UGANDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Moses J. Adriko SC, Ernest Sembatya Kaggwa, Derrick Kizito Kunyiga and Philip E. Nsaja, MMAKS Advocates
means, or evident partiality or corruption of an arbitra - tor; that the award is not in accordance with the ACA; non-arbitrability; and conflict with the public policy of Uganda. Opt-In Appeal on Questions of Law (Section 38 of the ACA) Where the parties have so agreed, a party may apply to the court to determine a question of law arising in the course of the arbitration, or appeal on a question of law arising out of the award; a further appeal lies to the Court of Appeal on certified questions of law of general importance. This option is limited to domestic arbitrations. The appellate courts police these limits strictly: no appeal lies against interlocutory orders in arbitration, reinforcing the finality of the arbitral process. 11.2 Excluding/Expanding the Scope of Appeal The default position under the ACA is already one of exclusion: there is no merits appeal unless the parties opt in. The parties may expand the scope of recourse only in the manner permitted by Section 38, by agree - ing that questions of law arising in the arbitration or out of the award may be referred or appealed to the court; they cannot confer a broader appellate jurisdic - tion (for example, on questions of fact) on the courts by contract. Conversely, the parties cannot contract out of the setting-aside regime in Section 34, whose grounds protect due process, arbitrability and public policy; an advance waiver of the right to apply to set aside an award would not be given effect. 11.3 Standard of Judicial Review There is no judicial review of the merits. The consist - ent judicial refrain is that parties take their arbitrator “for better or worse”, as to both decisions of fact and decisions of law, and that a setting-aside application must not be a disguised appeal. Review is therefore highly deferential: the court examines the integrity of the process (notice, opportunity to be heard, compo - sition, scope, impartiality) rather than the correctness of the outcome. Questions the court decides for itself, effectively de novo, are confined to the statutory gate - ways: the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction, arbitrability, and whether recognition or enforcement of the award
would conflict with public policy, and, where the par - ties have opted in under Section 38 of the ACA, ques - tions of law.
12. Enforcement of an Award 12.1 New York Convention
Uganda acceded to the New York Convention on 12 February 1992, subject to the reciprocity reservation (the Convention applies to awards made in the terri - tory of another contracting state), and Part III of the ACA gives the Convention the force of law in Uganda. Uganda has also been a party to the ICSID Conven - tion since 1966, and Part IV of the ACA provides for the enforcement of ICSID Convention awards as if they were decrees of the High Court. In addition, Uganda is a member of the East African Community and COMESA, whose treaties recognise arbitration, and is party to bilateral investment treaties that pro - vide for ICSID and other institutional arbitration. 12.2 Enforcement Procedure Procedure and Standards A domestic or foreign award is enforced by filing or registering the award in the High Court (in practice, the Commercial Division) under Sections 35 and 36 of the ACA and the Arbitration Rules in Schedule 1 thereto, supported by the duly authenticated or certified award and the arbitration agreement (with a certified transla - tion where necessary). Once the one-month setting- aside window has expired, or an application to set aside has been rejected, the award is enforced in the same manner as a decree of the court (see, recently, Karim Somani v Isaac Isanga Musumba , Arbitration Cause No 3 of 2025). Recognition or enforcement of a foreign award may be refused only on the grounds in Section 35, which mirror Article V of the New York Convention. Awards Set Aside or Challenged at the Seat An award that has been set aside by the courts of the seat will not be enforced in Uganda: the High Court has held that an award can only be set aside at the seat and that, once set aside there, it becomes unen - forceable in Uganda ( Aya Investments ( U ) Ltd v Indus- trial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd , Court of Appeal Civil Application No 410 of 2023, and
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