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Ssentamu Halidi and Others v Makerere University (Miscellaneous Cause No.23 of 2017)

High Court · [2018] UGHCCD 232 · 2018 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review of university decision to cancel admissions
Decision
Application dismissed

Observed later treatment

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Holding

The High Court dismissed the application for judicial review of Makerere University's decision to cancel admissions. The court held that the university's decision was reasonable where applicants submitted fraudulent CGPA information that did not meet the minimum requirements for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. Applicants bore responsibility for ensuring accurate information was submitted even where an online application system was used. No illegality, irrationality or procedural impropriety was established.

Outcome

Application dismissed

Facts

Six applicants applied for and were admitted to Makerere University's Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programme as privately sponsored students for the 2016/2017 academic year. Following a change-of-name request by another student that revealed his CGPA fell below the cut-off point, the university investigated diploma holder admissions. The university discovered discrepancies between the CGPAs submitted by the applicants during the online application process and their actual academic transcripts. The applicants' submitted CGPAs ranged from 4.69 to 4.83, meeting the required minimum of 4.00, but their actual CGPAs ranged from 3.29 to 3.64 (with two not classified). After meetings on 20 October 2016 and hearings before an Ad hoc Committee on 21 and 28 March 2017, the university cancelled the applicants' admissions on grounds of using forged documents. The applicants claimed they used the university's online application system and left their documents with an unidentified man in a tent near the Senate building to complete the process. They sought judicial review by way of certiorari, prohibition and mandamus.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicants raise any grounds for judicial review.
  2. Whether the applicants are entitled to the remedies sought in the application.

Orders

  • Application dismissed.
  • Each party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Grounds for Review — Rationality/Unreasonableness
For a decision to be irrational or unreasonable in judicial review, there must be such gross unreasonableness in the decision taken that no reasonable authority addressing itself to the facts and law before it would have made such a decision, such that the decision is in defiance of logic and acceptable moral standards.
Administrative Law — Judicial Review — Nature and Scope — Decision-Making Process
Judicial review is not concerned with the decision in issue but with the decision-making process through which the decision was made. It is concerned with the courts' supervisory jurisdiction to check and control the exercise of power by those in public offices or persons/bodies exercising quasi-judicial functions.
Administrative Law — University Admissions — Responsibility for Application Accuracy
The onus is upon an applicant for admission to ensure that relevant information needed or requested is that which is submitted to the relevant authority. An applicant cannot escape liability for inaccurate information by claiming reliance on a flawed online application system or an unidentified third party who assisted with the application process.
Administrative Law — University Admissions — Interpretation of Admission Requirements
Where a university admission advertisement directs diploma holders to view further requirements for specific programmes on a notice board or website, applicants are deemed to have notice of those specific requirements including minimum CGPA thresholds for particular courses.

Legislation cited (8)

  • Judicature Act s.36
  • Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 r.3(1)(a)
  • Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 r.6
  • University and Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 s.45(1)
  • University and Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 s.45(2)
  • University and Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 s.45(3)
  • University and Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 s.46(3)
  • Civil Procedure Act s.27

Cases cited (4)

  • John Jet Mwebaze v Makerere University Council and 2 Others (Miscellaneous Cause No. 353 of 2005)
  • DOTT Services Ltd v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause No. 125 of 2009)
  • Balondemu David v The Law Development Centre (Miscellaneous Cause No. 61 of 2016)
  • Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 374

Full judgment

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

Ssentamu Halidi and Others v Makerere University (Miscellaneous Cause No.23 of 2017) [2018] UGHCCD 232 (13 July 2018)
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.