Wakilii

Kyomuhendo v Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda and Others (Reference No.11 of 2020)

East African Court of Justice · [2024] EACJ 15 · 2024 Reference Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Reference to the East African Court of Justice challenging the admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the East African Community on grounds of alleged human rights violations
Decision
Reference dismissed with costs to the Respondents

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The East African Court of Justice dismissed a reference challenging the admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the East African Community on grounds of alleged human rights violations. The Court held that while it had jurisdiction to interpret the Treaty, the reference was overtaken by events following DRC's admission as a full member in July 2022. The Court further held that DRC could not be bound by Treaty provisions for actions committed before it became a member, applying the principle of pacta sunt servanda under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Outcome

Reference dismissed with costs to the Respondents

Facts

The Applicant, a Ugandan citizen, filed a reference challenging the Democratic Republic of Congo's application to join the East African Community. He alleged that DRC agents had arbitrarily detained several Ugandan citizens, including Samuel William Mugumya, Stephen Mugisha, Aggrey Kamukama, Joseph Kamugisha, Nathan Bright and 35 unnamed others, since 2014 in various detention facilities including Ndolo Military Prison. The Applicant contended that these detentions violated fair trial safeguards under the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and that DRC should not be admitted to the Community until it released the detainees, paid compensation, and formally apologised. The reference was filed on 4 May 2020. During the pendency of the proceedings, DRC was admitted as the seventh Partner State of the East African Community on 29 March 2022 and became a full member on 11 July 2022 after depositing its instruments of ratification.

Issues

  1. Whether the East African Court of Justice has jurisdiction to entertain the Reference
  2. Whether the Reference is overtaken by events and therefore stale, moot and academic
  3. Whether the Reference discloses any cause of action against the Respondents
  4. Whether the impugned actions of the Democratic Republic of Congo violated the spirit and letter of the EAC Treaty
  5. Whether the parties are entitled to the reliefs sought

Orders

  • Reference dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the Respondents.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Jurisdiction of Regional Courts — Interpretation and Application of Treaty Provisions
The East African Court of Justice has jurisdiction to determine whether actions and decisions of Partner States or Community institutions infringe specific provisions of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, where the application seeks interpretation and application of Treaty provisions.
Administrative Law — Cause of Action — Requirements under Regional Treaty
For a cause of action to be established under Article 30(1) of the EAC Treaty, an applicant need only show that he is a resident of a Partner State, that he is complaining about the legality of any act, regulation, directive, decision or action of a Partner State or an institution of the Community, and that the actions allegedly constitute a violation of the Treaty.
Administrative Law — Mootness — Reference Overtaken by Events
A court may decline to decide a case which raises merely a hypothetical or abstract question where the decision will have no practical effect on the rights of the parties. If subsequent to the initiation of proceedings events occur which affect the rights of the parties, the case is said to be moot. A reference challenging the admission of a state to a regional community becomes moot where that state has been admitted and become a full member during the pendency of the proceedings.
Statutory Interpretation — Treaty Interpretation — Pacta Sunt Servanda — Temporal Application
Under the principle of pacta sunt servanda embodied in Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969, every treaty in force is binding only upon the parties to it. A state that was not a member of a regional community at the time alleged violations occurred cannot be bound by the provisions of the community's treaty for actions committed before it joined the community, as it had not consented to be bound by the treaty at the material time.

Legislation cited (23)

  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Articles 3(2)-(4)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 6(d)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 7(1)(a)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 7(2)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 8(1)(a)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 8(1)(c)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 23
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 27(1)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 30
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 30(1)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 38(2)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 67(3)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 123(3)(c)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 9(1)(a)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 10(1)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Articles 11(1)-(9)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Articles 12(1)-(4)
  • Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Article 11(9)(c)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of the Court, 2019 Rule 25
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of the Court, 2019 Rule 127(1)
  • Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 Article 26
  • Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 Article 2(1)(g)
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights

Cases cited (21)

  • Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania v African Network for Animal Welfare (EACJ Appeal No. 3 of 2011)
  • Alcon International Limited v Standard Chartered Bank of Uganda and 2 Others (EACJ Appeal No. 3 of 2013)
  • Owners of the Motor Vessels 'Lillian S' v Caltex Oil (Kenya) Limited [1989] KLR
  • Eric Kabalisa Makala v Attorney General of The Republic of Rwanda (EACJ Reference No. 1 of 2017)
  • Patrick Ntege Walusimbi and 2 Others v Attorney General of Uganda and 5 Others (EACJ Reference No. 8 of 2013)
  • Prof. Peter Anyang' Nyong'o v Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya and Others (EACJ Reference No. 1 of 2006)
  • Legal Brain Trust (IBT) Ltd v Attorney General of The Republic of Uganda (EACJ Appeal No. 4 of 2012)
  • Samuel Mukira Muhochi v Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda (EACJ Reference No. 5 of 2011)
  • Ajayi v Military Administrator, Ondo State [1997] 5 NWLR (Pt.504)
  • Mbugua Mureithi Wa Nyambura v Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda & Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya (EACJ Reference No. 11 of 2011)
  • Patrick Walusumbi and Others v Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda and Others (EACJ Reference No. 8 of 2013)
  • Human Rights Awareness & Promotion Forum (HRAPF) v Attorney General of Uganda (EACJ Reference No. 6 of 2014)
  • Alcon International Ltd v Standard Chartered Bank of Uganda and 2 Others (EACJ Reference No. 6 of 2010)
  • Hon. Dr Margaret Zziwa v Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC Appeal No. 2 of 2017)
  • Anthony Leonard Msanze & Another v Juliana Elias Msanze (Civil Appeal 76 of 2021)
  • John M. Byombalirwa vs Agency Maritime Internationale
  • Adam Kyomuhendo v Attorney General of Uganda and 6 Others (EACJ Application No. 11 of 2020)
  • Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya v Independent Medical Legal Unit (EACJ Appeal No. 1 of 2011)
  • Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda & Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya v Omar Awadh and 6 Others (EACJ Appeal No. 2 of 2012)
  • Borowski v Attorney General of Canada [1989] SCR 342
  • Attorney General of United Republic of Tanzania v African Network for Animal Welfare (EACJ Appeal No. 3 of 2014)

Full judgment

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

Kyomuhendo v Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda and Others (Reference No.11 of 2020) [2024] EACJ 15 (29 November 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.