Wakilii

Modern Holdings (EA) Limited v Kenya Ports Authority (Reference No.1 of 2009)

East African Court of Justice · [2010] EACJ 9 · 2010 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application under Rule 114 to set aside Taxing Officer's ruling on bill of costs
Decision
Application to set aside Taxing Officer's ruling dismissed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court declined to interfere with the Taxing Officer's assessment of instruction fees. Where a reference was dismissed on preliminary objection for want of jurisdiction without proceeding to merits, the Taxing Officer properly exercised discretion in awarding one-eighth of the claimed instruction fee. Courts will not interfere with a Taxing Officer's discretion on instruction fees unless exercised unjudicially or based on wrong principles. The award was fair and reasonable given the matter never proceeded beyond the jurisdictional challenge.

Outcome

Application to set aside Taxing Officer's ruling dismissed

Facts

Kenya Ports Authority applied under Rule 114 to set aside a Taxing Officer's ruling dated August 7, 2009 on taxation of costs. The underlying reference (Reference No. 1 of 2008) had been dismissed on preliminary objection for want of jurisdiction without proceeding to merits. The Taxing Officer assessed the instruction fee at USD 47,354.20, being one-eighth of the amount claimed (USD 326,581 plus VAT). The applicant abandoned all other items in the bill of costs and proceeded only on the instruction fee item, arguing the award was inordinately low and that the Taxing Officer misdirected himself by applying the wrong sub-rule and failing to consider the nature and complexity of the matter.

Issues

  1. Whether the Taxing Officer erred in law in assessing the instruction fee at one-eighth of the amount claimed.
  2. Whether the Taxing Officer applied the wrong sub-rule of Rule 9 of the Second Schedule.
  3. Whether the Taxing Officer exercised his discretion injudiciously in taxing costs.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Costs — Taxation — Instruction Fees — Discretion of Taxing Officer
The allowance for instruction fees is a matter peculiarly within the Taxing Officer's discretion and courts are reluctant to interfere with that discretion unless it has been exercised unjudicially or the Taxing Officer has acted upon wrong principles or applied wrong considerations in coming to his decision.
Costs — Taxation — Assessment Where Matter Dismissed on Preliminary Objection
Where a reference is dismissed on preliminary objection for want of jurisdiction without proceeding to merits, the instruction fee cannot be calculated on the full amount claimed but should be assessed at a reduced proportion reflecting that the matter never proceeded beyond the jurisdictional challenge.
Costs — Policy — Access to Justice and Fair Reimbursement
Costs should not be allowed to rise to such a level as to confine access to courts to the wealthy, and the successful litigant ought to be fairly reimbursed for the costs incurred.

Legislation cited (3)

  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure Rule 114
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure Second Schedule Rule 9(1)
  • East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure Second Schedule Rule 9(2)

Cases cited (7)

  • Jareth Limited v Kigano & Associates (Civil Appeal No. 66 of 1999)
  • Hotel Travertine Ltd v National Bank of Commerce (Taxation Civil Reference No. 9 of 2006)
  • Attorney General v Amos Shavu (Taxation Reference No. 2 of 2000)
  • Rahim Hasham v Alibhai Kadershai (1938) 1 TLR (R) 676
  • Premchand Raichand v Quarry Services of East Africa Ltd [1972] EA 162
  • Rogan-Kamper v Lord Grosvenor (No. 3) [1976-80] KLR 665
  • Devshi Dhanji and Others v Kanji Naran Patel and Others (No. 2) [1976-80] KLR 1024

Full judgment

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

Modern Holdings (EA) Limited v Kenya Ports Authority (Reference No.1 of 2009) [2010] EACJ 9 (15 January 2010)
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.