Longinus Oroni Murunga v David Masika Mafumbo [2017] KECA 139 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal confirmed that court filing deadlines are strict: late judicial review applications cannot be rescued by constitutional fairness principles.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Computation of the 21-day period for filing a judicial review application after leave is granted
The day on which leave is granted is excluded and counting starts the following day; where the period exceeds six days, Sundays and public holidays are not excluded under Order 50 rule 2 CPR.
Order 50 rule 3(1) CPR requires the application to be made within twenty-one days of leave. Order 50 rule 2 excludes Sundays and public holidays only when the period is less than six days. The same rule is mirrored in section 57(d) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, Rule 3(d) of the Court of Appeal Rules and Article 259(6) of the Constitution. Counting from 1 March 2012, the application filed on 28 March 2012 was filed on the 28th day, outside the 21 days.
Whether Article 159(2)(d), the overriding objective and inherent jurisdiction can cure an out-of-time filing
No - those principles apply only to competent proceedings within a court's jurisdiction; a filing made outside the statutorily limited time is incompetent and the court has no jurisdiction to entertain it.
The Court acknowledged that Article 159(2)(d) requires justice to be administered without undue regard to technicalities and that the overriding objective and inherent jurisdiction exist. However, the time limited by law for instituting proceedings goes to the competence of the application and to the jurisdiction of the High Court. Since the application was filed out of time and time was never extended, the striking out was correct.
Legal principles established
#- Where the period allowed for doing an act is six days or more, Sundays and public holidays are not excluded in computing time under Order 50 rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules
- Article 159(2)(d), the overriding objective and inherent jurisdiction cannot be invoked to cure a proceeding filed out of the statutory time limit, because timeliness goes to the competence and jurisdiction of the court to entertain the proceeding
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is dismissed
- 2.Costs of the appeal awarded to the respondent
- On appeal from
- High Court of Kenya at Busia
- Busia Judicial Review Application No. 22 of 2012
- Jurisdiction invoked
- First appellate jurisdiction over the High Court (ruling in Judicial Review Application No. 22 of 2012); appeal as of right under the Court of Appeal's statutory appellate jurisdiction - no specific constitutional article invoked
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (2)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Mwakia & 4 others (Suing for Themselves and on Behalf of the Entire Miasenyi-Majengo Mapya Village of About Two Hundred and Seventy Affected People) v Kenya Pipeline Company; National Environment Management Authority (Interested Party) (Land Case E002 of 2023) (Environment and Land) [2025] KEELC 850 (KLR)[2025] KEELC 850 (KLR)27 Feb 2025
- Jonah Kabugo v Martin Mbaya & others [2018] KEELC 167 (KLR)[2018] KEELC 167 (KLR)20 Dec 2018applied
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Longinus Oroni Murunga v David Masika Mafumbo [2017] KECA 139 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2017). Civil Appeal No. 319 of 2013. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2017/139/eng@2017-11-16
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.