TL;DR: Uganda must pay $8.7 million owed to the Iraqi Fund after the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling.
The Court of Appeal has reinstated a ruling requiring Uganda to pay $8.7 million to the Iraqi Fund for External Development, overturning a previous High Court decision. The High Court had quashed the payment based on a 2017 letter from Iraq’s Permanent Mission to the UN, which questioned the Fund’s authority to recover the debt. However, the appellate court found the High Court had erred in revisiting the matter, stating that the case had already been settled in 2002 when Uganda was ordered to pay the debt with interest.
The Court of Appeal emphasized that the government’s attempt to use the diplomatic letter to invalidate a final judgment was an improper challenge. The judges ruled the case could not be reopened at this stage and reaffirmed the original obligation. This decision closes a legal saga that has spanned over two decades, reaffirming the principle that once a case is concluded, it cannot be revisited based on new information.
The Court of Appeal has reinstated a ruling requiring Uganda to pay $8.7 million to the Iraqi Fund for External Development, overturning a previous High Court decision. The High Court had quashed the payment based on a 2017 letter from Iraq’s Permanent Mission to the UN, which questioned the Fund’s authority to recover the debt. However, the appellate court found the High Court had erred in revisiting the matter, stating that the case had already been settled in 2002 when Uganda was ordered to pay the debt with interest.
The Court of Appeal emphasized that the government’s attempt to use the diplomatic letter to invalidate a final judgment was an improper challenge. The judges ruled the case could not be reopened at this stage and reaffirmed the original obligation. This decision closes a legal saga that has spanned over two decades, reaffirming the principle that once a case is concluded, it cannot be revisited based on new information.
