The Illegality Defense: A Case for Reform in Uganda's Judicial System

Abstract

The illegality rule is strict and inflexible. Its application has often led to unjust results between the parties who seek court’s intervention. The courts need to apply a more liberal and flexible framework for the illegality defence. Professor Virgo asserts that, UK Supreme Court in Patel v Mirza1 has adopted a discretionary approach as regards the interpretation of illegality2. Uganda’s judiciary on the other hand lacks a framework on application of illegality rule. This article focuses on the uncertainty, complexity and injustice of the illegality as considerations for judicial reform of illegality in private law. The author compared the English position and the Singapore approach to illegality test. Finally, this article is presenting a novel test for illegality in Uganda’s judiciary.