The Hon. Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine (Middle) at the Masaka Prison during the visit evaluating plea bargain system.
The Hon.Principal Judge led a delegation of Justice Law and Order Sector stakeholders in Monitoring & Evaluation exercise of Plea Bargaining at Masaka and Jinja Main Prisons.
The inmates appreciated the access to justice system but pointed out that many times judicial officers divert from the bargained sentences. They said some judicial officers, while passing sentence, waive the remission period, which frustrates the programme.
They also voiced their dissatisfaction with state briefs that only show up when cases come for mentioning. Some inmates called for the setting up of an initiative where convicts can bargain for reduction of sentence.
Inmates at Masaka Prison protested harsher court sentences imposed on them instead of the lesser penalties agreed upon under the new Plea Bargain justice system. More than 850 inmates expressed displeasure while reading out their collective memo to Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine who visited them at the detention centre.
Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine,the architect of the Plea Bargain system, had visited Masaka Prison to assess the effectiveness of the new justice mechanism since its launch about two years ago. He was accompanied by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Hon. Justice Mike Chibita.
Plea Bargain is a justice system in a criminal trial where both the prosecution and the accused person enter agreement and the latter agrees to plead guilty to a charge in return fora lighter sentence. The programme is aimed at reducing case backlog in courts and congestion in prisons.
"My lord, we thank you for this programme (Plea Bargain) because some of us have benefited from it. However, we have had scenarios where we agree on a given period of years but upon reaching court, one is given more years than the earlier ones agreed upon," Mr Reuben Asiimwe, a prisoner on a defilement charge said.
"For example, Godfrey Ssekindo reached a consensus with State lawyers to be sentenced to 15 years in jail but upon reaching court, the State Attorney who was handling the case, requested the presiding judge to sentence him to 18 years," Mr Asiimwe added. In response, Hon.Justice Chibita said if this problem comes from the prosecution side that he heads, the anomaly will be rectified.
Principal Judge Bamwine said court reserves the discretion to reject or vary the proposed sentence. However, he added that following complaints by the prisoners, courts will now stick to what both the prosecution and the accused persons would have agreed upon during Plea Bargain.
During the visits, the Plea Bargain programme was rolled out to Masaka Chief Magistrate's Court.
Posted 15th, February 2017
