Lango judiciary cries for juvenile remand home

The Lira resident Judge Winifred Namisinde has said there is an urgent need for a remand home in Lango sub region to cater for the escalating number of children who get involved in criminal activities.
Justice Namisinde said 60% of cases that come to the High Court from different places in Lango sub region involve juvenile victims. 

Namisinde noted that every week, the district high court receives at least one or more juveniles on charges which are of capital nature, as well as lower courts.

She said lack of facilities for keeping these children always forces court to offer them unconditional bail and they return to a hostile community due to the nature of crimes they commit.
Namisinde said there is now an urgent need for a remand home and child keeping centre to cater for the eight districts in Lango sub region; adding that sometimes children are supposed to be kept in custody for their own safety.

“Those who are undergoing trials are sometimes given unconditional bail and they go back to live with people whom they aggrieved and this puts their lives in danger,” she said.

The only remand home in northern Uganda is in Gulu which according to Namisinde is not enough to cater for the increasing number of juvenile criminals in the entire region. 

She was addressing prisons and police officers, magistrates and human right activists at Gracious Palace hotel in Lira last week during a workshop organized by African prisons Project (APP) a charity sponsored by Independent Development Fund to promote access to Justice and health care among prisoners in Apac and Oyam. Read more

Judiciary to Hire Acting Justices

A delegation from the Parliament of Zimbabwe led by their Speaker visiting the Chief Justice

The Judiciary has started the process of recruiting acting justices of the Supreme Court to fill the vacant posts, the Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe, has revealed. The process started with asking cabinet for the authority to allow hiring of justices to handle pending cases.

The Supreme Court needs 11 justices including the Chief Justice but currently has eight. The Court of Appeal/ Constitutional Court needs more nine, and the High Court needs an additional 15 justices.Hon. Justice Katureebe said four out of the eight Supreme Court justices will be unable to constitute quorum to hear and determine cases following expiry of two year contract for those in acting capacity. They include Ag. Hon. Justices: John W. N Tsekooko, Galdino. M. Okello and the former Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Benjamin Odoki.

The CJ, who made the revelation while meeting a delegation of legislators from Zimbabwe in Kampala, said once approved, the Judiciary would ask the appointing authority to implement the initiative.The Speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, Hon. Jacob Francis Mudenda, led the delegation to Kampala on a bilateral benchmarking visit.

Among other things discussed was the relationship between the legislature and the Judiciary.
The legislators asked how the arms of the state are implementing the doctrine of separation of power and if courts of law could interfere with the work of Parliament.Hon. Justice Katureebe said: "Under the law, any person can challenge the decision of any government entity including Parliament if it is unconstitutional.”

With the 2016 general elections a stone’s throw away, the Zimbabwean legislators wanted to know how Uganda handles electoral petitions.

"Immediately after the elections, a team of judges is set aside to deal with election petitions and this team ensures that cases are disposed of within the period of six months…,” Hon. Justice Katureebe, adding that a presidential election petition is handled by the Supreme Court , and there are no appeals.

Hon. Mudenda said in Zimbabwe, there are specialised election courts which handle electoral related petitions.

The legislators wanted to come up with best practices on how to foster the relationship between the Judiciary and Parliament. "We want to know how the sub-judice rule is applied by the courts and whether the courts have determined cases against the executive.”

The CJ pointed out the recent case of former chief justice where the constitutional court ruled against the decision of the president to reappoint former chief justice Benjamin Odoki.  

Tumwesigye joins Judicial Service Commission

JUSTICE Jotham Tumwesigye of the Supreme Court was on Monday vetted and approved by parliament's Appointments Committee to represent the judiciary on the Judicial Service Commission.

Tumwesigye's approval by the committee comes three weeks after President Yoweri Museveni wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, nominating the former Inspector General of Government to the docket.

"In exercise of powers vested in the President by Article 146(2) (d) of the 1995 constitution of the Republic of Uganda, I have nominated Justice Jotham Tumwesigye as member to the JSC," Museveni's letter to Kadaga dated June 2, 2015 reads.

Presided over by its chairperson, Kadaga, the Appointments Committee interacted with Tumwesigye for close to 34 minutes.

Sources privy to the committee proceedings told New Vision that Tumwesigye's 'clean' record in public service and the need to allow lawmakers affiliated to the ruling NRM party attend a party caucus at State House Entebbe made the interface short.

"Tumwesigye has   vast experience in the judicially and public service.  He has a clean record and answered all the questions well which satisfied the committee," Workers MP, Theopista Ssentongo said.

Committee lead counsel, Rosemary Nyakikongoro made a case for members of the JSC to be full-time as the case is in neighboring Kenya, saying that the current arrangement incapacitates a body that has a constitutional mandate to execute.

