Sino (U) Fisheries Joint Venture Co.Ltd v Uganda Fisheries Enterprises Ltd (HC. MISC. APPL. NO.23 OF 1993)

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.

Holding

The High Court struck out an ex-parte appeal against a District Registrar's alleged refusal to enter judgment, holding that no formal order existed to ground the appeal. An informal administrative memo addressed to nobody and not delivered to counsel did not constitute an order within section 2 of the Civil Procedure Act. The court emphasized that legal matters must be dealt with in accepted form, and suggested the appellant should have moved by notice of motion under Order 48 rule 1 CPR.

Outcome

Appeal struck out for incompetence; appellant at liberty to pursue original claim

Facts

The appellant/plaintiff Sino (U) Fisheries Joint Venture Co. Ltd filed an ex-parte appeal against the District Registrar of Jinja, who allegedly declined to enter an ex-parte judgment under Order 9 rule 4 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The appeal was brought under Order 46 rules 6 and 8 CPR by notice of motion dated 18 October 1993. The appellant sought two orders: setting aside the District Registrar's alleged order declining to enter judgment, and directing the District Registrar to enter judgment in the appellant's favour. The appellant argued that the District Registrar should have entered judgment under Order 46 rule 2 CPR since the matter was uncontested, and that the Registrar's refusal based on lack of pecuniary jurisdiction was improper. The District Registrar had forwarded the file to the High Court with a memo dated 7 October 1993, and there was a loose memo stating counsel should be advised the money involved was beyond jurisdiction.

Issues

1. Whether the District Registrar's refusal to enter ex-parte judgment was appealable.
2. Whether the District Registrar's informal memo constituted an order within the meaning of section 2 of the Civil Procedure Act.

Orders

• Appeal struck out.
• No order as to costs.
• Appellant at liberty to pursue original claim in any way permitted by law.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (5)

• Civil Procedure Rules Order 46 rules 6 and 8
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 9 rule 4
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 46 rule 2
• Civil Procedure Rules Order 48 rule 1
• Civil Procedure Act s.2

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