Jane Wainoi Gathutwa & another v Grace Kaguu Marua & another [2015] KEELC 530 (KLR)
The bottom line
#What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court to hear an appeal from a Land Disputes Tribunal award confirmed by a magistrate's court
The Court had no jurisdiction; appeal lay only to the Provincial Appeals Committee and thence to the High Court on a point of law.
The dispute was determined under the repealed Land Disputes Tribunal Act. Section 8(1) provided for appeal to the Provincial Appeals Committee within thirty days, and Section 8(8) and (9) allowed a further appeal to the High Court on points of law within sixty days. No evidence showed any appeal to the Appeals Committee. The decision to admit the appeal was made in error, so the appeal had to be dismissed.
Res judicata
The appeal was res judicata because the same dispute over the same land had been determined by Aganyanya J. in Nairobi High Court Civil Appeal No. 405 of 1993, dismissed on 23rd September 2002.
The parties in the earlier High Court appeal were the same as those before the Court, the subject matter was the same parcel of land, and the appellant was claiming her deceased husband's share in the land. The earlier appeal had been concluded by a court of competent jurisdiction twelve years earlier and could not be entertained afresh.
Jurisdiction of the Land Disputes Tribunal over registered land
The Tribunal correctly declined jurisdiction because the subject matter was registered land and the claim sought sub-division of title.
The appellant sought one acre out of registered parcel MUTIRA/KAGUYU/433. Relying on the Court of Appeal decision in Jotham Amunavi v The Chairman Sabatia Divisional Land Disputes Tribunal & Another, the Court held that a Land Disputes Tribunal has no jurisdiction over disputes relating to title to registered land; awarding the acre would have been an illegal judgment. The magistrate was likewise correct in confirming the award under Section 7(2).
Legal principles established
#- There was no right of appeal to the High Court (or the Environment and Land Court) from a decision of a Land Disputes Tribunal or from the magistrate's decree confirming such an award; appeal lay only to the Provincial Appeals Committee, and from that Committee to the High Court on points of law within sixty days.
- A Land Disputes Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear disputes relating to title to registered land.
- Under Section 7(2) of the repealed Land Disputes Tribunal Act, the magistrate was obliged to enter judgment in terms of the Tribunal's award and draw a decree accordingly.
- A matter already determined by a court of competent jurisdiction is res judicata and cannot be entertained afresh.
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is dismissed with costs.
- On appeal from
- Senior Resident Magistrate's Court, Kerugoya
- Land Dispute Tribunal Award No. 1 of 2007
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appeal purportedly brought under the now repealed Land Disputes Tribunal Act; the Court found no right of appeal lay to it from the Tribunal's award or the magistrate's decree.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Jane Wainoi Gathutwa & another v Grace Kaguu Marua & another [2015] KEELC 530 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2015). Civil Appeal No. 9 of 2007 (originally filed at the High Court, Nyeri; transferred to the Environment and Land Court). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2015/530/eng@2015-04-08
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.