Masengere v Uganda (Criminal Revision 21 of 2020)

Observed later treatment

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

The High Court dismissed a criminal revision application on preliminary objection. The court held that criminal revision under sections 48 and 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code Act is only available where an order, finding, or sentence has been passed by the lower court. Since the applicant sought to revise ongoing proceedings before the trial magistrate without any specific order, finding, or sentence having been made, the application was not properly brought and was dismissed.

Outcome

Criminal revision application dismissed on preliminary objection

Facts

The applicant brought a criminal revision application seeking the High Court to examine the record of proceedings in Makindye Criminal Case No. 527 of 2018, which was still pending before the Chief Magistrate's Court at Makindye. The applicant sought to challenge the propriety, legality, and correctness of the entire proceedings, alleging they were illegal, arbitrary, and brought in bad faith. The State Attorney raised a preliminary objection on the ground that the applicant did not seek to challenge any specific order, as none had been given by the trial magistrate. The record showed the case had suffered several adjournments but no ruling or order had been made by the trial magistrate.

Issues

1. Whether the criminal revision application was properly filed before the High Court in the absence of a specific order, finding, or sentence from the trial magistrate.

Orders

• Preliminary objection upheld.
• Application dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (3)

• Judicature Act s.17
• Criminal Procedure Code Act s.48
• Criminal Procedure Code Act s.50

Cases cited (2)

• Okiror James v Uganda (Criminal Revision No. 3 of 2010)
• Juliet Katusiime & Another v Uganda (Criminal Revision No. 2 of 2011)

Cases citing this judgment (1)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

• Masengere v Uganda (Criminal Revision 108 of 2021)

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