Posts
THE JUDICATURE ACT.
Statutory Instrument 13—16.
The Judicature (Court Bailiffs) Rules.
Arrangement of Rules.
Rule
1.
Citation.
2.
Interpretation.
3.
Authority to perform or make decision of court.
4.
Court bailiffs.
5.
Authority to license and appoint court bailiffs.
6.
Application for a licence and appointment as court bailiff.
7.
Court’s discretion to grant or refuse a licence.
8.
Cancellation or suspension of a licence.
9.
Licence fees.
10.
Court bailiff to give security.
11.
Valuation of attached property.
12.
Court bailiff not to sell to himself or herself, etc.
13.
Discharge of duties by bailiffs in rotation.
14.
Appointment of bailiff other than court bailiff.
15.
Proceeds and costs of execution.
16.
Insurance of goods in court bailiff’s custody.
17.
Remuneration.
18.
Remuneration of bailiffs being Government officers.
19.
Bailiffs’ expenses.
20.
Offences and penalties.
Schedules
First Schedule
Forms.
Second Schedule
Scale of fees.
Third Schedule
Licence fees.
THE JUDICATURE ACT.
Statutory Instrument 13—16.
The Judicature (Court Bailiffs) Rules.
(Under section 48(1)(d) of the Act.)
1.
Citation.
These Rules may be cited as the Judicature (Court Bailiffs) Rules.
2.
Interpretation.
In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires—
(a)
“appointing authority” means chief registrar, deputy chief
registrar or assistant registrar;
(b)
“court” means the High Court and any court constituted by or
under the Magistrates Courts Act;
(c)
“court bailiff” means any person licensed as such by an
appointing authority under rule 5 of these Rules, but does not
include a company or association or body of persons corporate or
incorporate;
(d)
“execution proceedings” means any proceedings involving the
attachment and sale of any property by order of a court in
accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules or any other written
law providing remedy similar to that provided by the Civil
Procedure Act and Civil Procedure Rules for the enforcement of
payment of a sum of money or for the placing of any person in
possession of property.
3.
Authority to perform or make decision of court.
Wherever in these Rules it is provided that a court may do any act or make
any decision, other than the appointment of court bailiffs, that act may be
done or decision reached by an appointing authority; except that the Chief
Justice may by special or general order delegate authority to any other
official of a court to do the act or reach the decision.
4.
Court bailiffs.
Subject to these Rules, execution proceedings shall be conducted by a person
to be designated a court bailiff who shall hold a licence issued by an
appointing authority under rule 5 of these Rules and a letter of appointment
in the form specified in the First Schedule to these Rules.
5.
Authority to license and appoint court bailiffs.
(1)
The appointing authority may license and appoint any person to
be a court bailiff, if it is satisfied that the person—
(a)
is of good repute and financial standing;
(b)
has adequate facilities for the safe storage of goods;
(c)
is not an undischarged bankrupt
or the subject of any bankruptcy
proceedings in any country; and
(d)
has not been convicted of
any criminal offence involving
dishonesty.
(2)
The Rules Committee may, from time to time, add to the
qualifications specified under subrule (1) of this rule as it may deem
necessary.
(3)
Before the appointment of a court bailiff and the issuing of a
licence in that respect, the appointing authority shall—
(a)
obtain recommendations of the applicant’s three referees;
(b)
obtain reports regarding the applicant from—
(i)
the resident district commissioner;
(ii)
the district police commander;
(iii) the county chief;
(iv) the manager of the bank in which his or her account is kept;
(c)
verify the applicant’s information; and
(d)
inspect the applicant’s facilities of storage.
(4)
The licence issued under subrule (1
) of this rule shall be annual
and shall remain valid until the 31st day of December next following.
(5)
A court bailiff may, without an auctioneer’s licence required
under section 3 of the Auctioneers
Act, carry out the business of an
auctioneer under section 17(a) of that Act.
6.
Application for licence and appointment as court bailiff.
Every application for a licence and appointment as a court bailiff shall be in
writing and shall state—
(a)
the full name, place of business and postal address of the
applicant;
(b)
the language in which the applicant is literate and his or her
standard of education;
(c)
the facilities and their location the applicant has for the safe
storage of goods;
(d)
the name of the applicant’s bankers and the address of the branch
in which his or her account is kept;
(e)
the permanent place of the applicant’s residence; and
(f)
names and addresses of three referees.
