Judiciary Trains Judicial Officers on Mediation
The Hon. Principal Judge, Hon. Dr. Yorakamu Bamwine speaking at the mediation training at Kabira Country Club
The Principal\r\nJudge Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine on June 13, 2016 opened a five day\r\ntraining workshop at the Kabira Country Club. The training is facilitated by\r\nthe Strauss Institute of Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University. More than\r\n50 judicial officers comprised Magistrates, Registrars and Judges have been\r\nselected to take part in the training.
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Hon.\r\nJustice David Wangutusi, the head of Commercial Court said the budget allocated\r\nto the Judiciary is the lowest in the world at 0.006 per cent. He said as such,\r\nthe Judiciary is looking for other methods of case disposal and Alternative\r\nDispute Resolution is the way to go. He said in partnership with Pepperdine\r\nUniversity, the Judiciary is looking at mediation to rid the system of cases\r\nthat do not have to go through formal litigation.
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Hon.\r\nJustice Dr. Bamwine in his opening remarks thanked the programme managers of\r\nthe Uganda/Pepperdine memorandum of understanding for planning the mediation\r\nworkshop.
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He\r\nsaid as a result of the partnership, a number of activities have been earmarked\r\nincluding; attachment of 12 externs from Pepperdine University to different\r\nHigh Court Divisions and circuits, Plea Bargaining National Conference as well\r\nas Prison Sensitization for prisoners state attorneys and defense lawyers,\r\nwarders as well as appellate mediation.
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The\r\nPrincipal Judge said mediation is an important ingredient in dealing with the\r\ncurrent case backlog because it is a win-win situation. He said the training\r\nwas imperative in as far as ensuring reconciliation of parties is\r\nconcerned.
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He\r\nsaid, there is need for a joint effort to further Mediation if the mechanism is\r\ngoing to make widespread impact.
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According\r\nto the schedule of duties for judicial officers, magistrates and registrars are\r\nrequired to handle a certain number of cases through mediation. He said, as\r\nsuch, the training is ideal as it prepares the judicial officers for that task.
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He\r\nurged the officers to share their experiences on Mediation to put the\r\ntheoretical knowledge into practice. Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine thanked Hon. Justice\r\nWangutusi for keeping the candle of mediation burning.
Posted 13th, June 2016
