On Tuesday February 1,2022, the Masaka District Chain-linked Committee, sitting at Brovad Hotel, hosted a delegation from the European Union that wanted to understand how the Court works with other justice actors.
The EU delegation which was led by Ms. Anna Merifield, informed the representatives of justice institutions, at the meeting, that they wanted to learn first-hand the challenges they face in the execution of their mandate. Speaking on behalf of the EU officials, Ms Merifield said this would enable them discuss with the Government the appropriate action to be taken to to improve service delivery.
The DCC meeting was chaired by Chief Magistrate, HW Nvanungi Sylvia, who in her remarks thanked the Judiciary administration for deploying more magistrates in the Masaka area to handle the case workload. She decried the high rate of defilement cases which she said was a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns and its attendant problems.
Among the challenges cited were; non-appearance of witnesses in court, congestion in prisons, overstay on remand for capital offenders, understaffing in the ODPP's office, lack of a juvenile remand home in Masaka district and poor skills in conducting investigations.
HW Nvanungi commended the High Court for the recently concluded criminal sessions were 275 cases were concluded which reduced on the case backlog.
The meeting agreed to embrace Plea Bargaining and non-custodial sentences such as community service for petty offences to reduce congestion in prisons. The ODPP undertook to expedite the committal process especially for accused persons who have overstayed on remand.
The EU delegation, consisting of the embassies of Sweden, Austria, Belgium and Denmark, informed the DCC members that they carry out regular visits to different courts to assess their challenges and make recommendations to Government on how to improve administration of justice.
Notably present at the meeting was Senior Magistrate Grade, HW Nantege Christine, representatives from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prisons Service, Uganda Human Rights Commission, Justice Centres Uganda, Probation Office and advocates.
Posted 2nd, February 2022
