Likhari v Attorney General (MISCELLANEOUS CAUSE NO. 3 OF 2020)

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

Held that a foreign judgment must be registered with the High Court under section 3(1) of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act before it can be enforced in Uganda. The arrest and detention of the Applicant by Interpol and Uganda Police pursuant to an unregistered South Sudan court judgment was illegal and unlawful. An international warrant of execution in a civil matter cannot give rise to extradition. The application was allowed and declarations granted restraining enforcement of the unregistered foreign judgment.

Outcome

Application granted with declarations that the international warrant is illegal and unenforceable; passports of Applicant and sureties ordered to be returned; Respondent and its agents restrained from executing the warrant

Facts

The Applicant, a Ugandan resident, was summoned to Interpol on 21 December 2019 and informed of an international warrant of arrest from South Sudan. He was detained and transferred to Jinja Road Police Station. The warrant arose from Execution Case No. 195/2019 in Juba County Court, South Sudan, where proceedings had been conducted ex parte against him in a civil matter brought by Michael Lopa Sebit. The Applicant was granted police bond and required to surrender his passport and those of his sureties. The judgment creditor had not registered the South Sudan judgment with the High Court of Uganda before seeking its enforcement through Interpol and Uganda Police.

Issues

1. Whether an international warrant of arrest issued by Juba County Court in South Sudan can be enforced and executed in Uganda directly by Interpol and the Uganda Police without prior registration under the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act.
2. Whether the arrest and detention of the Applicant on police bond pursuant to an unregistered foreign judgment was lawful.
3. Whether an international warrant of execution in a civil matter can give rise to extradition under Ugandan law.

Orders

• The international warrant of execution issued by Juba County Court in South Sudan for execution of the judgment and decree in Execution Case No. 195/2019 sought to be enforced against the Applicant in Uganda by way of his arrest and transfer to South Sudan is declared illegal and unenforceable.
• There is no validly recognized judgment and decree in Uganda arising from Execution No. 195/2019 upon which execution by way of arrest and transfer of the Applicant to South Sudan can issue and be enforced by the Respondent or its agents including Interpol.
• The international warrant of execution of a civil judgment cannot give rise to extradition by Interpol.
• The Respondent, its agents and institutions including Interpol and the Uganda Police are restrained from executing the impugned international warrant of execution against the Applicant by way of arrest and transfer or extradition to Southern Sudan.
• The responsible officer at Jinja Road Police Station is directed to return the passports of the Applicant and his sureties forthwith.
• Each party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (18)

• Constitution of Uganda Article 23(1)(a)
• Constitution of Uganda Article 274
• Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act Cap 9 s.2
• Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act Cap 9 s.3
• Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act Cap 9 s.3(1)
• Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act Cap 9 s.7
• Extradition Act Cap 117 s.2
• Extradition Act Cap 117 s.9
• Extradition Act Cap 117 s.28
• Extradition Act Cap 117 s.29
• Civil Procedure Act s.98
• Judicature Act s.33
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 52 Rule 1
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 52 Rule 2
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 52 Rule 3
• Foreign Judgments Reciprocal Rules Rule 5
• Foreign Judgments Reciprocal Rules Rule 11
• Foreign Judgments Reciprocal Rules Rule 12

Cases cited (1)

• Leaf Tobacco and Commodities Uganda Ltd v Commissioner of Customs, Uganda Revenue Authority & Mastermind Tobacco (K) Ltd (Civil Suit No. 218 of 2012)

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