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Citation
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Judgment date
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| February 2025 |
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Court dismisses application challenging Taxing Master's jurisdiction and cost assessment after a Notice of Appeal was lodged.
Taxation - Jurisdiction of Taxing Master after Notice of Appeal - Application of 1/6 Rule in Cost Taxation
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19 February 2025 |
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Review dismissed: eviction notice issued after the ruling is not ‘new evidence’ and memorandum lacked grounds.
Civil Procedure – Review – Order XLII Rule 1(1)(b) – conditions for review: new and important matter or evidence must have existed at time of original hearing and been unavailable despite due diligence; error apparent on the face of the record
Procedure – Format of review pleadings – memorandum of review must state grounds for review as required by Order XLII (analogous to appeal grounds). Electronic filing – filing date determination for limitation purposes
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19 February 2025 |
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Applicant's allegation of apparent illegality justified extension of time and revision of a tribunal judgment entered after abatement.
Limitation — extension of time under section 14(1) Law of Limitation Act — illegality apparent on the face of record as sufficient cause. Civil procedure — abatement on death — Order XXII Rule 4(3) CPC; failure to join legal representative within 90 days renders subsequent proceedings void
Land Disputes — revision under section 43(1)(b) LDCA where error causes injustice — power to set aside and order retrial
Relief — retrial before a different Chairperson and new assessors; no order as to costs
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18 February 2025 |
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A lessee remaining after lease expiry remains bound to lease obligations; rent accrues until vacating; ex parte orders persist unless set aside.
Summary suit — service and leave to defend under Order XXXV r.2 CPC; effect of appellate remittal on existing ex parte orders; proof of continued occupation; s.82 Land Act — lessee’s obligations continue after lease expiry; rent and compensation accrual until vacatur.
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18 February 2025 |
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Reporting alleged fraud contrary to a recorded consent decree constituted contempt; respondents warned and liable to committal if non‑compliant.
Civil procedure – Consent decree/Deed of Settlement – Incorporation of contract into consent decree – Contempt for instituting criminal complaints contrary to a recorded settlement – Committal as remedy for disobedience of court orders.
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18 February 2025 |
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Appellant failed to prove title to eight acres; court declared him owner of three acres and quashed the tribunal award.
Land law – proof of ownership – burden of proof lies on plaintiff claiming title; Locus standi – improperly raised by plaintiff to shift burden; Limitation and adverse possession – limitation is a defendant’s defence; adverse possession inapplicable where occupation began by invitation; Remedy – declaration of limited ownership and direction for local council to measure demarcated area.
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18 February 2025 |
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Court set aside strike-out order and restored defence where advocate’s sickness (supported by medical records) established good cause.
Civil procedure – Order VIII r.20(2) CPC – setting aside orders made in absence of a party; Sickness/high blood pressure as good cause; Admissibility and sufficiency of affidavit clarifying name discrepancies; Restoration of struck-out pleadings.
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18 February 2025 |
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Objections that the plaint failed to disclose a cause of action and was time-barred were overruled; accrual is a factual issue for trial.
Land law – preliminary objections – limitation and cause of action – whether plaint discloses cause of action under Order VII r.1(e) – accrual of cause of action is a factual question requiring evidence – party not bound by prior pleadings in other proceedings – Mukisa Biscuits principle inapplicable to disputed factual accrual.
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18 February 2025 |
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A Registrar's notice of intention to transfer is not appealable; the High Court is functus officio over its own decree.
Land Registration Act – section 101 & 102(1) – whether a Registrar's notice of intention to rectify or transfer constitutes a decision, order or act appealable to the High Court. Civil procedure – functus officio – High Court barred from entertaining proceedings that would contradict or undermine its own decree
Remedies – intended acts are resisted by injunctive relief or stay of execution, not interlocutory appeals under s.102(1)
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17 February 2025 |
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Applying for revision out of time while identical proceedings are pending below is an abuse of court process; application struck out.
Civil procedure – Abuse of court process – Filing extension of time for revision while parallel objection and injunction proceedings are pending – striking out application as an abuse of process. Civil procedure – Preliminary objection – may be decided on pleadings where the point is apparent on the record – reliance on chamber summons, affidavits and annexures
Limitation/Revision – extension of time to apply for revision – not maintainable where pursued concurrently with identical proceedings below
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17 February 2025 |
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Short delay caused by counsel's sickness justified extension to file defence where no prejudice to the plaintiff was shown.
Civil procedure — Extension of time to file defence — Order VIII Rule 1(1) and (3) CPC — Section 93 CPC discretion to enlarge time — 'Good cause' where counsel ill — Short delay not inordinate — No prejudice, extension granted.
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17 February 2025 |
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The plaint failed to disclose a cause of action against several defendants and was rejected with costs.
Civil procedure – Preliminary objection – Whether plaint discloses a cause of action – Determination from plaint together with annexures – Order VII Rules 1(e) and 11(a) CPC – Rejection of plaint for non-disclosure of cause of action.
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13 February 2025 |
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Application for temporary injunction dismissed: prima facie ownership dispute but no irreparable harm shown for past acts.
Land — Interim injunction — Atilio v Mbowe test — Prima facie case established but no irreparable harm shown — Injunctions prevent ongoing/future acts, not past completed acts — Remedy for completed injury is damages
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13 February 2025 |
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Trial court's failure to determine disputed land location and refusal to visit locus in quo vitiated proceedings; retrial ordered.
Land law – disputed boundaries and location of land; weight of Certificate of Title versus oral/local leadership evidence; locus in quo visit – exceptional circumstances; failure to resolve location vitiates trial; retrial ordered.
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13 February 2025 |
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Appellant's new claim of long possession failed; respondent proved ownership by gift on balance of probabilities; appeal dismissed.
Land law – proof of ownership – gift inter vivos – burden on claimant to prove title on balance of probabilities. Civil procedure – admissibility of new evidence on appeal – new factual claims not raised at trial may be disregarded
Evidence – oral versus documentary evidence – court to weigh evidential weight; oral evidence can prevail if corroborated
Pleadings – description of immovable property – requirement satisfied by location, neighbours and physical features
Jurisdiction – ward tribunal mediation requirement and scope of dispute (one acre v. two acres)
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10 February 2025 |
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Temporary injunction granted where dispute over indebtedness, auctioneer licence and risk of irreparable harm to tenants.
Civil procedure – Temporary injunctions – Atilio v Mbowe test (prima facie case, irreparable injury, balance of convenience); disputed indebtedness as triable issue; auctioneer licensing under Auctioneers Act; propriety of execution proceedings versus unilateral sale by creditor.
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10 February 2025 |
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Withdrawal with leave to re-file granted for formal defect of omitted documents; plaintiff ordered to pay defendants' costs.
Civil procedure – Withdrawal of suit – Order XXIII Rules 1 & 2 – Leave to re-file requires formal defect or sufficient grounds; Failure to produce documents before final pre-trial – amended Order XIII Rule 1 (2024) – omission to plead documents constitutes formal defect; Re-filing limited to same cause of action – prohibition against introducing wholly new causes of action; Costs – discretionary award to defendants and non-transferability to subsequent suit.
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10 February 2025 |
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Whether an ex parte injunction granted before mandatory ward mediation and without hearing is revisable for jurisdictional irregularity.
Land Disputes Courts Act — jurisdiction to refer matters to ward tribunal for mediation (s.13(4)); Injunctions — ex parte orders and right to be heard (Order XXXVII r.4); Revisions — revisability of orders that finally dispose of injunctive relief (s.79(2) CPC); Abuse of process — legitimate challenge to procedural irregularity not an abuse.
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5 February 2025 |