Wakilii

S v Niyontore and Another (Civil Appeal 58 2000)

Court of Appeal · [2001] UGCA 56 · 2001 Ruling Reserved AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from a High Court ruling granting a temporary injunction; heard on the appellant's application to withdraw and the respondent's preliminary objection that the appeal had been overtaken by events.
Decision
Ruling on the preliminary objection reserved; final disposition not contained in the recorded proceedings.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The appellant sought to withdraw its appeal against a High Court order granting the respondent (a dismissed employee) a temporary injunction restraining eviction from the employer's premises pending disposal of the main cause. The respondent objected, arguing the appeal had been overtaken by the disposal of the substantive cause on 9 December 2002, leaving no injunction to appeal against, and was therefore nugatory. The appellant contended the impugned ruling set a bad legal precedent warranting determination on the merits. The Court reserved its ruling on the preliminary objection on notice.

Outcome

Ruling on the preliminary objection reserved; final disposition not contained in the recorded proceedings.

Facts

The respondent was a former staff member of the appellant who was dismissed from employment on 6 May 1999. During his service he had been allocated the appellant's property at Plot 8 Windsor Crescent, Kololo. On dismissal he was given 60 days to hand over vacant possession, and on 16 August 1999 a further seven days to vacate. Before the seven days elapsed, the respondent filed an application for an injunction under Misc. Cause No. 1074 of 1999 restraining the appellant from removing him from the property. The application was granted on 24 August 2000, the temporary injunction to last until disposal of the main cause (Misc. Cause No. 928 of 1999). The appellant appealed against that ruling. The substantive cause was disposed of on 9 December 2002, prompting the respondent's contention that the temporary injunction, and hence the appeal, had been overtaken.

Issues

  1. Whether the appellant should be permitted to withdraw the appeal and on what terms as to costs.
  2. Whether the appeal against the temporary injunction had been rendered nugatory by the disposal of the substantive cause (Misc. Cause No. 928 of 1999) and should be struck out as a preliminary objection.

Orders

  • This ruling is reserved on notice.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Whether an appeal against a temporary injunction is rendered nugatory by disposal of the underlying substantive cause
An appeal against a temporary injunction granted pending disposal of a main cause may be challenged as nugatory once the main cause has been finally disposed of, since the injunction it sought to challenge has ceased to subsist.
Civil Procedure — Withdrawal of appeal — Terms as to costs
A party seeking to withdraw an appeal may be required to bear or have determined the costs of the appeal, and the court will deal with the issue of costs notwithstanding the withdrawal.

Full judgment

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

S v Niyontore and Another (Civil Appeal 58 2000) [2001] UGCA 56 (13 March 2001)
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.