The High Court Judge, Hon. Justice David Batema authored a book on\r\ngender discrimination in the Justice system and confessed that the motivation\r\nto compile the publication was based on past error when he unfairly punished a\r\nwoman who failed to show up for trial in court because of health reasons but\r\nhad not presented medical forms to prove her sickness.
Hon. Justice Batema said\r\nhe made the error in judgment when he was a Chief Magistrate in Mbale in 1999. He\r\nsaid the woman from the Mt Elgon area had a case in court but did not show up\r\nin court because she was sick.
The Hon. Judge said, that being insensitive to women issues at that time, he\r\ndismissed her case.
The Judge made the revelations during the launch of his book "Gender\r\nBench Book: Women’s Access to Justice in Uganda” at Hotel Protea in\r\nKampala on Friday October 7, 2016.
Hon. Justice Batema said\r\nlater while the Inspector of Courts at the time Her Worship Flavia Munaaba was\r\non inspection in Mbale, she asked him why he had dismissed the woman’s case.
He said he explained to\r\nher that he dismissed the case due to lack of seriousness by the woman who\r\nclaimed to have fallen sick but could not produce evidence by way of medical\r\nforms.
He recounted that H/W Munaaba\r\ntold him that he had dismissed the case using "male perspective” and encouraged\r\nhim to go for a course in women issues.
Hon. Justice Batema, now\r\nthe Soroti resident Judge, said he went for several courses in women affairs\r\nwhich made him appreciate women issues and the new perspective on gender\r\ndiscrimination helped him write his book on women justice.
While launching the\r\nbook, the Hon. Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe cited discrimination\r\nas one of the major impediments to women in accessing justice.
He said the book will\r\nguide judicial officers in addressing procedural issues that impede women’s\r\naccess to justice.
"The value of the Bench\r\nBook is that it breaks down the complex and often abstract legal norms not only\r\nfor judicial officers but also for legal practitioners. It assists the core\r\nusers in overcoming latent gender stereotyping which normally locks the mind of\r\njudicial officers and impedes them from delivering gender-balanced decisions,”\r\nsaid Hon. Justice Katureebe.
"The Bench Book should be\r\nviewed as an essential tool for the achievement of real access to justice on\r\nthe part of women. When women are faced with situations of discrimination or\r\nviolence, as they often are, their only recourse is law and justice agencies,”\r\nhe added.
The book on women issues\r\nwhich was sponsored by UN Women outlines local and international practices on\r\nenhancing gender responsiveness by the Judiciary to improve women access to\r\njustice.
This article was published by the daily monitor on October 10, 2016
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Posted 10th, October 2016
