UGANDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Moses J. Adriko SC, Ernest Sembatya Kaggwa, Derrick Kizito Kunyiga and Philip E. Nsaja, MMAKS Advocates
waiving their rights to arbitrate or violating their agree - ment to arbitrate, especially where the tribunal does not have power and practical ability to grant relief within the relevant timescale. The ACA does not itself provide for emergency arbitra - tors, but the ICAMEK Arbitration Rules do. The High Court has treated an emergency arbitrator’s decision as an award amenable to (and surviving) a setting- aside application under Section 34 ( Quality Uganda Ltd v Bata Shoe Co , Miscellaneous Cause No 53 of 2025), which indicates that such decisions are binding rather than merely recommendatory. The courts’ con - current power under Section 6 remains available after an emergency arbitrator has been appointed, subject to the conclusiveness rule described above. 6.3 Security for Costs The national law of Uganda allows for the courts and/ or the arbitral tribunal to order security for costs. The tribunal may require a party to provide appropriate security in connection with an interim measure of protection under Section 17 of the ACA, and security for costs is generally regarded as available under the tribunal’s broad procedural discretion and applicable institutional rules. The courts may order security in arbitration-related proceedings in the exercise of their ordinary powers, and, specifically, where recognition or enforcement of an award is resisted pending a setting-aside application at the seat, the court may adjourn its decision and order the resisting party to provide suitable security pursuant to Section 34 (5). The ACA governs all arbitrations seated in Uganda. Its procedural framework is, however, deliberately light- touch: under Section 19, the parties are free to agree on the procedure to be followed by the arbitral tribu - nal and, failing agreement, the tribunal may conduct the arbitration in the manner it considers appropri - ate, including determining the admissibility, relevance, materiality and weight of evidence. Institutional rules (those of ICAMEK, the ICC, the LCIA, UNCITRAL and others) apply where chosen by the parties. Court pro - ceedings connected with arbitration, referral applica - 7. Procedure 7.1 Governing Rules
tions, interim measures, setting aside, and the filing and enforcement of awards are governed by the Arbi - tration Rules in Schedule 1 to the ACA, supplemented by the Civil Procedure Rules. 7.2 Procedural Steps Very few procedural steps are mandated by law, con - sistent with party autonomy. The mandatory core comprises: • equal treatment – the parties must be treated with equality and each given a fair opportunity to pre - sent their case (Section 18 of the ACA); • proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator, of the arbitral proceedings and of hearings, breach of which is a setting-aside ground; • exchange of statements of claim and defence within the agreed or determined periods, unless otherwise agreed; and • compliance with the formal requirements for the award in Section 31 (see 10.1 Legal Require- ments ). Everything else – hearings or documents-only proce - dure, seat, language, timetable and evidence – is left to the parties’ agreement or the tribunal’s discretion. 7.3 Powers and Duties of Arbitrators Powers The arbitral tribunal’s statutory powers include ruling on its own jurisdiction (Section 16 of the ACA); deter - mining the procedure, and the admissibility, relevance, materiality and weight of evidence (Section 19); deter - mining the place and language of the arbitration in the absence of agreement; ordering interim measures and security (Section 17); appointing experts; decid - ing the dispute in accordance with the law and rules chosen by the parties (Section 28); awarding interest and costs; and correcting or interpreting the award or making an additional award (Section 33). Duties The arbitral tribunal must be and remain independ - ent and impartial, with a continuing duty of disclosure (Section 12); treat the parties equally and give each a fair opportunity to present its case (Section 18); con - duct the reference without undue delay; deliver a writ - ten, signed and (unless otherwise agreed) reasoned
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