Wakilii

Sports View Hotel Limited and Another v Attorney General and Another (Civil Suit No. 679 of 2019)

High Court · [2022] UGHCLD 130 · 2022 Suit Abated AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by defendants to declare suit abated for failure to take out summons for directions; counter-application by plaintiffs for leave to file reply
Decision
Suit abated

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court held that the suit abated for failure to take out summons for directions within 28 days of the last reply as required by Order XIA Rule 1(2) and (6) of the Civil Procedure Rules. The rules, enacted on 31 May 2019, applied to the suit filed on 12 August 2019. The mandatory nature of the provisions left no discretion.

Outcome

Suit abated

Facts

The plaintiffs filed a civil suit on 12 August 2019. The defendants filed an amended written statement of defence on 25 March 2021. The plaintiffs filed a reply to the amended defence on 29 April 2021. The defendants applied to court to declare the suit abated for failure to take out summons for directions within the prescribed time. The plaintiffs' counsel explained that he had been in a serious accident for over a year and that junior counsel who took over had resigned without updating him. The plaintiffs sought leave to file a reply, though one had already been filed. The last pleading was filed on 29 April 2021, but no summons for directions was taken out within 28 days thereafter as required by the Civil Procedure Rules.

Issues

  1. Whether the suit abated for failure to take out summons for directions within the time prescribed by Order XIA Rule 1(2) of the Civil Procedure Rules.
  2. Whether the amended Civil Procedure Rules applied retrospectively to a suit filed after their enactment.

Orders

  • The suit abates for failure to take out summons for directions under Order XIA Rule 1(2) and (6) of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Abatement of Suit — Failure to Take Out Summons for Directions — Mandatory Requirement
Where a suit has been instituted by way of plaint, the plaintiff must take out summons for directions within 28 days from the date of the last reply or rejoinder, and failure to do so results in automatic abatement of the suit under Order XIA Rule 1(2) and (6) of the Civil Procedure Rules.
Civil Procedure — Retrospective Application of Procedural Rules — Applicability to Pending Suits
Procedural rules enacted before the filing of a suit apply to that suit. The Civil Procedure Rules as amended by Statutory Instrument No. 33 of 2019, which came into force on 31 May 2019, applied to a suit filed on 12 August 2019.

Legislation cited (4)

Full judgment

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

Sports_View_Hotel_Limited_and_Another_v_Attorney_General_and_Another_(Civil_Suit_No._679_of_2019)_[2022]_UGHCLD_130_(2_August_2022)
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.