Judiciary Allocates Shs 4b forCourt Sessions
The Hon. Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe, The Hon. Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Yorakamu Bamwine and other members at the Launch of Plea Bargain at Katojo Prison
Fort\r\nPortal.The Judiciary\r\nhas ring-fenced Shs 4Bn in the next financial year for court sessions. A session\r\nrefers to a court sitting involving hearing of criminal cases.
This revelation\r\nwas made by the Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart M. Katureebe while\r\ncommissioning a-hands on training on Plea Bargaining at Katojo Government Main\r\nPrison in Fort Portal on Monday June 20,2016.
Plea Bargaining is an arrangement between a prosecutor and\r\nan accused person whereby the accused person pleads guilty to a lesser charge\r\nin the expectation of leniency. In his speech, the Chief Justice said, "Each\r\nquarter, the Judiciary, will handle at least 20 criminal sessions to tackle\r\ncase backlog in criminal trials.” Each criminal session consists 40 cases which\r\nwill translate to Shs 40M.
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The Chief Justice further said the Judiciary is working with the Government to\r\nincrease the number of Judges and Magistrates to ease and fasten adjudication\r\nof cases.
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Hon. Justice Katureebe appealed to the\r\nadvocates and other stakeholders, prison warders, the prosecutors, to take the\r\ntraining seriously to improve the administration of justice in Uganda.
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In his remarks, the Principal Judge\r\ncautioned the inmates not to be coerced to plea bargain so as to get out of\r\nprison quickly.
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The Chief Justice\r\nurged the National Task Force on Plea Bargaining carry out an in-depth study on\r\nthe application of Plea Bargaining in Uganda to identify areas that need\r\nimprovement and opportunities to make the programme a success.
Posted 20th, June 2016
