Wakilii

Sajja Wilson v Nangobi Betty [2026] UGHCCD 233

High Court · 2026 Application Granted — Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application in the High Court to strike out a civil appeal from the Chief Magistrate's Court as incompetent for being filed out of time
Decision
Civil Appeal No. HCT-00-CV-CA-0052-2024 dismissed as incompetent for having been filed out of time without leave

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court held that section 79 of the Civil Procedure Act requires an appeal to the High Court to be entered within thirty days of the decree or order appealed against, and that an appeal lodged after that period without leave of court is incompetent and liable to dismissal. Judgment of the Chief Magistrate was delivered on 15 March 2024 and the appeal was filed in late April 2024, well outside the thirty days, and no leave to appeal out of time had been sought or obtained. The appeal was accordingly dismissed as incompetent, with costs of the appeal against the respondent (appellant in the appeal).

Outcome

Civil Appeal No. HCT-00-CV-CA-0052-2024 dismissed as incompetent for having been filed out of time without leave

Facts

Judgment in Civil Suit No. 159 of 2014 was delivered by the Chief Magistrate's Court of Nabweru on 15 March 2024. The respondent, Nangobi Betty, subsequently lodged Civil Appeal No. HCT-00-CV-CA-0052-2024 in the High Court in late April 2024, some 37 days after delivery of the judgment, without first seeking or obtaining leave of the court to appeal out of time. The applicant, Sajja Wilson, applied to strike out the appeal as incompetent and fatally defective for breach of the thirty-day limitation period. The respondent opposed the application, asserting that the appeal was competently filed and that any delay was attributable to administrative processes and the time taken to obtain the typed record, and urged the court to hear the appeal on its merits. Although directed to file written submissions by 16 April 2026, the respondent filed none, and the court determined the application on the material on record.

Issues

  1. Whether Civil Appeal No. HCT-00-CV-CA-0052-2024 was filed outside the thirty-day period prescribed by section 79 of the Civil Procedure Act.
  2. Whether an appeal filed out of time without leave of court is incompetent and should be struck out or dismissed.

Orders

  • High Court Civil Appeal No. HCT-00-CV-CA-0052-2024 is dismissed.
  • The respondent (appellant) shall pay costs of the appeal.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Limitation of Time — Thirty-Day Period under Civil Procedure Act s.79
An appeal to the High Court must be entered within thirty days of the date of the decree or order appealed against, save that the appellate court may for good cause admit an appeal after that period has elapsed, and time taken by the court in preparing the decree and record is excluded from the computation.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Competence — Appeal Filed Out of Time Without Leave
An appeal filed outside the period prescribed by law without the leave of court is incompetent and liable to be dismissed.
Civil Procedure — Written Submissions — Failure to File Within Time Directed by Court
Where a party fails to file written submissions within the time directed by the court, the court may proceed to determine the matter on the basis of the material already on record.

Legislation cited (2)

Cases cited (2)

  • [2020] UGSC 28
  • Ssekabira v Mugerwa and Another (Civil Appeal No. 58 of 2018)

Full judgment

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

Sajja Wilson v Nangobi Betty [2026] UGHCCD 233 (9 July 2026)
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.