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Ssemakula v Gulu University (Miscellaneous Cause 1 of 2024)

High Court · [2024] UGHC 377 · 2024 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Judicial review application challenging interdiction from employment, with preliminary objection raised regarding court jurisdiction
Decision
Application dismissed as moot following subsequent dismissal of Applicant from employment; preliminary objection on jurisdiction overruled

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the interdiction of the Applicant by Gulu University was a public law decision amenable to judicial review, not a private law employment matter for the Industrial Court. The University Council's power to make Human Resource Manual regulations under the Universities Act and the serious public interest nature of the misconduct allegations invoked rendered the decision one of public law character. However, the application was dismissed as moot because the interdiction had been superseded by the Applicant's subsequent dismissal from employment, making the relief sought academic with no practical effect. Preliminary objection overruled but application dismissed on mootness grounds.

Outcome

Application dismissed as moot following subsequent dismissal of Applicant from employment; preliminary objection on jurisdiction overruled

Facts

The Applicant, Dr. Shadat Ssemakula Mutyaba Mohmemed, was employed by Gulu University as Dean of the Faculty of Law. He had applied for promotion to Associate Professor in June 2023. During vetting, the University's Sub Committee raised concerns about inconsistencies in names and dates of birth on his academic documents, bio data, deed poll, and national ID. The documents showed birth date of 25 July 1983, but the Applicant later declared via statutory declaration in November 2023 that he was born on 25 January 1978. The University invited him to clarify these matters before Top Management and later the Appointments Board. On 8 December 2023, the University interdicted the Applicant under section 15.9 of its Human Resource Manual, placing him on half pay while investigations continued into alleged misconduct including acts bringing the University into disrepute, perjury, falsification of records and making false documents. The Applicant filed this judicial review application on 30 January 2024 to challenge the interdiction. On 1 February 2024, before the hearing, the Appointments Board dismissed the Applicant from employment, rendering the interdiction challenge academic.

Issues

  1. Whether the application for judicial review is properly before the High Court or whether the Industrial Court has exclusive jurisdiction.
  2. Whether the Respondent's decision to interdict the Applicant is a public law decision amenable to judicial review or a private law matter concerning enforcement of employment contract rights.
  3. Whether the application has been rendered moot by the subsequent dismissal of the Applicant from employment.

Orders

  • Preliminary objection overruled.
  • Application dismissed on grounds of mootness.
  • Each party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Judicial Review — Preliminary Objections — Determination of Pure Points of Law
A preliminary objection consists of a point of law which has been pleaded or arises by clear implication from pleadings, and which if argued as a preliminary point may dispose of the suit. A preliminary objection raises a pure point of law argued on the assumption that all facts pleaded by the other side are correct.
Judicial Review — Amenability — Distinction Between Public Law and Private Law Matters
For a matter to be amenable to judicial review, aside from the requirement that the body under challenge must be a public body, the subject matter must involve claims based on public law principles and not enforcement of private law rights. Public law concerns the proper performance of public duties owed to the public by public bodies, while private law is concerned with enforcement of private rights.
Judicial Review — Public Bodies — Universities Established Under Statute
A public university established by statutory instrument pursuant to the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act and maintained out of public funds is a public body within the meaning of the Judicial Review Rules. The university acts as a body corporate with perpetual succession and may sue or be sued in its corporate name. There is no requirement that a public body be clothed with corporate personality before it can be subjected to prerogative writs of judicial review.
Judicial Review — Public Law Character — University Disciplinary Actions Under Statutory Mandate
Where a university council exercises powers under statute to make regulations governing staff discipline and interdicts an employee for alleged misconduct under those regulations based on serious allegations of public concern such as bringing the institution into disrepute, perjury, or falsification of records, the decision is of public law character and amenable to judicial review. The exercise of such statutory powers to investigate matters of institutional integrity constitutes public law functions, not mere enforcement of private employment contract terms.
Judicial Review — Mootness Doctrine — Supervening Events Rendering Relief Academic
Courts do not decide cases for academic purposes because judicial orders must have practical effect and be capable of enforcement. An application is moot when subsequent events affect the relationship of parties such that no present live controversy exists which affects their rights. Where an applicant challenges an interdiction but is subsequently dismissed from employment before the hearing, the interdiction challenge becomes moot as the interdiction no longer exists, having been subsumed by the dismissal, and any relief sought would serve no practical purpose.
Judicial Review — Remedies — Improper Claims for Damages in Judicial Review Proceedings
Prayers for exemplary and punitive damages are not appropriate remedies in judicial review proceedings. However, such extraneous prayers do not deprive a matter of its public law character where the substance of the application properly raises public law issues concerning the legality, rationality and procedural propriety of administrative decisions.
Judicial Review — Jurisdiction — High Court Versus Industrial Court
The jurisdiction to entertain applications for judicial review and grant reliefs lies exclusively in the High Court pursuant to section 36 of the Judicature Act and Article 42 of the Constitution. The Industrial Court lacks judicial review power and inherent mandate to entertain every employment matter, as matters are only referred to it by a Labour Officer. Where an employee challenges the legality and procedural propriety of an administrative decision by a public body exercising statutory powers rather than seeking enforcement of contract terms, the matter properly lies within the High Court's judicial review jurisdiction.

