JUDICIARY Latest Features

Hon. Justice Zenja (left), Hon. Justice Bamwine(PJ) (Middle), Hon. Justice Gaswaga (Right) at Mbarara High Court

Representatives of different Justice, Law and Order Sector institutions gathered at Mbarara High Court to take part in a Monitoring & Evaluation exercise carried out by the Principal Judge. 

The PJ who was at the High Court to discuss issues critical to case backlog management as well as compliance with Judiciary reforms such as Mediation, Plea Bargaining and Small Claims Procedure.

The visit focused on engaging judicial officers and other stakeholders on case backlog management. The first part comprised of a dialogue with judicial officers to discuss issues pertaining to case management and adjudication. The main objective of the monitoring visit was meant to contribute to improve case disposal outcomes, share challenges, best practices and opportunities for improvement. 

The Principal Judge later engaged the court stakeholders who included advocates,religious and civic leaders in a group discussion on the same subject. 

It is hoped that the outcome of this and other monitoring visits will create an environment to address challenges, opportunities and provide an avenue for peer review, better coordination, collaboration and communication that will strengthen case management and general access to justice services. 

The Principal Judge said the Judiciary decided to implement a case backlog strategy to avoid delays and eliminate case backlog. He said prioritizing sessions,skilling staff to expedite case disposal as well as using fast access to justice interventions such as Plea Bargaining, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Small Claims Procedure. He added that there are plans to change rules of procedure to avoid abuse of processes.

The outgoing Senior Resident Judge of Mbarara, Hon. Justice Duncan Gaswaga welcomed the Principal Judge who was accompanied by the Ag. Chief Registrar and Judiciary Technical Advisor, and went on to make a presentation on issues pertaining to the court. 

He informed the meeting that Mbarara High Court is composed of 72 courts most of which are now non-operational. He said the Mbarara Chief Magistrate now doubled as the Deputy Registrar which was overwhelming. The circuit has 22 magistrates three of whom are Chief Magistrates who serve 10 districts that the circuit covers.

The court has 3,063 cases pending cases; 1,459 criminal matters and 1,604 civil matters. Out of the 1,459 criminal matters, 1,064 are cases committed to the High Court and ready for hearing.

According to Hon. Justice Gaswaga, the court needs 29 sessions to clear these cases. The Magistrates'courts in the circuit have more than 7,000 cases. 

He said the court has devised strategies on how fight backlog. Among the planned interventions are individual judicial officers generating work-plans on handling both old and new cases simultaneously. 

The Judge pointed out challenges such as the leaking court roof and the inadequate office space. He said there was need to sensitize different stakeholders on Small Claims Procedure, Mediation and Plea Bargaining for more buy ins.