Wakilii

Tibet-Hima Mining Co. Ltd v Kilembe Mines Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 456 of 2025)

High Court · [2025] UGCOMMC 265 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for stay of taxation proceedings pending appeal
Decision
Taxation proceedings stayed pending determination of appeal challenging the award of costs

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (treatment unverified) Sequitur — Uganda’s citator · Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

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.

No adverse treatment recorded Cited 1 time with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits. Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — a deterministic signal, not legal advice.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The High Court granted a stay of taxation proceedings pending appeal. The court held that where an appeal challenges the award of costs itself, taxation proceedings should be stayed until the appellate court determines whether costs were properly awarded. The court applied the three-part test for stay applications: prima facie case on appeal, irreparable damage, and balance of convenience. While the applicant failed to prove irreparable damage (as monetary loss can be compensated), the balance of convenience favoured granting the stay to prevent multiplicity of proceedings.

Outcome

Taxation proceedings stayed pending determination of appeal challenging the award of costs

Facts

The applicant was aggrieved by a ruling in Miscellaneous Application No. 1092 of 2024 which awarded costs to the respondent. The applicant filed a notice of appeal (Civil Appeal No. 1081 of 2024) challenging the award of costs. The respondent filed a bill of costs for taxation (Taxation Application No. 52 of 2025) and a taxation date was issued. The applicant sought to stay the taxation proceedings pending the appeal, arguing that the appeal questions whether the respondent is entitled to costs at all. The respondent opposed, contending that taxation is merely an assessment of fees, not execution, and that the applicant could be ordered to deposit taxed costs pending appeal. The applicant argued that proceeding with taxation while the entitlement to costs is under appeal would prejudice it and potentially render the appeal nugatory.

Issues

  1. Whether the application discloses sufficient grounds for the grant of an order of stay of proceedings in Taxation Application No. 52 of 2025?
  2. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • Application granted.
  • The Registrar shall stay the proceedings in Taxation Application No. 52 of 2025 until the final determination of Civil Appeal No. 1081 of 2024 by the Court of Appeal.
  • Costs of this application shall abide the outcome of Civil Appeal No. 1081 of 2024.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Stay of Proceedings — Taxation of Costs — Test for Granting Stay Pending Appeal
The grounds to be considered in staying proceedings pending an appeal are: (1) the applicant must establish that its appeal has a likelihood of success or a prima facie case of the right of appeal; (2) the applicant will suffer irreparable damage or the appeal will be rendered nugatory if a stay is not granted; (3) if grounds 1-2 have not been established, the court must consider where the balance of convenience lies.
Civil Procedure — Stay of Proceedings — Irreparable Damage — Meaning and Application
Irreparable damage does not mean that there must not be a physical possibility of repairing the injury but it means that the injury must be substantial or material, that is, one that cannot be adequately compensated for in damages. Damage that is strictly monetary can be atoned for in damages and does not constitute irreparable damage.
Civil Procedure — Taxation of Costs — Stay Pending Appeal — When Appropriate
Where an appeal challenges the entitlement to costs itself, taxation proceedings should be stayed pending the appeal. Taxation of an advocate's bill of costs is a preliminary step to execution proceedings and, while it does not pose an imminent threat of execution, the balance of convenience may favour a stay to prevent multiplicity of proceedings where the underlying entitlement to costs is under appellate review.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (10)

  • Oriental Insurance Brokers Limited v Transocean (U) Limited (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 55 of 1995)
  • East Africa Law Society v Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda (Reference No. 7 of 2012)
  • Captain Philip Ongom v Catherine Nyero Owota (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 14 of 2001)
  • Attorney General v Gladys Nakibuule Kisekka (Constitutional Appeal No. 02 of 2016)
  • Olivia da Ritta Siqueira E Facho Vs Siqueira [1933] 15 KLR 34
  • Jadva Karsan Vs Harnam Singh Bhogal [1953] 20 EACA 74
  • Simba Properties Investment Co. Ltd and Others v Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership and Another (Court of Appeal Civil Application No. 1299 of 2023)
  • Hon. Theodore Ssekikubo and 3 Others v Attorney General and 4 Others (Supreme Court Constitutional Application No. 06 of 2013)
  • Giella Vs Cassman Brown & Co. Ltd [1973] E.A 358
  • E.L.T. Kiyimba Kaggwa Vs Haji Abdu Nasser Katende [1985] HCB 43

Cases citing this judgment (1)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

Full judgment

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Tibet-Hima Mining Co. Ltd v Kilembe Mines Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 456 of 2025) [2025] UGCommC 265 (19 August 2025)
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.