Wakilii

National Housing & Construction Company Limited v Ambitious Construction Company Limited (Miscellaneous Cause 54 of 2023)

High Court · [2023] UGCOMMC 147 · 2023 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to set aside arbitral award under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act
Decision
Arbitral award recognized and enforced as a decree of court

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court Commercial Division dismissed an application to set aside an arbitral award, holding that the application was filed one day out of time. The 30-day statutory period under section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act runs from the date the award is delivered at the designated registry, not when a party physically collects it. The Court held that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act is a self-contained statute and computation of time cannot be governed by the Gregorian calendar or Civil Procedure Rules. The Court enforced the arbitral award as a decree of court under section 36.

Outcome

Arbitral award recognized and enforced as a decree of court

Facts

National Housing & Construction Company Limited owed Ambitious Construction Company Limited money arising from a construction contract. The High Court entered judgment on admission for part of the debt and referred the remainder to arbitration. The parties consented to an arbitrator in May 2022 and agreed that CADER would serve as the arbitration registry. The arbitrator conducted the hearing and delivered the final arbitral award at CADER on 9 May 2023. The applicant collected the award on 10 May 2023 and filed an application to set aside the award on 9 June 2023. The respondent filed a preliminary objection that the application was filed out of time, as the 30-day statutory period expired on 8 June 2023.

Issues

  1. Whether the application to set aside the arbitral award was filed out of time.
  2. Whether the applicant raised grounds for setting aside the arbitral award.
  3. What other remedies are available to the parties.

Orders

  • The application to set aside the arbitral award dated 9th May 2023 vide Miscellaneous Cause No. 54 of 2023 is dismissed with costs to the respondent.
  • The arbitral award dated 9th May 2023 is recognized and enforced as a decree of this Court.
  • No order as to costs in respect of Miscellaneous Cause No. 42 of 2023.

Rules and key headnotes

Arbitration — Setting Aside Award — Time Limits — Computation of Time
Under section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, the 30-day period for filing an application to set aside an arbitral award runs from the date the award is delivered at the designated arbitration registry, not from the date a party physically collects the award.
Arbitration — Setting Aside Award — Computation of Time — Applicable Law
The Arbitration and Conciliation Act is a self-contained statute. In computing the 30-day period under section 34(3), the court cannot rely on the Gregorian calendar or provisions of the Interpretation Act or Civil Procedure Rules, but must apply the plain words of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
Arbitration — Court Intervention — Limits on Jurisdiction
Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act bars courts from intervening in matters governed by the Act except as specifically provided. Where an application to set aside an arbitral award is filed out of time, the court has no jurisdiction to entertain it.
Arbitration — Enforcement of Award — Automatic Enforcement
Under section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, where the time for applying to set aside an arbitral award has expired without such application being made, or such application has been refused, the award shall be enforced in the same manner as if it were a decree of court.

Legislation cited (13)

Cases cited (5)

  • Fountain Publishers Limited v Nantamu and Another (Miscellaneous Application No. 135 of 2011)
  • Mohammed Mohammed Hamid v Roko Construction Limited (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 14 of 2015)
  • Babcon Uganda Limited v Mbale Resort Hotel Limited (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2016)
  • Babcon Uganda Limited v Mbale Resort Hotel Limited (Court of Appeal Civil Appeal No. 87 of 2011)
  • Aya Investments (U) Limited v Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (Miscellaneous Cause No. 0058 of 2021)

Full judgment

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

National Housing & Construction Company Limited v Ambitious Construction Company Limited (Miscellaneous Cause 54 of 2023) [2023] UGCommC 147 (20 December 2023)
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.