Asked by Kadaga whether it's possible to establish courts at the smallest unit of administration like sub-counties, Tumwesigye said the judicially is hamstrung by financial constraints.

A former chairman of Uganda Human Rights Commission, Tumwesigye knocked back MP Hood Katuramu's suggestion that the judiciary be granted green light to use at source funds raised from fines.

"This may not be practical as you may think, because it may be abused by the courts of law," Tumwesigye said.

Established under the Article 146 of the constitution, JSC advises the president on appointment of the top echelon of the judiciary besides exercising disciplinary control over judicial officers at all levels.

JSC is composed of nine members – representing Uganda Law Society (2), Public Service Commission (1), two members of the public who are not lawyers nominated by the president, the Attorney General, chairperson and deputy chairperson. Read more

Digital Migration Deadline Is Illegal

For some 30 African countries - including the technologically-advanced North African giants in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt - the deadline for digital migration is 2020. But Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) insists on completing the digital transition by June 17, 2015.

According to UCC, this deadline is justifiable because Uganda is one of many African countries which committed to digital migration by June 2015 in the Geneva 2006 agreement of the International Telecommunication Union's regional telecommunication conference.

Furthermore, UCC is mandated by Section 5(1)(i) of the Uganda Communications Act, 2013, to set national standards and ensure compliance with national and international standards and obligations laid down by international communication agreements and treaties to which Uganda is a party.

However, this deadline is not only unlawful but also arbitrary and unjustifiable, and thus null and void.Uganda is a dualist country - its domestic law does not automatically incorporate public international law. 

Accordingly, the Geneva 2006 agreement - which UCC purports to be implementing ñ does not have legislative effect in the local context. This is because specific legislation has never been passed to transform the norms and standards laid down by that treaty into rules and regulations with legal force in Uganda.

This could easily have been achieved by invoking Section 93 of the UCC Act which empowers the ICT minister, after consultation with UCC and with approval of parliament, to, by statutory instrument, make regulations for better, carrying into effect the provisions of the act, including Section 5(1)(i) mentioned above.

Section 16 of the interpretation law requires every statutory instrument to be published in the Uganda gazette before it can be enforced. Unfortunately, this was not done for the digital migration deadline sought to be enforced by UCC. Therefore, it cannot be the basis for interfering with people's freedom of information in this country.Read more

Judiciary Editorial Committees Inaugurated

Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe with members of the Judiciary Editorial Committee

KAMPALA – As one of the measures to empower its judicial officers’ to effectively administer justice and to streamline information flow from the Judiciary to the public, two important committees have been set up.

The Hon. Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe on June 11, 2015 inaugurated the Bench Book Committee and the Judiciary Editorial Board headed by a Supreme Court justice and a High Court Judge respectively.

Hon. Justice John Wilson Tsekooko (Supreme Court) is to chair the six-man Bench Book Committee whose members are Hon. Justice Richard Buteera (Court of Appeal), Hon. Justice David Wangutusi (head of Commercial Court), Director Law Development Centre, the President Uganda Law Society, and His Worship Festo Nsenga, an Assistant Registrar, who will be the Committee secretary.

The Committee’s first mandate is to conclude and publish the Civil Bench Book, earlier drafted by the Law Development Centre, to help standardize court procedural matters and eliminate unnecessary delays in the administration of justice.

Hon. Justice Katureebe said it is important for judicial officers to have a "sound and unequivocal knowledge of the Civil Procedures Rules to guide the judicial process”.

Hon. Justice Lady Justice Lydia Mugambe (High Court Civil Division) chairs the Editorial Board which has His Worship Paul Gadenya Wolimbwa (Chief Registrar), Mrs. Dorcas W. Okalany (Secretary to the Judiciary), His Worship Erias Omar Kisawuzi (Public Relations Officer), Her Worship Jessica Chemeri (Senior Law Reporting Officer) as members, and Mr. Solomon Muyita (Senior Communications Officer) as secretary to the Board.

The Chief Justice urged the Editorial Board to maximize modern methods of communication and the social media to promote greater public understanding of the work of the Judiciary. "The Editorial Committee has a huge challenge in educating the public about the law to empower them to effectively participate in the administration of justice…the Judiciary should be rebranded into a unique organization with a good reputation and integrity,” said Hon. Justice Katureebe.

Committee functions:

Bench Book Committee: It is tasked to review the Draft Civil Justice Bench Book to make it conform to the laws of Uganda; make recommendations for improving the draft; present the Book in an easy-to-read language and style; and advise the Chief Justice on the most cost effective way of publishing and disseminating Bench Books, among other things.

Judiciary Editorial Board: Its duty is to regularly plan, review and approve the content of official positions of the Judiciary intended for the public; enhance and sustain information sharing and communication to improve public trust and confidence in the Judiciary; create general awareness about the courts in Uganda; oversee the branding of the Judiciary as well as the production of the Judiciary Insider and other publications, among other things. 

