Hon. Justice Buteera(DCJ), with staff at during his tour of Kabale
The Deputy Chief Justice, Hon.Justice Richard Buteera, has embarked on a Case Backlog Assessment fieldvisits, starting with Mbarara, Kabale and Masaka High Court circuits.
The DCJ, who doubles as Chairpersonof the Case Backlog Monitoring Committee, started his visit at Mbarara HighCourt where he was received by Resident Judge Hon. Lady Justice Joyce Kavumaand Ag. Deputy Registrar Samuel Twakire.
Hon. Justice Buteera explained thatthe objective of his visit was to ascertain firsthand the status of casebacklog according to case category and the case backlog clearance plans. He wasthen taken on a guided tour of the Court and Registry where he interacted withstaff.
Issuesidentified
It was observed that storage ofcompleted files was a challenge. Files are lumped in heaps withoutchronological arrangement which makes retrieving of files difficult. It wasobserved that the filing cabinets were old and with faulty locks.
The DCJ learned that only 23 out ofthe 86 Small Claims Procedure matters registered at the Mbarara CM Court sinceJanuary 2020 had been completed - the low resolution was attributed to theCOVID-9 pandemic and its attendant problems.
Accompanied by the JudiciaryTechnical Advisor, Mr Andrew Khaukha and his Private Legal Secretary, HW DrAlex Mushabe Karocho, the DCJ went on to have a meeting with all JudicialOfficers under the circuit. He received reports from all the eight MagisterialAreas under the Mbarara Circuit on the case backlog status and clearanceplans.
Said Hon. Lady Justice Kavuma: "Regarding compliance with delivering pending judgments we have improved, andwe can rate ourselves to 80 per cent." She observed that the Circuit hashuge volumes of cases with a limited number of Judicial Officers to handlethem.
There are 1,742 backlogged casesboth at the High Court and Chief Magistrates Court. Of these, 700 areunallocated cases.
Hon. Lady Justice Kavuma said theCourt is incapacitated due to the limited session funds as well as lack ofpersonnel such as transcribers to manage the three recording equipment. This,she said, causes a delay in availing records of proceedings.
To minimize on the backlog, theResident Judge called for weed-out and more Plea Bargaining sessions.
As part of the interventions, sheasked for visiting Judges to handle backlogged matters. "There is need to getvisiting judges to handle backlog cases in land and civil like we have hadthree visiting judges who completed criminal sessions and this greatly reducedthe backlog," she said.
She also called for fast-trackingold cases by giving them priority, provision of civil session funds andcreation of Ibanda High Court Circuit. Others were stopping registration ofNotices of Appeal as appeals and allowances to data entry clerks to clean upCASS and ensure that it is updated with accurate data.
Magistrates from Buhweju and Sangawere commended for clearing all their backlog and as such have no cases in thatcategory. The DCJ urged them to keep it up.
The other magistrates undertook toclear all pending backlog within the next eight months.
Chief Magistrates; HW Sarah Mponye(Ntungamo), HW Jane Mugala(Bushenyi and HW Kagoda Samuel (Ibanda) took part inthe meeting. Also present were Magistrate Grade Ones; HW Muhimbise Gordon, HW MujuniPaul, HW Ainembabazi Doreen, HW Ayebare Daphine (Mbarara), HW Toloko Simon(Kiruhura/ Kazo), HW Murangira Hillary (Isingiro), HW Bamuhiiga Patrick(Sanga), HW Mwali Stella (Bushenyi/ Kagango), HW Osauro John Paul (Bushenyi), HWTindyebwa Kingi Christopher (Rubirizi and Bushenyi), HW Nzebwe Philip (Buhweju),HW Owomugisha Sierra and HW Nuwagira Richard (Ibanda).
KabaleHigh Court
On Thursday, the DCJ and his teamwere joined by the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to Judiciary, Mr PiusBigirimana, for the backlog monitoring exercise where they were guided by Hon. JusticeKawumi Kazibwe.
Hon. Justice Kazibwe led them on aguided tour of the court where they inspected the court halls, archives,library and registry.
The DCJ and the PS/SJ were impressedby the fact that the information available on the Court Case AdministrationSystem was in tandem with the manual registers in terms of record content.
The Resident Judge outlinedchallenges of the circuit such as inadequate staffing, lack of alternativeenergy sources and delayed release of session funds. He emphasized the need ofa vehicle for the Deputy Registrar and decried the small prison capacity.
He went on to outline the variouscase backlog reduction strategies that the Circuit will employ to handle thebacklog of 292 cases in all categories. These cases were accumulated between2012 and 2018.
The planned interventions include;holding plea bargain sessions, special sessions to handle civil and landappeals and mini criminal sessions in Kisoro and Kanungu.
The meeting was attended by theKabale Chief Magistrate, HW Julius Borore and Magistrate Grade One, HW KavumaMugaga and HW Rukundo Isaac.
Posted 27th, November 2020
