Chief Justice Applauds Plea Bargaining Programme

The cost of handling criminal cases through the Plea Bargaining system is less than the amount spent while deciding matters under the adversarial system.

According to Chief Justice,  Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe, under the pilot programme, more than 1,000 cases were disposed of at a fifth of the cost of completing a single criminal case through the argumentative system.

"The introduction of Plea Bargaining which has improved the penal justice in America, will therefore go a long way in helping the criminal justice system to achieve efficiency by promoting orderly and timely management of trials, facilitating amicable settlements and mitigating case backlog,” the Chief Justice said.

He commended the Plea Bargaining system for reducing workload on prison officials, reducing congestion in prisons and quick relief from the anxiety of criminal prosecution; "as the accused will be encouraged to own up criminal responsibility and also promotes victim participation in the adjudication process.”    

The Chief Justice made the remarks during the National Plea Bargaining Conference in Kampala on 7 July 2015 where he revealed that the justice system is highly stressed due to the high number of prisoners on remand.

Statistics indicate that the number of accused persons on remand outweighs the convicts standing at 55 per cent against the international average of 45 per cent.

Reports indicate that prison congestion stands at 167 per cent with some prisons holding up to 500 per cent of their holding capacity.

The Hon. Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Yorokamu Bamwine, who also chairs the Plea Bargaining Taskforce, explained that the Judiciary resolved to adopt plea bargaining system as an option to manage the soaring case load in excess of 8000 case awaiting trial.

"The same Judges expected to dispose of these cases are the same judges expected to dispose of civil matters now standing at over 20,000 in the High Court alone. For each criminal case listed for full hearing, we need not less than one million shillings,” he added.

It was the consensus of the participants that it is imperative and most appropriate to sensitize the inmates as well as their relatives on the benefits of the Plea Bargaining process.

Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe addressing participants at the plea barging conference at Imperial Royale in Kampala

It is also important to involve the relatives of the victims’ relatives and the general public in an effort to harmonize the relationship among all people.

Most practicing defense suggested that in order to carry out effective Plea Bargain process, the defense counsel should be allowed two weeks to make meaningful consultations before they could participate in the Plea Bargaining process.

What it is Plea Bargaining?

This is one of the innovative justice system initiatives where a prosecutor enters an agreement with an accused person who voluntarily pleads guilty to a criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence. It is a reconciliatory mechanism which takes into account the participation/interests of the victim(s) before the agreed sentence is confirmed by the trial Judge.

Benefits

·     It is cost-effective – requires less than 30 per cent of the budget used in conventional trial mechanism.

·    Helps to quickly decongest the prisons – suspects do not overstay on remand.

·         Reduces workload in prisons

·         Saves court’s time

·         Promotes reconciliation between aggressors and the victims