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Advocates for Natural Resource Governance & Development v. Attorney General

Country/Territory
Uganda
Type of court
National - higher court
Date
Nov 8, 2013
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
Constitutional Court
Seat of court
Kampala
Judge
R. Kasule (JA), E. Mwangusya (JA), . E. K. Mwondha (JA), K. Kakuru (JA), G. Kiryabwire (JA)
Reference number
Constitutional Petition No.03/05
Language
English
Subject
Land & soil, Legal questions
Keyword
Liability/compensation Private forest Constitutional law Property rights Private land Human rights Ownership
Abstract

In this case, the plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of the land acquisition legal framework and of its implementation in the context of the upgrade of the Hoima-Kaiso Tonya road. In order to proceed, the government proceeded to the compulsorily acquisition of lands from the people affected by the project under the Land Acquisition Act.

The plaintiffs claimed that Section 7(1) of the Land Acquisition Act which is the legal basis used by the Government to compulsorily acquire land was inconsistent with Article 26 of the Constitution which states that the every person has the right to own property. The main reason used by the plaintiff to justify the nullity of Section 7(1) was the fact that it did not provide for the proper prior compensation of the owners expropriated. As a result, the plaintiffs considered that the actions of the government with regards to land acquisition for the upgrade of the Hoima-Kaiso Tonya road constituted a violation of the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court agreed with the plaintiff and held that the absence of provision within the Land Acquisition Act stating for the prior payment of compensation before the government acquires any person’s property was inconsistent with Article 26 of the Constitution. As a result, the court declared Section 7(1) of the Land Acquisition Act null and that the action of the Government based on this act are unconstitutional.

Full text
aadvocates_for_natural_resource_governance_development_others_v_attorney_general_another.pdf
www.judiciary.go.ug