Deputy Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Richard Buteera speaking at the Jinja open Day
The Deputy Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Richard Buteera, has called for the coordination and cooperation of justice actors if service delivery is to improve." We are all answerable to the public, we need to look at how we can coordinate our activities, make sure our institutions are working together to achieve coordination, communication, and to see that we progress together."
He made this call on Monday March 14, 2022 while presiding over the Jinja Court Open Day on Monday March 14, 2022. He also urged members of the public to utilize Judiciary's innovations such as Mediation, Plea Bargaining, and Small Claims Procedure all put in place to ensure efficiency in the justice system.
The Deputy Chief Justice further reassured the court users that with the expanded structure of the Judiciary, Jinja was bound to get more Judicial Officers including Judges. He said this will also see operationalization of Iganga High Court which will reduce on the workload in Jinja. The Judiciary expanded structure will see an increase in numbers of Judicial Officers at all court levels. The Supreme Court Justices will increase to 21 up from 11, Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court will move from 15 to 56 while the High Court will increase to 151 Judges.
He noted that during this Financial Year, that construction for two Regional Courts of Appeal in Mbarara and Gulu will kick off and that other regions were bound to have a similar model replicated.
The Jinja Senior Resident Judge, Hon. Lady Justice Dr Winfred Nabisinde in her brief to the Deputy Chief Justice shared that the High Court has a workload of 3,792 civil cases,579 land cases, and 1,343 criminal matters.
Hon. Lady Justice Nabisinde noted that several efforts are being made to handle case backlog as well as weed out old cases in the system. "We are embarking on a serious weeding out session for all cases which have delayed in the system. We have also set plans to make sure we reduce case backlog to the bare minimum or even remove it. These plans have been presented to the Judiciary Top Management and we are already executing them," she said.
The head of the Jinja High Court Circuit reassured the Deputy Chief Justice and other stakeholders that the Court was ready for the implementation of the Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS). The court is among the second cluster courts rollout ECCMIS. "The ECCMIS team has done ground training and we are ready to migrate to the new System. We are waiting for kiosks to be set up to help the public adapt to the System too," she said.
The DCJ inspected stalls that had been set up by different justice actors as a way bringing justice services closer to the people they serve.
The Jinja City Lord Mayor, Mr Kasolo Peter and the Deputy Speaker, Mr Moses Lwochaza decried land grabbing in Jinja. They appealed to courts to intervene as these were stumbling blocks to development. Mr Lwochaza further stated that the District Council had identified and allocated two acres of land to the Judiciary for the construction of new courts in Jinja. This, he said, would ensure that courts are not held at the mercy of landlords.
The Deputy Chief Justice welcomed this move and said the Judiciary Permanent Secretary will liaise with the Jinja District Local Government officials to inspect the land, title it, then draw up a comprehensive budget for the construction process.
He clarified that the open day is not a platform to decide ongoing cases but rather to sensitize the public on court processes and innovations as well as get feedback on court services.
Many Court users interacted with the Court’s Judicial Officers, seeking guidance on different issues.
Jinja Resident Judge, Hon. Justice Tom Chemutai, Judiciary Public Relations Officer, HW Jamson Karemani, Deputy Registrar, HW Fred Waninda, Private Legal Secretary to the DCJ, HW Dr. Alex Mushabe, Chief Magistrates; HW Okumu Jude Muwone (Jinja) and HW Zulaika Nanteza(Iganga) as well as Magistrates Grade One from the Circuit were in attendance.
Others included the Mayuge Resident District Commissioner and local leaders from greater Busoga.
Posted 15th, March 2022
