Lawpoint Uganda

The Court held that the criminal prosecution is being used as a tactical lever by the 3rd to 5th respondents as a means of unleashing the immense stress and cost of a criminal case to wear down an opponent, in order to force an advantage in a property ownership dispute, bypass the land registry, and intimidate the applicant. Criminal courts should not be converted into land registries or tribunals to determine the authenticity of rival land titles and competing historical roo

The Court addressed the practice of moonlighting, holding two jobs at once, as a distinct question from restraint of trade. Citing Bowers and Honeyball's Textbook on Labour Law, the Court noted that moonlighting is common and, in some circumstances, lawful, particularly where a contract carries no requirement of exclusivity and no harm to the primary employer is shown, as in Nova Plastics v Froggart, where an odd-job man was found not to be in breach for working for his emplo

Applying the three-part test in Asege Winnie v. Opportunity Bank (U) Ltd & Anor, the Court found the Plaintiff identifiable, the Defendants’ conduct deliberate, and the publication commercially motivated, sustaining the claim for misappropriation and passing off of personality. The Court further found that the Plaintiff’s name, profession, and stated opinion constituted personal data, unlawfully processed and republished to an audience beyond his own followers without his c

Justice Ssemogerere observed that Mr. Ntare had no independent interest in the criminal revision proceedings and that his actions were undertaken solely for financial gain and to obstruct justice. The Court further relied on Halsbury's Laws of England, defining criminal contempt as: "Criminal Contempt, consisting of words or acts which impede or interfere with the administration of justice, or which create a substantial risk that the course of justice will be seriously impede

The Court defined "retrenchment" as "the termination of employees for economic reasons, such as cost-cutting, restructuring, or downsizing, rather than for disciplinary actions," citing the ILO. It further noted that retrenchment is "not done as a punishment or disciplinary action, but it is intended to reduce surplus Labour or to address financial position of the business or company." The Court cited Justice BM Katureebe JSC (as he then was) in Samuel Lubega, Lawrence Kamule

Applying Section 9(1) of the Contracts Act, Cap. 284, and citing William Kasozi v. DFCU Bank Ltd, the Court reiterated that once a contract is validly executed, it creates reciprocal rights and obligations, and a signatory is bound by its terms absent fraud or misrepresentation. Breach of contract was defined, per Meridiana Africa Airlines (U) Ltd v. Avmax Spares (EA) Ltd, as a failure, without lawful excuse, to perform any promise forming all or part of a binding contract, i

Employers who unlawfully dismiss employees are generally liable to relieve or reimburse the employee for unsecured loans that were expected to be paid from the employee's monthly salary. Secured loans (e.g., mortgages) are distinct legal contracts and are not automatically cancelled. However, courts will not permit employers to switch the interest rate on such loans from a preferential staff rate to a higher commercial rate following an unfair dismissal, as this would consti

The Court characterised the removal of an employee's work tools as "a deliberately oppressive labour practice," treating it as strong evidence of breach of the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence, drawing on its own precedent in Granada Hotels Uganda Limited v Tayssiir Zereli and on the Supreme Court of Canada's reasoning in Potter v New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission, where cutting off an employee's work tools without disciplinary justification was found to

The Court held that the Claimant, recruited from Kaberamaido and dismissed after more than fifteen years of service, was entitled to repatriation under Section 39 of the Employment Act, but declined to enhance the CBA's fixed sum of UGX 400,000, holding that it could not rewrite the parties' bargain once they had agreed the CBA governed. Because the dismissal was found unjustified, the statutory bar on severance pay for employees summarily dismissed for gross misconduct did n

The Court found that the Plaintiff had complied with section 252(1) of the Succession Act by filing the present suit for removal of the caveat well within six months after the caveat had been lodged. Relying on the statutory scheme governing succession proceedings, the Court held that failure by a caveator to institute proceedings within the prescribed period results in the caveat lapsing by operation of law. The Court further endorsed the reasoning in Kawuki David & Others

The Court held that the Respondent appeared to have fallen victim to an online fraud perpetrated by an individual posing as a Japanese motor vehicle dealer. The Court emphasised that banks are not insurers against their customers' commercial decisions or fraudulent transactions initiated by customers themselves. The Court stated: "The appellant cannot be held liable for the fraud into which the respondent was induced." It further held that once the Bank had processed the cust

Relying on section 154 of the Children Act and the Constitutional Court decision in Kyamanywa v Uganda, the Court held that corporal punishment constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment prohibited under Ugandan law. The Court concluded: "That conduct amounted to corporal punishment, which is prohibited by the laws of Uganda, and, therefore, illegal."

