Wakilii

Nambale, Nerima & Co. Advocates v Liberty General Insurance (U) Limited (Miscellaneous Application 1820 of 2025)

High Court · [2025] UGCOMMC 421 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for extension of time to file notice of appeal from Insurance Appeals Tribunal decision, or in the alternative, validation of memorandum of appeal
Decision
Extension of time granted; applicant to file notice of appeal within fourteen days

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court granted the application for extension of time to file a notice of appeal from the Insurance Appeals Tribunal. The court held that the applicant should not suffer due to mistakes by former counsel who filed the notice of appeal at the wrong forum and failed to file it at the High Court as required. The delay in obtaining the certified record of proceedings from the Tribunal and the mistake of former counsel constituted sufficient cause. The memorandum of appeal filed out of time could not be validated as it was incompetent.

Outcome

Extension of time granted; applicant to file notice of appeal within fourteen days

Facts

The Insurance Appeals Tribunal delivered judgment on 9th or 12th February 2024 in Application No. 005/2023. The applicant requested a certified copy of the record of proceedings on 13th February 2024, which was delivered on 20th February 2024. The applicant's former legal assistant, Faiswali Waiswa, who had conduct of the matter, filed a notice of appeal at the Insurance Appeals Tribunal on 20th February 2024 instead of at the High Court as required by regulation 27(3) of the Insurance Appeals Tribunal Regulations. A memorandum of appeal was filed at the High Court on 20th March 2024, which was out of time. The legal assistant subsequently left the applicant's employment. On 17th August 2025, while preparing for the appeal hearing scheduled for 18th August 2025, the applicant's new counsel discovered that the respondent had endorsed a protest against late filing and immediately filed this application seeking extension of time or validation of the memorandum.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicant raises sufficient grounds for a grant of an extension of time within which to file a notice of appeal.
  2. Whether the memorandum of appeal filed on 20th March 2024 can be validated as a notice of appeal.

Orders

  • Application allowed.
  • The applicant should file a notice of appeal within fourteen days from the date of this ruling.
  • Costs of this application shall abide the outcome of the appeal.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Appeals from Insurance Appeals Tribunal — Sufficient Cause
Under regulation 27(1) of the Insurance Appeals Tribunal Regulations and Order 51 rule 6 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the High Court has inherent power to grant an extension of time to file a notice of appeal where the applicant demonstrates sufficient cause for the delay, even where the application is made after expiration of the statutory time limit.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Mistake of Former Counsel as Sufficient Cause
Mistakes and lapses by former counsel constitute sufficient cause for failure to take necessary procedural steps in time, and a party should not be denied an opportunity to have their case heard on its merits due to blunders by their former legal representative.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Notice of Appeal Filed at Wrong Forum — Effect
Where a notice of appeal is filed at the tribunal instead of the High Court as required by regulation 27(3) of the Insurance Appeals Tribunal Regulations, the notice is fatally defective and does not constitute a valid notice of appeal before the High Court.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Memorandum of Appeal Filed Out of Time — Incompetence
A memorandum of appeal filed out of time without prior leave of court is incompetent and cannot be validated. An appeal filed out of time without leave of court will be struck out as incompetent.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Balancing Access to Justice and Finality
In exercising discretion to grant an extension of time, the court must balance considerations of access to justice on one hand and the desire to have finality to litigation on the other, with the principle that the substance of disputes should be investigated and decided on their merits unless lack of adherence to rules renders the appeal process difficult and inoperative.

Legislation cited (8)

Cases cited (7)

  • Tight Security Ltd v Chartis, Uganda Insurance Company Limited and Another (Miscellaneous Application No. 8 of 2014)
  • Pinnacle Projects Limited v Business In Motion Consultants Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 362 of 2010)
  • Shanti v Hindocha and Others [1973] EA 207
  • Banco Arabe Espanol v Bank of Uganda [1999] 2 EA 22
  • Maria Onyango Ochola and Others v J. Hannington Wasswa [1996] HCB 43
  • Phillip Keipto Chemwolo and Another v Augustine Kubende [1986] KLR 495
  • Attorney General v AKPM Lutaaya (Supreme Court Civil Application No. 12 of 2007)

Full judgment

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

Nambale, Nerima & Co. Advocates v Liberty General Insurance (U) Limited (Miscellaneous Application 1820 of 2025) [2025] UGCommC 421 (17 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.