As a former British Protectorate, the legal system of the Republic of Uganda is heavily influenced by the English legal system.  

Uganda’s formal legal system is informed by the precepts of common law such as strict adherence to precedent (doctrines of law pronounced during adjudication) and the operation of the doctrines of equity to compensate for gaps in the law that would otherwise frustrate the ends of justice. Nevertheless, English common law is now subsidiary to Uganda’s Constitution, principle and subsidiary legislation, and customary law.  

The Judicature Act stipulates that “… the common law and the doctrines of equity shall be in force only insofar as the circumstances of Uganda and of its peoples permit, and subject to such qualifications as circumstances may render necessary.” [Judicature Act (cap. 13, Laws of Uganda). The case of Uganda Motors Limited v Wavah Holdings Limited [1992] UGSC 1 (1 July 1992): “The reference to Acts of general applicability was deleted from the 1967 Judicature Act. Such acts consequently no longer apply to Uganda. 

Section 3(2) of Act 11 of 1967 provides for the supremacy of the Constitution… The conclusion can only be that the Acts of general application no longer have any place in the jurisdiction of the High Court, and that is perhaps as it should be.”