HE President Museveni, Hon. Judges of the High Court at the opening of the Annual Judges Conference, 2015
KAMPALA – 03 March 2015: Judges and other judicial officers have finally agreed\r\nto be subjected to performance targets, just like other public officers.
\r\n\r\n
The Judiciary will, beginning this July, roll out a performance\r\nmanagement tool providing for a 360 degree assessment mechanism for judicial\r\nofficers, bringing them under the spotlight of assessment.
\r\n\r\n
The\r\nplan shall include the re-engagement of retired judges, on contract-basis, to\r\nassist with the case backlog.
\r\n\r\n
"They (retired judges) will get a salary, gratuity and other benefits\r\nthat judges are entitled to, and they will be allocated a specific number of\r\ncases and targets,” said His Worship Paul Gadenya, the Chief Registrar, Courts of\r\nJudicature.
\r\n\r\n
Over 45 High Court Judges confirmed the performance targets last Friday\r\nduring a meeting they held with the Hon. Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine. A bigger\r\njudges’ meeting had earlier in the week approved the principal of performance\r\ntargets.
\r\n\r\n
Under the arrangement, a High Court judge will handle to completion a\r\nminimum of 300 court cases a year. The Supreme Court target shall be 80 cases;\r\nthe Court of Appeal (800); registrars (400); Chief Magistrates (800);\r\nMagistrates Grade I with more than two years in service (400 cases); new\r\nMagistrates Grade I (300), and Magistrate Grade II (300).
\r\n\r\n
Under the program, to be supported by both the government, development\r\nPartners and the Justice Law and Order Sector; the courts are expected to\r\ncomplete at least 162,720 cases this year.
\r\n\r\n
It was agreed that each Hon. Judge\r\nwould be assigned a qualified research assistant and adequate financial\r\nresources to support them hit the targets.
\r\n\r\n
At the meeting, Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine announced that he was\r\ndecentralising the High Court – a move that would see all resident Judges in\r\nthe different regions of the country (High Court Circuits) take on the title of\r\nAssistant Principal Judge.
\r\n\r\n
Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine said the expanded structures would be\r\ncomplemented by the adoption of a results based culture centred on performance\r\nmanagement which is designed to make judges deliver and be accountable to the\r\npeople.
\r\n\r\n
"This is a scientific criteria for assessing the performance of judicial\r\nofficers in replacement of the traditional public service performance appraisal\r\nsystem which is, somewhat, inappropriate for judicial officers,” he said.
\r\n\r\n
Magisterial Areas are set to be increased from 39 to 89 to reach out to\r\nas many people as possible, and the number of Magistrate Grade one’s is\r\nexpected to be increased from 173 to 250, to take care of Magistrate Grade\r\ntwos, who are currently being phased out.
\r\n\r\n
High Court circuits are to be increased from the current 13 to 18, and\r\nthe Court of Appeal would be decentralized to Gulu, Mbale, Fort Portal, Jinja\r\nand Mbarara to hear cases at these points.
\r\n\r\n
There are other on-going reforms to simplify procedures for civil cases,\r\ncut down on steps for processing cases, reduce cost and provide incentives for\r\ntimely disposal of cases while at the same time discouraging delays in case\r\ndisposal.
\r\n\r\n
Furthermore, procedural rules will be simplified to enable all\r\nlitigants, especially the unrepresented one to fully and actively participate\r\nin court proceedings. Alternative dispute resolution will be promoted to speed\r\nup resolution of cases and greatly curtail incidents of corruption, which are\r\ncommon in the adversarial system.
\r\n\r\n
In the near future, civil cases should be ready for hearing within one\r\nmonth, committal proceedings in capital cases shall be removed, and\r\nadjournments and number of witnesses in cases would be limited. The reforms,\r\nwhich also include over reliance on ICT/courtroom technology, would also\r\nrequire a lot of cooperation from the members of the public and the Bar.
\r\n\r\n
Note to editors
\r\n\r\n
Despite the constraints and\r\nchallenges encountered by the Judiciary over the years, it has continued to\r\nperform its core function of dispensing justice to all by disposing of more cases\r\nevery year. In 2014, the Judiciary completed 101,990 cases against 108,584 that\r\nwere registered in the same year. The courts, on average, completed 9.4 cases\r\nout of every 10 registered, which was 0.6 cases short of reaching the threshold\r\nfor tackling case backlog.
\r\n\r\n
For further\r\ninformation and to arrange interviews, please contact:
\r\n\r\n
Solomon Muyita
\r\n\r\n
Senior Communications Officer
\r\n\r\n
Public Affairs &\r\nCommunication Division
\r\n\r\n
Mobile: +256 (0) 77 220 0089
\r\n\r\n
Email: smuyita\r\n[at] judicature.go.ug
Posted 3rd, March 2015
