On Monday October 17,2022, over 50 advocates attended the Commercial Division's bar-bench meeting chaired by Hon. Justice Stephen Mubiru, the Head of Division.
The meeting which took place at the Division's premises was intended to give updates on the operations and performance of the court for the recently concluded quarter one ofFY2022/23 which according to Hon. Justice Mubiru was long overdue.
It also provided a platform for advocates who practice from the court to interact with the Court officers while sharing feedback and ideas on how to make service delivery more efficient at the Division.
The Judge called upon advocates to acquaint themselves with the Electronic Court Case Managemen tInformation System (ECCMIS) as the Division migrates from the Court Case Administration System (CCAS). He took them through a comparative review about the functionality edge that ECCMIS has over CCAS right from filing, allocation to close of case.
He further disclosed that through a well-designed data collection tool, case census was carried out and data clustered depending on the nature of the file, for example, banking, trade, insurance, mortgage, among others.
This exercise helped ascertain the number of cases per judicial officer, category and year/age, he added. The report also indicated that the court has a total of 4,761 pending cases out of which 1,266 are backlogged.
Holding special sessions, reallocation and weeding out of cases and Alternative Dispute Resolution are some of the identified strategies to deal with backlog.
On a different note, the Deputy Head of Division, Hon. Justice Anna Mugenyi relayed to the legal practitioners that the East African Court of Justice is set to hold a session in Uganda for the month of November. Adding that the Commercial Court was selected to host the session which means that some judges will work from home. She thus urged advocates with cause-listed cases for that month should consult with the respective judges for further guidance.
Similarly, the Division's Deputy Registrar, HW Juliet Harty Hatanga called for cooperation from all stakeholders considering that the ongoing structural renovations which includes installation of the ICT equipment may equally interrupt the operations at the court.
Justices; Hon. Lady Justice Susan Abinyo, Hon. Lady Justice Susan Cornelia Kakooza Sabiiti, Hon. Lady Justice Susan Mugala Harriet, Hon. Lady Justice Susan Mutesi Patricia, Hon. Lady Justice Susan Ocaya Okele Rubanga, and Hon. Lady Justice Susan Asiimwe Patricia were also present at the meeting. Others present were Registrars; HW Mulondo Mastula and HW Juliet Nakitende, and court staff. Some advocates joined the meeting online via zoom technology.
Posted 17th, October 2022