Legislation cited (19)

  • Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 art.42
  • Judicature Act Cap 13 s.36
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.22
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.38
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.40
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.41(d)
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.52
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.53
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.72(f)
  • Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act No. 7 of 2001 s.102(3)
  • Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 rule 2(1)
  • Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 rule 3
  • Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 rule 3A
  • Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 rule 7A
  • Human Resources Manual 2017 (Gulu University) s.15.9
  • Human Resources Manual 2017 (Gulu University) s.15.1.2(b)
  • Human Resources Manual 2017 (Gulu University) s.15.1.2(g)
  • Human Resources Manual 2017 (Gulu University) s.15.1.2(y)
  • Human Resources Manual 2017 (Gulu University) s.15.1.2(aa)

Cases cited (29)

  • Mukisa Biscuit Manufacturing Co. Ltd v West End Distributors Ltd [1969] EA 696
  • Mukasa v Kanyike (Civil Appeal No. 13 of 2022)
  • Yashwant v Odaka (HCT-00-CC-CS 365 of 2007)
  • Attorney General v Maj. General David Tinyefuza (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 1997)
  • Everett Vs. Ribands
  • Mugyenzi v Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (Civil Appeal No. 167 of 2018)
  • Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for Civil Service [1985] AC 374
  • Kalou Joseph Andrew v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause No. 106 of 2001)
  • Obol James Henry v Gulu University (Miscellaneous Cause No. 16 of 2023)
  • Katuntu v MTN Uganda Ltd (HCCS No. 248 of 2012)
  • Munagomba v Uganda Christian University (Miscellaneous Cause No. 22 of 2017)
  • Tumwebaze v Makerere University Council (Civil Application No. 353 of 2005)
  • Arua Kubala Park Operators v Arua Municipal Council (Miscellaneous Cause No. 003 of 2016)
  • Bwengye v Uganda Christian University (Miscellaneous Cause No. 268 of 2017)
  • Greater Busoga Sugarcane Growers Co-operative Union v Chairman Board of Directors Uganda Development Corporation (Miscellaneous Application No. 129 of 2024)
  • Davy v Spelthorne Borough Council [1984] 3 All ER 278
  • Polar Housing and Regeneration Community Association Ltd v Donoghue [2002] QB 48
  • R (Beer t/a Hammer Trout Farm) v Hampshire Farmers' Markets Ltd [2004] 1 WLR 233
  • Uganda Revenue Authority v Kitamirike (Civil Appeal No. 43 of 2010)
  • Environmental Action Network Ltd v Eryau (Civil Application No. 98 of 2008)
  • Maganda v NRM (HCMA No. 154 of 2010)
  • Pine Pharmacy Ltd v National Drug Authority (Miscellaneous Cause No. 0142 of 2016)
  • Borowski v Attorney General of Canada (1989) 1 S.C.R
  • Mwiru v National Council for Higher Education (Civil Appeal No. 84 of 2016)
  • Legal Brains Trust Ltd v Attorney General of Uganda (EACJ Appeal No. 4 of 2012)
  • Okumu Wengi v Attorney General (2007) 600 KaLR
  • Mabirizi v Kabaka of Buganda (Civil Application No. 0257 of 2017)
  • Mutesi v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause No. 241 of 2016)
  • Phillips v Copping [1935] 1 KB 15

Full judgment

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Ssemakula v Gulu University (Miscellaneous Cause 1 of 2024) [2024] UGHC 377 (27 May 2024)
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.