Hon. Justice Dr Zeija (middle) with his delegation at the Luweero Chief Magistrate Court
The Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr Flavian Zeija, has resumed his countrywide inspection of courts, with visits to courts under Luwero and Nakasongola CMareas. He visited Nakasongola, Luwero, Wabusana, Wobulenzi and Nyimbwa Courts.
Remarked the Luwero Chief Magistrate, HWSamuel Munobe, upon receiving the PJ "We regard you as the biblical dove that descended to the earth to show Noah that the waters were abated from the earth when it flew back to the ark carrying the olive branch as a symbol of freedom and peace."
HW Munobe,also caretakes the Nakasongola CM Court following the retirement HW Agatonica Mbabazi Ahimbisibwe a few months ago. The PJ heard that the Magistrate GradeOne Courts at Kakooge, Lwampanga and Migyera Nakasongola CM under the Nakasongola Magisterial Area are not yet operational.
HW Munobe appealed for the operationalization of Migyera Court because it is a busy area.
HW Tibayeita Edgar Tusiime is the resident Magistrate Grade One at Nakasongola Court, supported by five staff. The Court currently has 491 cases, 21 of which classified as backlog.
Luweero CM Court
Here,the PJ held a meeting with the three Judicial Officers at the Court who included the CM HW Munobe and Magistrate Grade Ones: HW Doreen Ajuna and HW Susan Awidi.
In a comprehensive report for Chief Magisterial area, HW Munobe said there are 1,377 matters pending before its seven courts - 562 backlog.
He said his team had adopted a session system of handling cases as one of the measures to address backlog. Other measures taken are embracing Judiciary fast access to justice initiatives such as Plea Bargaining, Small Claims Procedure and Mediation.
Among the challenges noted were mushrooming bush lawyers.
HW Munobe called for regular interactions with members of the Judiciary Top Management as well as revival of Peer Review Mechanisms.
He also stressed the importance of career progression and a rewards system for officers as one of the motivation tools. Additionally, he called for regular public awareness campaigns to demystify court operations.
HW Munobe thanked the Judiciary administration for ensuring that the High Court holds regular sessions there.
Wabusana Court
Magistrate Grade One, HW Doreen Ajuna, who caretakes the court shared that the court has 78 pending criminal matters. Previously, the Court was a Magistrate Grade Two Court until early this year when it was operationalized as a Grade One Court.
As one of the ways to create awareness about the court, the Magistrate has participated council sittings to sensitize stakeholders on the workings o fcourt.
HW said the court has held three sessions at Wabusana prison as a way of decongesting the facility and also delivering justice in a timely manner.
Wobulenzi Court
Here the PJ was received by the station in-charge, HW Hope Bagyenda. She said the court has seven support staff who include a customer care desk advisor.
The small room she uses as chambers cannot comfortably accommodate four chairs and a desk. To compound matters, she informed the PJ that when she needs to use washrooms, she has to go to nearby hotels to access the facilities. Attempts to get alternative accommodation for the court have not yielded much as they await responses from the Estates management team.
The court has a workload of 415 cases of which 111 are classified as backlog. One of the court users who followed the PJ to the court thanked him for deployed a dedicated officer like as HW Bagyenda who had improved the image of the court.
Nyimbwa Court
HW Bagyenda circuits the Nyimbwa court. It is housed in an old Buganda Kingdom structure infested with termites and bats. To compound this, when the sub-county has sittings, open court hearings cannot take off. It has two support staff and no cleaning services. There is no power at this court and as such, all court documents are processed from the nearby trading centre. The registry doubles as the exhibits and archive store. There is no library or reference books for the Judicial Officer to carry out research. It equally has no adequate furniture.
Emerging issues
One of the main concerns was advocates skipping court especially in civil and land matters,which had affected service delivery. There is general shortage of human resource. Most of the Judicial Officers manage at least two courts. In some courts like Wabusana, the Magistrate has to move with her clerk from Luweero Court to help her with interpretation as well as handling all clerical work.
Inadequate court accommodation. Save for Nakasongola and Luweero main stations, the other courts operate in rented premises. Wabusana and Nyimbwa courts operate in dilapidated sub-county buildings.
None of the Judicial Officers in the areas has official means of transport, which has affected court business especially in handling land matters. There is equally need for motorcycles to ease the service of process.
Internet connectivity or lack thereof has affected the online recording of case files on the Court Case Administration System at most courts. None of the courts has a resident systems administrator and has to rely on IT support from the headquarters.
None of the courts has a power backup system yet there is unstable power supply. For the case of Nyimbwa and Wabusana, the courts do not have power.
In terms of juvenile justice, all children in conflict with the law are remanded to Naguru Remand Home yet often there are no transport facilities to ferry them.
The need for administrative staff to be trained on different legal procedures and processes to make them more effective in the modern court system.
There is a general furniture shortage at the courts. In the case of Wabusana, all the seats used are owned by the sub-county.
He advised the Registry staff to utilize the court vacation to ensure that the record is updated in all manual registers.
At all the courts visited, there is an attendance book where all staff, including Judicial Officers, sign. To ensure its efficiency, the PJ recommended that a sign out column be added and advised that the book gets withdrawn after 8:30am.
Innovations
The CM has managed to secure airtime at one of the community radios where they sensitize the public on different court processes.
Tired of waiting for intervention from the headquarters, the Luweero CM Court overhaul edits water system and even installed plastic tank to ensure there is running water at the facility.
Responses
At all the courts, the PJ stressed the need to properly update manual registers and capturing results of each concluded matter. Additionally, he tipped staff on how to efficiently archive files by using a cataloging system.
On the issue of staffing gaps, the PJ urged the Judicial Officers to assign the existing staff extra duties as a coping mechanism.
In response to concerns that courts such as Wabusana do not have any equipment,the PJ stressed the need for courts to be provided with necessary tools of trade such as computers and printers.
On the issue of installing CCAS at the different courts, he clarified that this portal can be accessed online.
The PJ empathized with the officers for the constraints they have encountered because of lack of transport. He informed them that the Judiciary management's plans had been affected by Covid-19. "We were supposed to buy 18 pickups, motorcycle sand judges cars. But our budget was slashed," adding that the setback was only temporal as things will get better.
He urged the Judicial Officers to take charge of their courts and not the advocates dictate on how court proceeds which stalls speedy resolution of cases.
The PJ said although the Administration of Judiciary Act had been passed, its effective actualization would be next Financial Year. He said that notwithstanding, there are committees that have been set up to study how to implement the Act.
He encouraged the Judicial Officers to be vigilant and arrest the bush lawyers,which will act as a deterrent for others.
On the issue of Top Management interacting with Judicial Officers, the PJ said this was already in plan and he was due to meet all Chief Magistrates later this month.
On the issue of staffing gaps, the PJ clarified that there is no budget for recruitment and that the available funds only caters for replacements. He said it was important to have levels at all levels as one of the ways to motivate Judicial Officers. Additionally, he said there are plans to introduce an awards system in recognition of performance.
The PJ encouraged the Judicial Officers to hold radio talk shows as one of the avenues to sensitize the public on court processes and procedures.
He encouraged the Judicial Officers to do an inventory of exhibits and see those that can be disposed of as one of the ways to manage these stores.
Posted 14th, September 2020
