Wakilii

Ogbuonye v Kawooya (Civil Appeal No. 40 of 2016)

High Court · [2018] UGCOMMC 58 · 2018 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from Magistrate Grade One at Mengo, disposed of on preliminary objection challenging timeliness and mode of institution
Decision
Appeal dismissed as incompetent for being filed out of time

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that an application for extension of time to file an appeal out of time must be made to the appellate court, not the trial court. Where the appellant sought and obtained leave from the Magistrate Grade One court to file an appeal out of time, but the appeal to the High Court was filed 118 days after the decree instead of the mandatory 30 days, the appeal was incompetent and dismissed.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed as incompetent for being filed out of time

Facts

The appellant filed a civil appeal from the judgment and decree of the Magistrate Grade One at Mengo delivered on 12 July 2016. The appeal should have been filed by 12 August 2016 under Section 79(1)(a) of the Civil Procedure Act, which requires appeals to be entered within 30 days. The appellant instead filed a Notice of Appeal and Memorandum of Appeal on 10 November 2016, 118 days after the decree. The appellant sought and obtained leave from the trial Magistrate's Court on 1 December 2016 to file the appeal out of time. The respondent raised a preliminary objection that the appeal was filed out of time and was improperly instituted by Notice of Appeal rather than Memorandum of Appeal.

Issues

  1. Whether the appellant's appeal was filed out of time contrary to Section 79(1)(a) of the Civil Procedure Act.
  2. Whether the appellant's appeal was improperly instituted by Notice of Appeal contrary to Order 43 rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed as incompetent.
  • Costs of the appeal awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Time Limits — Extension of Time — Proper Forum for Application
An application for extension of time to file an appeal out of time must be made to the appellate court, not the trial court, notwithstanding that the trial court purports to grant such leave.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Time Limits — Section 79(1)(a) Civil Procedure Act — Mandatory Requirement
Section 79(1)(a) of the Civil Procedure Act is codified in mandatory terms and requires that every appeal be entered within thirty days of the date of the decree or order, unless otherwise specifically provided by law. The appellate court may admit an appeal after the limitation period has elapsed only for good cause shown.

Legislation cited (3)

Cases cited (3)

  • Luzinda George v Edward Wasswa (HCCA No. 39 of 2009)
  • Sempebwa William v Byamungu Muhammed (HCA No. 12 of 2012)
  • Njagi v Munyiri (1975) E A 179

Full judgment

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

Ogbuonye v Kawooya (Civil Appeal No. 40 of 2016) [2018] UGCommC 58 (24 August 2018)
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.