Is the International Criminal Court biased against Africa?

There is little doubt that the South African government violated the law by letting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir leave the country. In the wake of the controversy, however, it has been made clear that many South Africans sympathise with the view of the African Union that the body which issued the warrant for al-Bashir’s arrest – the International Criminal Court – is racist. Is this view justified? By REBECCA DAVIS.

The ICC has received more than 9,000 complaints about alleged crimes in more than 139 countries, yet its singular focus seems to be on Africa. All the countries where the ICC has opened investigations to date are on the African continent.
“At a time when there is conflict in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, and when the armies of many Western nations are getting up to all sorts of bad things around the globe, to have a war crimes court which only investigates blacks really is as perverse as it would be to have a court in Britain that investigated black burglaries and ignored white ones,” Brendan O’Neill wrote in 2012 in The Telegraph, a normally conservative British newspaper.
Taken at face value, it’s not hard to see why the AU has been a vocal opponent of the ICC’s indictments. Despite appearances, the ICC doesn’t only seek out African war crimes to investigate. It is also undertaking preliminary investigations in countries like Colombia and Afghanistan. Even if the court did decide to open investigations in these countries, however, it would still face the charge that it never wants to prosecute rich and powerful Western nations. Where is Tony Blair’s indictment? critics ask. Where is George W Bush’s?

The latter question is easily answered: the US, despite sounding off about South Africa’s failure to arrest Omar al-Bashir, has not ratified the 1998 Rome Statute – the treaty founding the International Criminal Court. The USA’s refusal to do so is understood as stemming partly out of concern that its foreign troops would face prosecution, and partly out of a characteristic Bush-administration refusal to compromise US sovereignty in matters of justice. Read more

Make use of the Constitutional Court

he constitutional court is provided for under Article 137 of the 1995 constitution of the Republic of Uganda as amended. It is from the court of appeal that the constitutional court is constituted. 

This court basically deals with matters to do with interpretation of the constitution and those antecedents there too.

The above provision empowers any person who alleges that an Act of Parliament or any other law or anything is or done under the authority of any act or omission by any person or authority is inconsistent with or in contravention of a provision of this constitution may petition the constitutional court for a declaration to that effect and for redress where appropriate.

The Government has faced criticisms by members of the civil society , stake holders ,opposition members, citizens and individuals over some acts, laws and policies and regulations for being unconstitutional and always attacked for acting in contravention of democratic principles.

The public and order management Act when still aBbill faced criticisms before it was passed into law .to date the same has been implanted but even the people or critics who were at the forefront have never petitioned court to challenge its unconstitutionality

It seems undressing especially by some women is a new trend of contesting or expressing discontent against the government. It’s quite unfortunate that women who have engaged in this disheartening act are or seen to be mature. This also puts the law enforcers into a dilemma of how to handle such people without ‘violating their rights.’

If one really thinks that their rights have been violated then they can exploit the opportunity of petitioning the constitutional court .The youth who claim to be poor and have branded themselves as such and blame the government for not providing jobs  may have a point if justified but the way of putting it across matters. This rhymes with an equity maxim that ‘He who seeks justice must come with clean hands’.

Once a petition has been preferred before the constitutional court, the court of appeal is bound to proceed to hear and determine the petition as soon as possible and May for that purpose, suspend any other matter pending before it.This means that such matters are expeditiously handled. If the constitutional court is overwhelmed by the number of petitions before it.Then it is worth amending the constitution to make constitutional court independent in terms of its composition since such matters are determined by court of appeal sitting as a constitutional court. Read more

Judiciary Treasures Criticism

The Hon. Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe said the public is free to criticize the Judiciary for it will help in making reforms that are necessary to improve on the way they dispense justice.

"We have opened toll free lines for people to call and raise complaints, so you the people of Busoga, utilize them and forget about the perception that we do not want to be criticized. For us we want criticism so that we help you and you help us to show where we have gone wrong for correction,” Hon. Justice Katureebe said.

He made the remarks on June 10, 2015 at the High Court premises in Jinja during interaction with members of the public shortly after he toured Bugungu Government Prison.

He was in the company of the Hon. Principle Judge, Hon. Justice Yorokamu Bamwine, the Solicitor General, Mr Francis Atuke, the President of the Uganda Law Society, Ms Ruth Sebatindira, and the Minister of Justice, Mr Kahinda Otafiire, and the Commissioner General of Prisons, Dr Johnson Byabashaija.

People raised complaints about the way land cases are managed. Hon. Justice Katureebe promised to follow it up but also added that people should always understand that there is always a winner and loser in any verdict.

