Hon. Justice Dr. Flavian Zeija (PJ) on the left with Hon. Justice Dr. Andrew Bashaija at Civil Division
The Civil Division on Monday (March 16, 2020) hosted the Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Flavian Zeija who is on familiarization tour of all courts.
The PJ was received by the Head of Division, Hon. Justice Dr. Andrew Bashaija flanked by Judges Hon. Justice Musa Sekaana, Hon. Justice Emmanuel Baguma and Hon. Lady Justice Esta Nambayo. Equally present was Deputy Registrar, HW Sarah Langa Siu and Ag Assistant Registrar, HW Dr Alex Kerocho Mushabe.
He was taken on a guided tour of the premises to understand some of the challenges ofthe Division.
The assistant in charge of the registry, Mr. Herbert Mwesigwa said they have a challenge of updating the Court Case Administration System because it is unstable which delays the process. This it was attributed to numerous users on the system that causes an overload.
He equally pointed out that the court needs a new seal to replace the old one.
Hon.Justice Dr Bashaija who led the tour said the five Judges at the Division share one court-hall and at times have to wait in turns to use it.
He said as at March 13,2020, the workload at the Division stood at 4,158 cases in all categories. "Our backlog in all case categories is at 1,243 cases with the oldest case being that of 2001," he said.
In his brief to the PJ, Hon. Justice Dr Bashaija noted that in Financial Year 2018/2019, the Division collected revenue amounting to Shs 257, 341,782 while in this financial year Shs 108, 957,324 has been collected.
It was pointed out that when cause-listing, conscious effort is made to ensure that both old and new cases are cause-listed.
Hon.Justice Dr Bashaija said the Division had equally embraced weeding out of dormant files as one of the ways to deal with case backlog.
The other case management system pointed out was Judicial Review Matters.
On innovations put in place at the court; the following were highlighted;e-submissions, breastfeeding room, Whatsapp forums for advocates, decentralized file storage and court user meetings.
The head of Division pointed out the following concerns; increasing number of habeus corpus applications, frivolous and non-starter cases where such matters are de-registered. Other challenges include problematic litigants, heavy workload, limited courtroom space, limited courtroom space, lack of vital office equipment and training for both Judicial Officers and administrative staff.
They called for guidance on whether insolvency matters and labour matters can be filed at the court.
The PJ promised to take up their concerns with the different stakeholders. To crown his visit, the PJ met with all staff and promised to make time to have a lengthy interaction with them.
Posted 16th, March 2020
