Wakilii

Rwihandagaza v Sengendo & Ors (Miscellaneous Application No. 145 of 2015)

High Court · [2015] UGHCFD 37 · 2015 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to dismiss underlying civil suit for want of prosecution arising from Civil Suit No. 53 of 2012
Decision
Application dismissed; underlying civil suit to proceed

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

An application to dismiss a suit for want of prosecution under Order 17 rule 5 CPR was dismissed where the plaintiffs had participated in mediation proceedings before the Registrar, the mediation was not formally concluded, and the file was reallocated to a Judge for trial without a mediation report being filed. The court held that plaintiffs who participated in mediation before reallocation could not be condemned for failing to prosecute the suit.

Outcome

Application dismissed; underlying civil suit to proceed

Facts

Civil Suit No. 53 of 2012 was filed on 26 April 2012. Written Statements of Defence were filed by various defendants between June 2012 and April 2013. In March 2013, the plaintiffs' counsel requested time for Alternative Dispute Resolution. Mediation sessions were held on 26 November 2013 and 12 February 2014, with plaintiffs participating but not all parties attending each session. The Registrar did not conclude mediation or file a mediation report but instead reallocated the case to a Judge for trial on 30 January 2015. On 16 January 2015, the applicant's counsel requested a hearing date. The applicant (5th defendant) filed this application on 22 May 2015 seeking dismissal of the suit for want of prosecution, arguing the plaintiffs had failed to set down the suit for hearing since December 2013.

Issues

  1. Whether the underlying civil suit should be dismissed for want of prosecution under Order 17 rule 5 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Dismissal for Want of Prosecution — Order 17 Rule 5 CPR — Participation in Mediation
Where plaintiffs have participated in court-ordered mediation proceedings before the Registrar and the file is subsequently reallocated to a Judge for trial without the mediation being formally concluded or a mediation report filed, the plaintiffs cannot be condemned for failing to prosecute the suit and an application for dismissal under Order 17 rule 5 of the Civil Procedure Rules will be refused.
Civil Procedure — Ex Parte Proceedings — Burden of Proof
Whether a matter proceeds ex parte or not, the burden on the part of the applicant to prove the case to the required standards remains unchanged.

Legislation cited (1)

Cases cited (2)

  • Yoswa Kityo v Eriya Kaddu [1982] HCB 58
  • Okurut v Alpha Global Joint Venture Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 536 of 2012)

Full judgment

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

Rwihandagaza v Sengendo & Ors (Miscellaneous Application No. 145 of 2015) [2015] UGHCFD 37 (29 October 2015)
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.