7.
Court’s discretion to grant or refuse a licence.
The appointing authority may grant or refuse a licence under these Rules
whether or not an applicant has previously held a licence.
8.
Cancellation or suspension of a licence.
(1)
The appointing authority may, for good cause, cancel or suspend
the licence of a court bailiff; except that—
(a)
the court bailiff shall have been given opportunity to show cause
to the appointing authority against any such order of cancellation;
and
(b)
any aggrieved court bailiff may appeal to the High Court within
thirty days of notification of the cancellation.
(2)
Any court bailiff whose licence has been cancelled shall not be
eligible for reappointment.
9.
Licence fees.
(1)
Licences shall be of two kinds—
(a)
a general licence, authorising the licensee to carry on the business
of a court bailiff anywhere in Uganda; and
(b)
a local licence, authorising th
e licensee to carry on the business
of a court bailiff only in the place named in the licence.
(2)
The fees payable for the licences mentioned in this rule are those
specified in the Third Schedule to these Rules.
(3)
No court bailiff shall execute a High Court warrant unless he or
she holds a general licence.
10.
Court bailiff to give security.
A court bailiff shall be required to give a cash security for the faithful
discharge of his or her duties in the
sum of three thousand shillings for the
general licence and nine hundred shillings for a local licence.
11.
Valuation of attached property.
(1)
Notwithstanding rule 8(2) of
Order XXII of the Civil Procedure
Rules, where the court is not satisfied with the value attached on each item,
it shall review and determine the value of the property attached and where it
deems fit and for reasons recorded shall obtain the valuation report.
(2)
Where the highest bid of the property is below the value
determined under subrule (1) of this ru
le, the sale shall be subject to the
court’s approval.
(3)
In case of livestock or other animals, either the registrar or chief
magistrate shall sanction the arrangement for the safe keeping of the animals
before attachment and disposal of the animals.
(4)
Before the court issues the attachment warrant it shall have regard
to the value of the property to be att
ached vis a vis the decretal amount. In
cases where there is over attachment, the court shall not issue the warrant.
(5)
The court bailiff shall make a list of the attached property in
triplicate which shall be signed by him or
her, the debtor and witnessed. He
or she shall send the original to the court that issued the attachment warrant
and retain the duplicate for himself or herself and the triplicate for the debtor.
When sending the original to the court that issued the attachment warrant, the
court bailiff shall state the approximate value of each item.
12.
Court bailiff not to sell to himself or herself, etc.
The court bailiff shall not sell any of
the attached property to himself or
herself or a member of his or her family
or a firm or company in which he or
she has an interest.
13.
Discharge of duties by bailiffs in rotation.
Where there are more court bailiffs than one duly licensed by a court, then
the bailiffs shall be called upon in rotation to carry out execution
proceedings; except that on application by the party desiring the services of
a bailiff, and for cause recorded by the
court, a particular court bailiff may
be called upon out of turn by the court to act in execution proceedings.
14.
Appointment of bailiff other than court bailiff.
Where no court bailiff is available or willing to act in any particular matter,
the appointing authority may appoint any other person a bailiff for that
particular matter without requiring him or her to be licensed as such.
15.
Proceeds and costs of execution.
(1)
A court bailiff shall deposit in court all proceeds of his or her
execution within seven days of the ex
ecution and thereafter submit his or her
bill of costs including his or her fees and disbursements for taxation.
(2)
Where a court bailiff after execution makes payment into court
by cheque, his or her bill of costs shall not be taxed before his or her cheque
is cleared.
(3)
Cheques by a judgment debtor or by the purchasers of the
attached property shall not be made in the name of Uganda Administration.
(4)
If execution is prevented on a stay of execution for whatever
cause, the court bailiff’s costs, if any, shall be paid by the judgment creditor.
16.
Insurance of goods in court bailiff’s custody.
(1)
A court bailiff shall—
(a)
take out a general policy of insurance covering the goods that
may be in his or her custody and additional policies covering
attached expensive items, against theft, damage or destruction by
fire; and
(b)
within fourteen days of taking out a licence show to the
appointing authority that he or she has taken out a general policy
of insurance.
No comments:
Post a Comment