Wakilii

Lubega v Nanyonga (Civil Application No. 125 of 2015)

Court of Appeal · [2015] UGCA 24 · 2015 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Reference to the Court of Appeal from a ruling of the Assistant Registrar dismissing an application for extension of time
Decision
Reference allowed; out-of-time service of the Notice and Memorandum of Appeal validated

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal, on a reference from the Assistant Registrar's refusal to extend time, held that under Rule 5 of the Court of Appeal Rules the court may extend time whether before or after expiry and before or after the doing of the act, so an act done out of time is not an incurable nullity. The inadvertence of counsel in failing to serve pleadings on time was a proper ground for relief, and the applicant had diligently pursued his appeal. Invoking Article 126(2)(e) of the Constitution, the court allowed the reference and validated the out-of-time service of the Notice of Appeal and the Memorandum of Appeal, with costs to abide the outcome of the appeal.

Outcome

Reference allowed; out-of-time service of the Notice and Memorandum of Appeal validated

Facts

The applicant, Lubega Francis, filed Civil Appeal No. 068 of 2012 against a High Court decision (Faith Mwonda, J) delivered on 28 March 2011. He filed a Notice of Appeal on 6 April 2011 and a Memorandum of Appeal on 12 June 2012, out of the time stipulated under Rule 83 of the Court of Appeal Rules. He also served the Notice of Appeal on the respondent out of time. The applicant had first instructed counsel Onyango, then Kunya, before settling with counsel Bakiza, who served the Notice of Appeal late in January 2012. The applicant applied under Rule 4 for extension of time within which to serve the Notice of Appeal and file the Memorandum of Appeal, attributing the delay to the inadvertence of his previous counsel. The Assistant Registrar dismissed the application, finding the Memorandum incompetent for late filing, prompting this reference to a single Justice of the Court of Appeal.

Issues

  1. Whether the Assistant Registrar erred in evaluating the evidence and in the computation of the periods within which the Notice and Memorandum of Appeal were filed and served.
  2. Whether the Assistant Registrar applied wrong principles of law in dismissing the application for extension of time.
  3. Whether extension of time should be granted where the failure to comply with the rules was due to the inadvertence of counsel.

Orders

  • Reference allowed.
  • Service of the Notice of Appeal and the Memorandum of Appeal validated.
  • Costs in this matter to abide the outcome of the appeal.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Effect of Acts Done Out of Time
Under Rule 5 of the Court of Appeal Rules the court may extend time whether before or after the expiration of the limited time and whether before or after the doing of the act; consequently an act done out of time is not an incurable nullity but may be validated by extension.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Inadvertence of Counsel as Sufficient Reason
The mistake or negligence of an appellant's legal advisors may be accepted as a proper ground for granting relief by way of extension of time, depending on the facts of the particular case, and should not necessarily be visited upon a diligent client.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Article 126(2)(e) and Substantive Justice
Where a party has diligently sought to preserve a right of appeal, the court may invoke Article 126(2)(e) of the Constitution to administer substantive justice without undue regard to technicalities and validate service effected out of time.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (3)

  • Kabogerere Coffee Factory Ltd v Kigongo (Civil Application No. 10 of 1993)
  • Magezi v Rupaleria (Civil Application No. 10 of 2002)
  • Shabir Din v Ram Parkshanand (1955) 22 EACA 48 at 51

Full judgment

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

Lubega v Nanyonga (Civil Application No. 125 of 2015) [2015] UGCA 24 (13 February 2015)
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.