This article was published in the daily monitor on June 15, 2015

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Government to Tackle Case Backlog – 2015/16 Budget

Government is to focus on reduction of case backlog, especially in regard to commercial disputes through investment in courtroom technology, introduction of faster court procedures and supporting new initiatives.

Hon. Matia Kasaija, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development

According to the Uganda Finance Minister, Hon. Matia Kasaija in the 2015/16 budget speech read on June 11, government’s intention is to rationalize business licenses and procedures to eliminate red-tape in business transactions.

"We will also enhance the efficiency of the Judiciary to reduce commercial case backlog by introducing new technology, making procedures faster, including instituting small claims procedures,” the minister said in the budget speech. He further projected Uganda’s growth of 5.8 percent in 2015/16, compared with 5.3 percent in 2014/15.

"The economy is projected to grow at 5.8 percent next financial year, largely on account of the recovery in private sector consumption, as well as acceleration in both public and private investment," Hon. Kasaija said, according to finance ministry statement on the speech.

"The budget deficit for the coming financial year is therefore projected to increase to 7 percent of GDP compared to 4.5 percent for this year. Over the medium term, the deficit will average about 6 percent."  

"To avoid an increase in relatively expensive domestic borrowing and reduce the fiscal burden of debt payments over the medium term, a larger share of the fiscal deficit will be financed by external loans. We will continue to pursue concessional loans as the preferred means of meeting our external financing requirements."

"New domestic debt to be raised through Treasury Bills and Bonds next year is expected to amount to 1.384 trillion shillings ($437.97 million). These funds will help to finance Government's contribution to infrastructure investment projects."

"The total approved budget for next financial year is 23.972 trillion shillings. Out of this, 17.329 trillion shillings is allocated for spending by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA's), which includes statutory expenditures amounting to 1,148 billion shillings. 6.643 trillion shillings is debt repayments plus interest on total debt.

"The total debt repayment includes 4.787 trillion shillings which is meant to pay maturing domestic debt; 200 billion shillings for recapitalization of the Bank of Uganda; 1.371 trillion shillings and 285.7 billion shillings for domestic and external debt interest payments respectively."

The theme of this year’s budget is: ‘Maintaining infrastructure investment and promoting excellence in public service delivery'. The minister explained that the increase in public debt reflects the increased borrowing to finance infrastructure investment.

Budget Speech for the financial year 2015/2016

Uganda attacks trial resumes after murder of prosecutor

The trial of 13 men accused of taking part in the 2010 Shebab bombings, which killed 76 people in Uganda's capital Kampala, resumed on Monday without the lead prosecutor, who was murdered in March.

Joan Kagezi, Uganda's acting assistant director of public prosecution, was killed by men on a motorbike in front of three of her children. Police are still hunting for the killers and have made several arrests.

The trial of the accused -- seven Kenyans, five Ugandans and one Tanzanian -- had begun earlier in March at Uganda's High Court, but was postponed after the murder. They are facing a range of charges including terrorism, murder and membership of a terrorist organisation.

The July 2010 suicide bombings claimed by Somalia's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab targeted football fans watching the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain at a restaurant and a rugby club in Kampala, and were the region's worst attacks in more than a decade.

The suspects filled nearly two rows of seats on Monday in the packed courtroom, where there was standing space only and tight security. Media reports said bodyguards have now been assigned to all lawyers working on the case.

Justice Mike Chibita, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), told Justice Alphonse Owiny-Dollo that the prosecution had "deemed it important" to come to court to introduce his new team, making mention of "our fallen colleague".

He said they owed it to "this court and the nation at large" to assure them that "justice is done". Defence lawyer Caleb Alaka said his team had the "same sentiment about the loss of our colleague".

"It (Kagezi's murder) was a terrible thing, not only for the DPP, but also for us in defence, because we were working closely together," he said. "We call upon the powers that be to make sure that the perpetrators are brought to justice." Read more

Independence and duty of the Judiciary

Judges of the courts of judicature are not expected to comment or speak on public affairs, except where those affairs are the subject of litigation and judges are actually in court presiding. 

Be that as it may, any orchestrated debate on the Judiciary, which, in a democracy can be constructive and necessary, will, if not properly balanced, slowly but surely undermine the standing and integrity of the institution, whose role in society is not always easy but important.

As a nation, therefore, we need to be made aware, if we are not already so minded, that a Judiciary whose reputation is undermined, or whose tainted character is not quickly reformed, cannot administer justice that is acceptable to the population. Moreover, a country without a respected Judiciary is a country without honour, or justice. 

It is my opinion that the people of Uganda believe in a Judiciary, which is independent, respected, fearless and impartial. This is the main reason why the Constitution and laws of Uganda made provisions to ensure the apparent and real integrity, reputation and transparency of the courts and judicial officers. Read more