Advocates at the Mbale High Court during the engangement on Justice Delivery
The Mbale High Court Circuit held its first Bar-Bench meeting of the year at the Court premises on Tuesday April 12, 2022.
The meeting was aimed at discussing appropriate best practices for the effective administration of Justice in the Circuit, giving updates on the challenges facing the Circuit,exploring solutions as well as receiving feedback from advocates.
The Head of the Circuit, Hon. Justice Godfrey Namundi, appreciated the participants for turning up for the meeting. He congratulated the courts for the good performance in the Circuit in the previous year despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
In terms of case disposal, the Senior Resident Judge noted that Mbale High Court has 3,756pending cases, with some cases filed as far back as the year 2000. Hon. Justice Namundi noted that the average workload per Judicial Officer is more than 1,500cases.
Strategies to Curb Case Backlog
Among the strategies to address case backlog that the Head of the Circuit highlighted to fight backlog were; prioritizing backlogged cases, organizing weeding sessions, and continuing with plea bargain sessions in criminal cases. Others include Judicial Officers tracking their caseload, giving priority to old cases, and timely delivery of rulings and judgments. He also encouraged advocates as officers of court to embrace Mediation in cases where settlements are possible.
Participants raised several issues that included; delayed delivery of judgments and rulings,challenges faced in enforcing court orders in execution, especially in land matters, and the absence of adequate court interpreters who are competent in the various languages spoken within the region, especially Kuk-Sabiny.
In response, Hon. Justice Namundi reassured the advocates that judicial officers are doing their best to ensure that judgments and rulings are delivered promptly. He also pointed out that engagements were being done with different stakeholders to address the issues raised.
The Mbale Resident Judge, Hon. Lady Justice Margaret Apiny called upon advocates to desist from engaging in blame games which she said contributed to delays in the delivery of justice. She further called upon advocates to ensure they live up to the expected professional standards.
The Deputy Registrar,HW Ereemye Jumire James Mawanda, informed the participants that the court was going to pin up a cause list of all the backlogged cases, with a view that the concerned advocates and parties come and address the court on whether they are still interested in pursuing the said matters.
He also informed the participants that some applications have stalled in the system due to the new practice that requires court to first conduct locus visits on the disputed land in some cases to establish the status quo to be maintained, which cannot be done without securing the funds for such activities.
HW Ereemye further informed the participants that the Mbale High Court archive has been partially rearranged with files being stored in acid-proof boxes that make it easy to trace files.
The meeting was attended among others; Judicial officers in the circuit, representatives from the Attorney General's Chambers, Office of the Director of Public Prosecution,Uganda Registration Services Bureau, and Uganda Law Society, among others.
Posted 12th, April 2022
