Timber and General Stores Ltd & Anor vs Imail Mugoda (HCT-04-CV-CA-133-2009)

Observed later treatment

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

Held that a Registrar sitting as a civil court has jurisdiction to grant an interim stay of execution of a final decree pending the hearing of a main application or appeal. The High Court has inherent jurisdiction to stay its own orders. While the Registrar must consider the conditions precedent under Order 43 r.4(3) CPR, on an interim application this consideration need only be prima facie. The Registrar's order was valid and did not occasion a miscarriage of justice. Appeal dismissed.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed with costs to the respondent

Facts

The appellants appealed exparte orders of the Assistant Registrar dated 22 December 2009 staying execution of High Court Civil Suit No. 63 of 1998 until determination of Misc. Application No. 249 of 2009. The decree in Civil Suit No. 63 of 1998 declared that the suit property belonged to the appellants with no order for demolition. The respondent had filed a notice of appeal and sought an interim stay of execution. The appellants contended the Registrar lacked jurisdiction to stay a final decree of a judge and that the respondent failed to furnish security as required under Order 43 r.4(3) CPR.

Issues

1. Whether the learned Assistant Registrar had jurisdiction to issue an interim order to stay final decree of a judge of the High Court.
2. Whether the said order is illegal, null and void ab initio.
3. Whether the appellants are entitled ex-debito justitiae to have the said order vacated.
4. Whether the said interim order has occasioned a miscarriage of justice.
5. Whether the ends of justice require that the learned Assistant Registrar order be vacated.

Orders

• Appeal dismissed.
• Costs awarded to the respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (13)

• Civil Procedure Rules O.50 r.8
• Civil Procedure Rules O.52 r.1
• Civil Procedure Rules O.52 r.3
• Civil Procedure Rules O.50 r.3
• Civil Procedure Rules O.50 r.4
• Civil Procedure Rules O.42 r.89
• Civil Procedure Rules O.1 r.4
• Civil Procedure Rules O.43 r.4(3)
• Civil Procedure Rules O.50 r.1
• Civil Procedure Rules O.50 r.2
• Civil Procedure Rules O.50 r.6
• Civil Procedure Act s.98
• Civil Procedure Act s.101

Cases cited (7)

• Busonya Jamada & Ors v David Giruli (Misc. Application No. 135 of 2009)
• Uganda Commercial Bank v Ssanya & Anor [1999] KALR 804
• Attorney General and Uganda Land Commission v James Mark Kamoga and James Kamala (Civil Appeal No. 8 of 2004)
• Horizon Coaches Ltd v Pan Africa Insurance Ltd (Civil Application No. 20 of 2002)
• Dhanji v Bhagwanji Sunderji & Co [1932] 5 ULR 9
• Mugenyi & Co. Advocates v National Insurance Corporation (Civil Appeal No. 13 of 1984)
• Lawrence Musiitwa Kyazze and Eunice Busingye (Civil Application No. 18 of 1990)

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.

• Bernard Mweteise and Others v Post Bank Limited and Another (Miscellaneous Application No. 892 of 2024)

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