Wakilii

Yunida Traders v UMEME Limited (EDT COMPLAINT 8 of 2013)

Tribunal · [2020] UGEDT 2 · 2020 Preliminary Objection Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Preliminary objection to bill of costs on ground that filing advocates had no locus to act
Decision
Bill of costs to proceed to taxation despite procedural irregularity

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that while failure to file a notice of change of advocates following firm dissolution was a serious omission, the tribunal would not allow technicalities to defeat substantive justice where costs had accrued to the complainant. The objection was overruled and the bill of costs ordered to be taxed, with each party bearing its own costs of the preliminary objection.

Outcome

Bill of costs to proceed to taxation despite procedural irregularity

Facts

Yunida Traders filed a complaint against UMEME Limited in 2013, initially represented by Rwakafuuzi & Co. Advocates. Instructions were later transferred to Banenya Mugalu & Co. Advocates, who filed a notice of change. That firm was subsequently dissolved in August 2017 and reformed as Kakona & Kwotek Advocates. The same counsel who had handled the matter under the previous firm continued representation through to judgment. When Kakona & Kwotek Advocates filed a bill of costs, UMEME objected on the ground that no notice of change of advocates had been filed following the firm dissolution, and that Kakona & Kwotek Advocates was therefore a stranger to the record with no locus to act.

Issues

  1. Whether Kakona & Kwotek Advocates had locus to file the bill of costs without having filed a notice of change of advocates following dissolution of the previous firm.

Orders

  • Objection overruled.
  • Each party to bear its own costs of the preliminary objection.
  • Bill of costs on record to be taxed.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Legal Representation — Notice of Change of Advocates — Effect of Firm Dissolution
Where a law firm dissolves and reforms under a new name, and the same counsel continues to represent the client through to judgment, failure to file a formal notice of change of advocates is a serious procedural omission but does not deprive the reconstituted firm of locus to file a bill of costs where costs have accrued to the client.
Civil Procedure — Legal Representation — Instructions to Law Firm
Instructions are given to a law firm and not to an individual advocate, and a notice of deregistration addressed to the President of the Uganda Law Society does not constitute notice to the tribunal or parties to proceedings.
Civil Procedure — Substantive Justice — Article 126(e) Constitution
Courts and tribunals must administer substantive justice without undue regard to technicalities, and where costs have been awarded to a party, procedural irregularities in the filing of a bill of costs should not defeat the substantive right to recover those costs.

Legislation cited (2)

Cases cited (3)

  • Okodoi George & Another v Akello Opaira Sam (HCT-04-MA-0143 of 2016)
  • Kabale Housing Estates Tenants Association v Kabale Municipal Local Council (Civil Appeal No. 15 of 2013)
  • Uganda v Patricia Ojangole (Criminal Case No. 1 of 2014)

Full judgment

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

Yunida Traders v UMEME Limited (EDT COMPLAINT 8 of 2013) [2020] UGEDT 2 (8 September 2020)
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.