108 Kabumba/Application of African Union (human rights) law in Uganda 4.1.1 European Community Council Directives A European Community Council (ECC) Directive was invoked in AON Uganda Limited v Uganda Revenue Authority,105 a judicial review application before the Commercial Division of the High Court. In that case, counsel for the defendant cited article 13B(a) of ECC Directive 77/ 388, in support of the argument that tax provisions had to be construed strictly.106 In deciding the matter, the Judge similarly referred to this Directive, in his evaluation of the extent to which, in its construction, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) jurisprudence had adopted as strict and literal an approach as urged by the defendant in the instant case.107 4.1.2 The European Convention on Human Rights More substantial reference to EU law has been in terms of reliance on various provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (European Convention). In the earlier referenced 2002 case of Onyango Obbo,108 Chief Justice Odoki109 and Justice Mulenga110 referred to article 10 of the European Convention, as an aid to interpreting article 29 of the Uganda Constitution (on freedom of expression). The Convention was also mentioned in the 2005 case of Muwanga Kivumbi v Attorney General,111 a leading authority on the right to freedom of assembly in Uganda’s constitutional jurisprudence. Byamugisha JCA, who delivered the lead judgment of the Constitutional Court, observed that although the United Kingdom had previously not had a written constitution, ‘this position had changed with the enactment of the human rights Act in 1998 which domesticated the European convention on human rights’.112 She then proceeded to consider articles 8 to 11 of the Convention, noting that article 29 of the Ugandan Constitution had been ‘modeled along the lines of’ the Convention.113 Similarly, in Kigula,114 Egonda-Ntende Ag JSC, who dissented from the decision of the Court, referred to articles 2(1) and 3 of the European Convention, noting that they were similarly worded to articles 22(1) and 24 of the Ugandan Constitution, on the rights to life 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 High Court Civil Suit OS-04 of 2008 (decision of Judge Geoffrey Kiryabwire). At 10. At 15. n 18. At 46. At 11. Constitutional Petition 9 of 2005. At 15. As above. n 31.