Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe addressing participants at the plea barging conference at Imperial Royale in Kampala
KAMPALA -\r\nThe cost of handling criminal cases through the Plea Bargaining system is less\r\nthan the amount spent while deciding matters under the adversarial system.
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According\r\nto Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart\r\nKatureebe, under the pilot programme, more than 1,000 cases were disposed of at\r\na fifth of the cost of completing a single criminal case through the\r\nargumentative system.
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"The\r\nintroduction of Plea Bargaining which has improved the penal justice in\r\nAmerica, will therefore go a long way in helping the criminal justice system to\r\nachieve efficiency by promoting orderly and timely management of trials,\r\nfacilitating amicable settlements and mitigating case backlog,” the Chief\r\nJustice said.
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He\r\ncommended the Plea Bargaining system for reducing workload on prison officials,\r\nreducing congestion in prisons and quick relief from the anxiety of criminal\r\nprosecution; "as the accused will be encouraged to own up criminal\r\nresponsibility and also promotes victim participation in the adjudication\r\nprocess.”
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The\r\nChief Justice made the remarks during the National Plea Bargaining Conference\r\nin Kampala on 7 July 2015 where he revealed that the justice system is highly\r\nstressed due to the high number of prisoners on remand.
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Statistics\r\nindicate that the number of accused persons on remand outweighs the convicts\r\nstanding at 55 per cent against the international average of 45 per cent.
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Reports\r\nindicate that prison congestion stands at 167 per cent with some prisons\r\nholding up to 500 per cent of their holding capacity.
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The Hon. Principal\r\nJudge, Hon. Justice Yorokamu Bamwine, who also chairs the Plea Bargaining\r\nTaskforce, explained that the Judiciary resolved to adopt plea bargaining\r\nsystem as an option to manage the soaring case load in excess of 8000 case\r\nawaiting trial.
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"The\r\nsame Judges expected to dispose of these cases are the same judges expected to\r\ndispose of civil matters now standing at over 20,000 in the High Court alone.\r\nFor each criminal case listed for full hearing, we need not less than one\r\nmillion shillings,” he added.
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It\r\nwas the consensus of the participants that it is imperative and most\r\nappropriate to sensitize the inmates as well as their relatives on the benefits\r\nof the Plea Bargaining process.
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It\r\nis also important to involve the relatives of the victims’ relatives and the\r\ngeneral public in an effort to harmonize the relationship among all people.
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Most\r\npracticing defense suggested that in order to carry out effective Plea Bargain\r\nprocess, the defense counsel should be allowed two weeks to make meaningful\r\nconsultations before they could participate in the Plea Bargaining process.
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What it is Plea Bargaining?
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This\r\nis one of the innovative justice system initiatives where a prosecutor enters\r\nan agreement with an accused person who voluntarily pleads guilty to a criminal\r\ncharge in return for a more lenient sentence. It is a reconciliatory mechanism\r\nwhich takes into account the participation/interests of the victim(s) before\r\nthe agreed sentence is confirmed by the trial Judge.
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Benefits
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· It is cost-effective – requires less than 30\r\nper cent of the budget used in conventional trial mechanism.
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· Helps to quickly decongest the prisons –\r\nsuspects do not overstay on remand.
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· \r\nReduces workload in prisons
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· \r\nSaves court’s time
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· \r\nPromotes reconciliation between aggressors\r\nand the victims
Posted 13th, July 2015
