of office of standing committee chairpersons to two and a half years, a Council acts ultra vires its powers by dissolving the committees before the expiry of that conventional term. The power to dissolve crystallises only upon expiry of the term or upon grounds for removal specified by statute.
Administrative Law — Procedural Impropriety — Mandatory versus Directory Requirements — Failure to Comply with Rules of Procedure
Failure to comply with mandatory procedural requirements renders a decision invalid on grounds of procedural ultra vires, unless there is substantial compliance. Failure to comply with directory procedural requirements does not invalidate the decision. Where procedural rules regulate the exercise of functions already conferred rather than impose essential preliminaries, non-compliance is directory and does not nullify the decision, especially where holding the decision void would cause serious public inconvenience.
Administrative Law — Discretion — Exercise of Judicial Discretion to Grant Relief — Hardship and Impracticability
The grant of remedies under judicial review is discretionary. Where an administrative decision is found to be illegal but the applicant's term of office would have expired by the date of judgment and new committees have been constituted, reversing the process serves no useful practical purpose and the court may decline to grant discretionary relief.

Legislation cited (24)

Cases cited (16)

  • Byrd v Nunn [1877] 7 Ch D 284
  • Pioneer Plastic Containers Ltd v Commissioner of Customs and Excise [1967] 1 All ER 1053
  • Habre International Co Ltd v Kasam and Others [1999] 1 EA 115
  • Pioneer Construction Co Ltd v British American Tobacco (High Court Civil Suit No. 209 of 2008)
  • James Sawoabiri and Another v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 5 of 1990)
  • Australian Broadcasting Tribunal v Bond (1990) 94 ALR 11
  • Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223
  • Coney v Choyce and Others; Ludden v Choyce and Others [1975] 1 All ER 979
  • Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority (1998) 194 CLR 355
  • Sitenda Sebalu v Sam K Njuba and Another (Supreme Court Election Petition Appeal No. 26 of 2007)
  • Lansen and Others v Minister for Environment and Heritage and Another (2008) 174 FCR 14
  • Montreal Street Railway Company v Normandin [1958] SCR 533
  • R v Urbanowski [1976] 1 WLR 455
  • R (Rudewicz) v Secretary of State for Justice [2013] QB 410
  • Matter of Susan M v New York Law School 76 NY 2d 241 (1990)
  • Credit Suisse v Allerdale Borough Council [1997] QB 306

Full judgment

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Komakech & 4 Ors v Gulu Municipal Council (Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 10 of 2018) [2019] UGHCCD 60 (28 February 2019)
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.