The Hon. Justice Chief Jutice, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe(L) and the Hon. Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda (Right)
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Over 150 judicial officers converged at the Commonwealth/Speke Resort Hotel Munyonyo in Kampala for a\r\nthree-day the 18th Annual Judges Conference between January 19 and 21,2015.
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The Conference running under the\r\ntheme: "Promoting the rule of law in Uganda through judicial accountability and\r\nexcellence”, is intended to show the extent to which judicial practice in\r\nUganda is accountable and examine the new ways the Judiciary can apply to entrench\r\nthe rule of law in Uganda. The other Conference objectives include provision of\r\npractical solutions on enhancing the performance of and excellence in the\r\nJudiciary, and to stimulate debate among Judges on contemporary affairs\r\naffecting the administration of justice in Uganda.
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In his first\r\naddress as Chief Justice to a Judges Conference, Hon. Justice Bart M. Katureebe, said during\r\nhis opening speech that the administration of justice is a cornerstone of good\r\ngovernance which is a pre-requisite for development.
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As part of his\r\n2016 plan for the institution, Hon. Justice Katureebe said each judicial officer will have to meet their set\r\ntargets in order to improve efficiency in case disposal.
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"The target for the Supreme Court is 80 appeals and Court\r\nof Appeal 600 appeals. The target for High Court is 300 cases; a registrar (400\r\ncases); chief magistrate (600); Magistrate Grade One (400); and Magistrate\r\nGrade One under two years (300).”
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The Hon. Chief Justice appealed to government to raise\r\nsalaries of magistrates.
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However, the Hon. Chief Justice observed that the Judiciary’s\r\ntimelines for case disposal remain below the international best practices of\r\nresolving disputes under one year. He also raised a red\r\nflag by announcing that the Judiciary will not accept unnecessary travel abroad\r\nby judges as it has been the practice.
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He explained\r\nthat judicial time is lost on travels abroad and attending workshops/seminars\r\nthat are not essential and do not add any value to the courts.
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"We lose a lot\r\nof judicial time on travels abroad and attending workshops/seminars that are\r\nnot essential or do not add value to the courts” said Hon. Justice Katureebe. "Consequently,\r\njudicial officers, will be allowed to travel abroad if the judicial calendar\r\npermits. Priority must be given to adjudication of cases”.
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Explaining how\r\nthis will be effected, Hon. Justice Katureebe says that the Deputy Chief\r\nJustice, the Principal Judge and the Chief Registrar will clear individual\r\nofficers under them before making submissions to the Chief Justice for final\r\nclearance.
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He also urged\r\nthe Judicial Studies Institute (JSI) through the Judicial Training Committee to\r\nissue a training timetable for the year, which shall guide all the courts\r\nbefore warning that any training activities outside the Judicial training\r\ncalendar will be minimized to discourage the incessant movement of judicial\r\nofficers from courts to training venues.
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President\r\nYoweri Museveni, in a speech read by Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, President\r\nMuseveni urged all judges to fairly and impartially handle the election\r\npetitions that will be filed in their courts as a spillover of the 2016 general\r\nelections that are less than a month away.
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The call by the\r\nPresident was made to more than 80 judicial officers at the rank of High Court\r\njudges, Court of Appeal Justices and Supreme Court Justices who attended a\r\nthree-day annual judges conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala.
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"Let your internal disciplinary mechanisms be beyond\r\nreproach to avoid suspicions of bias, favoritism or selective prosecution. We\r\nneed to place more emphasis on cleaning up the courts by fighting corruption\r\ninherent therein,” Mr Museveni said in the speech.
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Further, the\r\nPresident promised to avail funds to the judiciary to train judges on matters\r\nof how to effectively handle and dispose of the election petitions in a timely\r\nmanner.
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"As we move to\r\nelections, I would like to remind judges to remain impartial and to handle\r\nelection disputes fairly and expeditiously.” said President Museveni
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Recently, the\r\nPrincipal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr Yorokamu Bamwine; revealed that the training of all judges will\r\nbe conducted in February ahead of the elections.
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Hon. Justice Dr Bamwine\r\nexplained that all election petitions should be disposed off the High Court\r\nsystem within a period of six months.
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The Constitution\r\nprovides for a quick adjudication of election petitions, which election\r\npetitions take precedence and priority over any other cases in the court\r\nsystem.
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The President\r\ncommended Justice Katureebe for his new strategies he has employed to fight\r\ncorruption in the third arm of the state.
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He pointed out\r\nstrategies like the free SMS hotlines that were introduced to the public to\r\nreport any corruption tendencies by any judicial staff and Hon. Justice Katureebe’ s\r\nupcountry tours of the courts in his bid to curb corruption.
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It’s during the\r\nannual judges’ conference that the judiciary takes stalk of its past year in\r\nterms of achievements and challenges and makes\r\nprojections for the New Year.
The Hon. Chief Justice's Opening Remarks at the Annual Judges Conference 2016
H E the President's speech at the Annual Judges Conference 2016
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Posted 20th, January 2016