The Court held that bail conditions should never be so onerous as to render the constitutional right illusory. It emphasised that the primary purpose of bail conditions is to secure attendance at trial rather than punish an accused person before conviction. The Court stated; "Mandatory bail granted in name but rendered practically unattainable is no bail at all." The Court further explained that the amount of bond and the standing of sureties must be proportionate to the appl

The Court found that any variation must be driven by objective market indicators, such as changes in the Bank of Uganda central bank rate, and must be communicated to the customer in writing beforehand. It held that; "Unilateral adjustments made surreptitiously or restrictively, without explicit contractual triggers or customer notification, constitute a material breach of the banker-customer contract."

The Court observed that the creditors' resolution triggered the operation of s. 154(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act. By operation of law, the shareholders were deemed to have passed a special resolution for liquidation under s. 92(2). The Court further noted that the lapse of the Administration Deed provided an independent basis for the same deeming consequence under ss. 152 and 154. The effect of section 154 is significant. Parliament has expressly provided a statutory mechanism

The court found that a valid and enforceable supply contract existed between the parties. Applying ss. 10(2) and 10(5) of the Contracts Act, the court held that the formal writing requirement for contracts exceeding UGX 500,000 does not render non-compliant contracts void; they are merely unenforceable by action. Importantly, the requirement may be satisfied by piecing together related commercial documents, purchase orders, invoices, delivery notes, email chains and reconcili

The court had ordered that the proceedings in Administration Cause No. 14 of 2024 be remanded to the Office of the Administrator General, Kabale. The purpose of this remand was for the Administrator General to determine whether the applicant was a "widow" within the meaning of the Succession Act, prior to the grant being reinstated. The Administrator General was then to report findings to the Registrar of the High Court, and the matter would subsequently be cause-listed for h

The PDPO rejected the complainant's argument that statutory exemptions relating to criminal investigations and legal proceedings automatically entitled him to obtain third-party personal data. The Office held that those provisions merely create circumstances where processing may lawfully occur; they do not confer a freestanding right to compel disclosure from NIRA. Accordingly, a private litigant cannot bypass the specific statutory requirements governing access to informatio

Applying the doctrine of legitimate expectation as articulated in Halsbury’s Laws of England and Paponette v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, the Court held that the Applicant had a legitimate expectation that her credits from King’s College London had been accepted and transferred. That expectation arose from the express terms of the 2022 admission letter, her placement into Semester II of the programme, and UCU’s consistent conduct over a four-year period, including

On restoration, the Court explained that a struck-off company may apply for administrative restoration by the Registrar only within twelve months of being struck off; any person aggrieved by the striking off may apply to the Registrar within five years; and beyond the twelve-month window, restoration can only be achieved through a court order. The restoration process requires a written application stating grounds, a thirty-day Gazette notice of intention to reinstate, and, wh

The Court found that the 1st Plaintiff had lawfully exercised its statutory power of sale under Section 19(e) of the Mortgage Act (Cap 239) following the 1st Defendant's default. She reaffirmed that upon registration of a transfer following a mortgagee's sale, the purchaser acquires full ownership free of all liability on the mortgage (Section 27(4)), and acquires good title except in cases of fraud or misrepresentation (Section 28(1)).

Facts The Director of Public Prosecutions, on behalf of the Republic of Uganda, sought leave to appeal out of time against a decision by His Worship Muchelule Dismas, a Magistrate at Kisoro Chief Magistrates Court, delivered on August 5, 2025. The original case involved charges of assault occasioning bodily harm against the respondents, Col. Kayita Deo and Pte Nyeko Christopher, under Section 236 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 128. The trial court had issued a ruling of no-case t

The Court reaffirmed the equitable principle of "first in time", holding that where competing interests arise over the same property, priority is generally accorded to the earlier purchaser whose interest was acquired first. The Court clarified that a purchaser who loses the property due to an earlier competing interest is entitled to seek compensation from the vendor who wrongfully conducted the subsequent sale.

The learned Judge clarified that Section 86(a) of the Employment Act permits severance pay only in cases of unfair dismissal and not merely unlawful termination. The Court reaffirmed its earlier decision in Nganda Joweria v Allen V.R. Stanley Secondary School, where it held that severance pay is unavailable in cases of unlawful termination. Accordingly, the Court found that the Labour Officer's award of severance pay lacked legal foundation and set it aside.