Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe the Jinja High Court
JINJA –\r\nThe Hon. Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe has cautioned government on its\r\nintentions to revise the Constitutional provision that commands the police to\r\nproduce suspected offenders to court within 48 hours of their arrest.
"I was in the Constituent Assembly and\r\nthe reason as to why we made it to be 48 hours was not to stop police\r\nfrom conducting investigations. You can charge a person but still continue with\r\nthe investigations after producing him in court,” said the chief justice\r\nduring his inspection of Bugungu Prison in Buikwe District.
Addressing members of the Jinja District\r\nChain-link committee (DCC) and other Justice, Law\r\nand Order Sector (JLOS) institution officials on June 10, 2015, Justice\r\nKatureebe cautioned government on its intentions to amend article 23 of the constitution\r\nwhich prescribes the detention period.
Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe was on a\r\none-day tour of Jinja district – the first of its kind since his\r\nappointment as Chief Justice in March and in his\r\ncapacity as the head of the executive committee of JLOS.
He was, among others, accompanied by Hon.\r\nKahinda Otafiire, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs; Alex\r\nOnzima, the minister of state for local government; Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu\r\nBamwine, the Hon. Principal Judge; members of the JLOS\r\ndevelopment partners group led by the Irish ambassador, H.E\r\nDonal Cronin; and other members of the JLOS leadership, steering and technical\r\ncommittee.
Responding to the Chief Justice’s\r\nremarks, Hon. Otafiire however, said not every proposal in the proposed\r\nconstitutional amendments would be implemented. "These are just proposals and\r\nactually we have little time so it’s unlikely that we are going to debate all\r\nof them and implement them.”
On his part, the Commissioner\r\nGeneral of Prisons, Dr Johnson Byabashaija, requested the inclusion of Uganda Prisons in the Justice Centres\r\nproject because of the key role it plays in the overall criminal justice chain\r\nand in view of the accommodation challenges it faces due to large prisoner\r\npopulations.
Hon. Justice Katureebe also interfaced\r\nwith members of the public at the Jinja High Court to assess the\r\nstate of service delivery by JLOS institutions in the district. In what can be\r\ndescribed as a baraza moderated by the Solicitor General, Francis\r\nAtoke, members of the public put across their concerns while\r\nthe sector officials provided responses.
The Chief Justice reiterated\r\nthat his team from the Judiciary and\r\nother JLOS institutions are open and accountable to the people. He said that\r\nhis office had established three SMS hotlines: 077 670 9100; 070 370 7085; 079\r\n470 2085, under his office for the public to directly send complaints\r\nand report cases of malpractices by judicial officers.
Hon. Justice Katureebe\r\nfurther thanked the JLOS development partners for their continued support\r\nto the sector and for "sticking around even when the going got tough” – in\r\nreference to massive donor cuts to government last year in the wake of the\r\npassing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
H.E Donal Cronin, the Irish ambassador to\r\nUganda and the chair of the JLOS\r\nDevelopment Partners Group (DPG) applauded the efforts of\r\nJLOS in bringing services closer to the people – especially the vulnerable and marginalized.
Jinja‘s Resident Judge, Hon. Justice Godfrey\r\nNamundi, called for the deployment of more judicial officers to the Jinja\r\nCircuit – handling cases from Busoga area and parts of Buganda – saying the 32 judicial\r\nofficers there are quite overwhelmed by the number of cases they each handle.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe visit was concluded when the Chief\r\nRegistrar Paul Gadenya, the JLOS Advisor, Sam Wairagala and the Jinja Chief Magistrate,\r\nSusan Kanyange, were hosted on local radio talk show where they continued to\r\nengage the public on issues affecting the administration of justice and the\r\nrule of law in Jinja District.
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Posted 15th, June 2015
