ABOUT THE BOOK
The rules governing proceedings in civil litigation represent a road-map which traces a journey from the initiation of these proceedings to a point of termination and beyond to the recovery of the fruits of judgment.
Although basically the routes travelled within our jurisdiction owe their sense of direction to a UK Compass, we have, in certain areas in our country, deviated somewhat in terms of the geographical contours of our specific needs.
It is by so doing that we can develop (and are in the process of doing so) a distinctive jurisprudence in this area.
The need for a text on civil procedure in Uganda has been felt for sometime by both students and legal practitioners in the region. In this book, the civil procedure rules and other rules governing civil litigation in Uganda have been examined and explained in the light of selected Ugandan and East African Cases on procedure and practice, most of which are, and are likely to remain, unreported. In addition, a number of forms and precedents have been included, in order to illustrate the more common steps in the litigation process, and with particular reference to High Court actions. The book will be useful not only as a vade mecum for students and practitioners, but also as a research volume for those engaged in the ongoing task of revising procedural rules and harmonizing civil litigation in the East African Community.
By Ssekaana Musa LL.B, DIP.L.P, LL.M High Court Judge of Uganda and former Lecturer at Uganda Christian University and Islamic University in Uganda & practicing advocate of High Court AND Salima Namusobya Ssekaana LL.B, DIP.L.P, LL.M advocate of High Court of Uganda.
PREFACE By M. Ssekaana
The idea to write a book on civil procedure and practice in Uganda grew from the time we were at the University as undergraduates. This was mainly due to absence of a local reference work on civil procedure and practice.
The Uganda civil procedure rules were a hybrid of both the Indian and the British Civil Procedure Rules. The same rules have since been in force in Uganda with a few modifications up to this days. These rules are complicated, obscure and have been subjected to different interpretations by different courts. This is aggravated by the fact that there is limited law reporting and most decisions have remained unknown to law students, practitioners and legal researchers.
The court continue to grapple with the complexities and absurdities thrown up by the legislations. There has been a plethora of cases, mostly difficult to reconcile and sometimes simply contradictory, which almost defy any logical presentation.
The need for reform in some areas in our inherited civil procedure rules and practice is necessary and an ongoing concern. Against such a background, its is vital that every effort should be made to identify the underlying principles which are fundamental to the subject and, perhaps more interestingly, to differentiate between those which seem to be unshaken and timeless and those which are yielding to change. We have accordingly attempted in this book to provide a text of reference for law students, practitioners and legal researches of civil procedure in the region. Emphasis has been placed on the the manner in which the courts have interpreted and applied the rules of procedure in civil litigation. With this aim view, it has been necessary to research hundreds of unreported judgments, in addition to the minority of cases that have been reported in the available series law reports. In addiction to illustrate the more common steps in the litigation process in the Uganda context.
The text has been written by an academician and practising advocates with an overlapping experience. We hope this has produced a text book that is firmly rooted in practical issues, theory and some criticism in the same text.
It is hoped that the law is accurately stated from the sources available to us on 15 July 2007. We both, of course accept responsibility for the text as a whole, any errors and omissions are all our own. We are receptive of any comments, view and criticism about this text on the address herein below.
Musa Ssekaana & Salima N Ssekaana
PO Box 70075, Kampala-Uganda
ssekaana@gmail.com.