Wakilii

Old East African Trading Co. Ltd v Vellani and Company (C.A. 10-1936.)

East African Court of Appeal · [1936] EACA 92 · 1936 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for leave to appeal out of time from High Court judgment sitting in appeal from subordinate court
Decision
Application refused with costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

Where a certificate of leave to appeal is required, the time taken in obtaining such leave cannot be deducted under Rule 8 of the East African Court of Appeal Rules 1925 from the three-month period within which the memorandum of appeal must be presented. An appellant who fails in the duty to apply promptly to have judgment drawn up as a decree to enable timely lodging of appeal may be refused leave to appeal out of time in the Court's discretion.

Outcome

Application refused with costs

Facts

The appellant was the original defendant in an action. Judgment was delivered against the appellant on 9 December 1935 by the High Court sitting in appeal from a subordinate court. Leave to appeal was required. The appellant filed an application for leave to appeal on 11 January 1936, which was granted on 28 February 1936. The memorandum of appeal was not presented to the Deputy Registrar until 4 June 1936, beyond the three-month time limit. The appellant's advocate applied for a certified copy of the decree on 3 March 1936, six days before the three-month period elapsed. At that date no decree had been drawn up because the respondents' bill of costs had not been taxed. The decree was eventually signed in May 1936 and a certified copy issued on 3 June 1936.

Issues

  1. Whether time taken in obtaining leave to appeal can be deducted from the three-month period for presenting a memorandum of appeal under Rule 8 of the East African Court of Appeal Rules, 1925.
  2. Whether leave to appeal out of time should be granted where the appellant delayed in applying for a certified copy of the decree.

Orders

  • Application for leave to appeal out of time refused.
  • Costs awarded to the respondents.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Time Limits — Computation of Time for Filing Memorandum of Appeal
Where a certificate of leave to appeal is required, the time taken in obtaining such leave cannot be deducted under Rule 8 of the East African Court of Appeal Rules 1925 from the period of three months within which the memorandum of appeal shall be presented.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Duty of Appellant — Drawing Up of Decree
It is the duty of a party who wishes to appeal from a judgment to apply to have it drawn up in the form of a decree so that he may be able to lodge his appeal within due time. Where an appellant has failed to do so, the Court in its discretion may refuse to give leave to appeal out of time.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Extension of Time — Grounds for Refusal
Where an appellant delays in applying for a certified copy of a decree until shortly before the appeal period expires, and applies for a document not yet in existence without taking steps to expedite its preparation, the Court may refuse leave to appeal out of time for failure to provide sufficient explanation for the delay.

Legislation cited (3)

  • East African Court of Appeal Rules 1925 r.8
  • Order 20 r.6(2)
  • Advocates' Remuneration and Taxation of Costs Rules 1921 r.49

Cases cited (1)

  • Ribeiro v Siqueira (3 EACA 1)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Old East African Trading Co. Ltd v Vellani and Company (C.A. 10-1936.) [1936] EACA 92 (1 January 1936)
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.