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Matrix Lands Limited v The Commissioner Land Registration (Miscellaneous Application 63 of 2023)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 1324 · 2025 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for review of High Court ruling striking out judicial review application
Decision
Application for review dismissed with costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the application for review. The court held that review is not a substitute for appeal and that the grounds raised by the applicant were matters of law and fact appropriate for appellate consideration, not review. The court found no error apparent on the face of the record or sufficient reason analogous to such errors. The original ruling had properly found that the judicial review application was time-barred, filed without prior leave, and that the Deputy Registrar lacked jurisdiction to endorse the consent agreement attempting to remedy the delay.

Outcome

Application for review dismissed with costs

Facts

Matrix Lands Limited instituted judicial review proceedings (HCT-06-LD-MC-0039-2023) challenging the Commissioner Land Registration's decision to cancel its certificate of title for land in Sesse Block 2, Plots 2-6 at Buvu Islands, Masaka District, and reinstate Banda Kamulegeya as proprietor. The application was filed late. The applicant subsequently filed HCT-06-CV-MA-0119-2024 seeking extension of time and validation of the earlier application. When no hearing date was secured, the parties entered into a consent agreement on 8 October 2024 before the Deputy Registrar. On 18 April 2025, the trial judge struck out the judicial review application, holding that the Deputy Registrar lacked jurisdiction to record the consent and that the application had not been served on Banda Kamulegeya, a directly affected party. The applicant then sought review of that ruling.

Issues

  1. Whether the trial court committed errors apparent on the face of the record warranting review.
  2. Whether the trial court wrongly set aside the consent order recorded by the Deputy Registrar.
  3. Whether the applicant was denied a hearing on the merits of the application for extension of time.
  4. Whether there was sufficient reason to review the court's ruling striking out the judicial review application.

Orders

  • Application for review denied.
  • Costs awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Review — Grounds for Review — Error Apparent on Face of Record
An error apparent on the face of the record must be obvious, self-evident, and strike immediately upon a mere perusal of the record without requiring elaborate reasoning or re-argument. It must be manifest on the record itself, not discovered through extended analysis.
Civil Procedure — Review — Distinction Between Review and Appeal
Review is not a substitute for appeal. Points that could make good grounds of appeal from a court's decision are not good grounds for review, as entertaining them would amount to the court sitting in appeal of its own decision on conclusions of law and fact, which is the preserve of appellate courts.
Civil Procedure — Judicial Review — Time Limits — Leave to File Out of Time
Before filing a judicial review application out of time, an applicant must first seek leave of court to file it late. A consent agreement recorded by a Deputy Registrar attempting to remedy a delay in filing cannot cure the jurisdictional defect of filing without prior leave.

Legislation cited (2)

Cases cited (5)

  • Attorney General v Mark Kamoga (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2004)
  • Re Nakivubo Chemists (U) Ltd [1979] HCB 12
  • Independent Medico Legal Unit v Attorney General of Kenya (EACJ Application No. 2 of 2012)
  • Yusuf v Nokrach [1971] EA 104
  • Edison Kanyabwera v Pastori Tumwebaze (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2004)

Full judgment

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

Matrix Lands Limited v The Commissioner Land Registration (Miscellaneous Application 63 of 2023) [2025] UGHC 1324 (25 November 2025)
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.