JUDICIARY Latest Features

The Hon. Chief Justice Launching the Court Case Census Report at Hotel Africana

Kampala. The first Judiciary Court Case Census report has been released. The report shows that 254 cases have been in the court system for more than 10 years.

The census that was commissioned and conducted in December, 2015 shows that the Judiciary has 114,809 unresolved cases (as at December 9, 2015), mostly in the criminal matters with majority in Chief Magistrates Courts. 

The report released on October 24, 2016 in Kampala shows that Chief Magistrates Courts have a total of 11,474 pending cases; Grade One Magistrates Courts have a case backlog of 3,394 and Grade Two Magistrates Courts have 150 pending cases. In total, the lower courts have 15,018 pending cases.
The High Court then follows in the order of having a big case backlog standing at 10,632 and the Court of Appeal at 3,201 cases. The Supreme Court has only 13 pending cases. 
The main objectives of the case census were to ascertain the reasons for the pending cases before the courts of law that have never been informed by empirical evidence or documented with interventions for effective case management.
It also sought to find out the pending cases according to how long they spent in the system, case category among other objectives.
Hon. Justice Dr. Henry Peter Adonyo, who headed a 12-member committee in carrying out the census says each file has different reasons for the delay but added that some were mismanaged while others had long injunctions imposed against them.

The report shows that Central region has the highest number of pending cases standing at 56,058, representing 48.8 per cent; Western region has 21,860 pending cases representing 19 per cent and Eastern region comes in at third position with 19,340 pending cases representing 16.8 per cent.Northern region has the least pending cases standing at 17,551 (15 per cent).

Speaking at the launch of the report, The Hon.Chief Justice Bart M. Katureebe said the report is timely given the wealth and value of the information that is contained therein.He said, “The report has also pinpointed where the case backlog is and the possible reasons for delay of cases. The Report has also indicated several areas for improvement and given us hope that with correct interventions, case backlog can be tackled and eliminated in the medium term.”

The Hon.Chief Justice pointed out that no country can meaningfully invest and reform the administration of Justice without accurate data.The information in the report is going to be used to inform sector-wide reforms and interventions such as the Judiciary Transformation Plan and the fourth Strategic Investment Plan of the Judiciary to address systemic challenges constraining the efficient and effective administration of Justice in Uganda.

The Hon.Chief Justice constituted an 11 member Judiciary Case Backlog Reduction Committee headed by Court of Appeal Justice Richard Buteera to develop a sustainable case backlog eradication plan within the next two months.
This Committee comprises the following members:

1. Hon. Justice Richard Buteera -Chairperson

2. Hon. Justice Egonda Ntende -Vice Chairperson

3. Hon. Lady Justice Dr. Esther Kisaakye Kitimbo -Member

4. Hon. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire -Member

5. Hon. Justice Stephen Musota -Member

6. Hon. Justice Dr. Henry Peter Adonyo -Member

7. Mrs. Dorcus. W. Okalany -Member

8.  H/W Gadenya Paul Wolimbwa -Member

9.  Mr. Francis Gimara (President ULS) -Member

10. Mr. Andrew Khaukha (Technical Advisor -Judiciary) -Member/Resource Person

11. Mr. Sam Wairagala (JLOS) -Secretary to the Committee