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Katureebe, 6 others rated best judges
Recognised. Justice Wilson Kwesiga (right) receives a plaque from Justice Kenneth Kakuru, who represented Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, during a function in Kampala yesterday. PHOTO BY ANTHONY WESAKA
What you need to know:
- In his remarks at the release of the scorecard in Kampala yesterday, Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, whose speech was delivered by Justice Kakuru of Court of Appeal, said the performance scorecard report offers an opportunity to the consumers of justice and those actively involved in the justice system to hold the dispensers to account.
Six judges and one magistrate have been rated top performers in delivery of justice in the judicial ranking of 2018 by an organisation that tracks good governance in the justice sector.
Their outstanding performance was judged on the quality of the judgments they wrote drawing from the common law jurisprudence of what amounts to a good judgment.
The assessment titled: “The Uganda Judiciary Scorecard report 2018”, was carried out by Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL), a non-profit organisation that advocates for upholding principles of good governance.
The researchers considered whether the judge was able to grasp the facts or narration of the facts that were adduced at the trial (20 marks); whether the judicial officer was able to use the law applicable and precedent (20 marks).
The other parameters used were resolution of issues, whether the law was properly applied to facts (20 marks) and whether the reasons for the decision were articulated in a clear manner that can be understood even by an ordinary person (20 marks).
The researchers also relied on other performance indicators like fairness in administration of justice (45 per cent), impartiality (30 per cent) professionalism (10 per cent); certainty (5 per cent); behaviour and attitude (5 per cent) and communication (5 per cent).
However, the scorecard report did not name and shame the judicial officers who performed poorly in the year under review.
Overall best judges per court
Justice Wilson Kwesiga scooped the best overall performing judge of the High Court, Justice Fredrick Egonda Ntende, won the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court award while Chief Justice Bart Katureebe was the winner of the Supreme Court.
Justice Ntende was voted overall best judge of Court of Appeal for being on the panel of the criminal sessions in both Fort Portal and Masaka, his style of judgment, writing being easily identifiable, and also his proper articulation of his judgments in terms of law and precedent with several of them rated as being of “great jurisprudential value and reportable.”
Justices Remmy Kasule was rated best judge of Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court specifically on writing the best judgments.
Justice Kwesiga was ranked overall judge of High Court while his colleague Justice Stephen Mubiru emerged the best at High Court level for writing the best judgments in 2018.
“The choice of the best deserving judge in the High Court is Justice Mubiru for the following reasons: first, he has ensured that all his judgments are publicly accessible, second, he has a scholarly attention to detail in his analysis of issues and third, he has been able to consistently deliver the judgments within the time required by the regulations,” the scorecard report reads in part.
Chief Justice Katureebe was rated overall best judge at Supreme Court while Prof Lillian Tibatemwa was recognised for writing best judgments at the Supreme Court.
The best performing court was Kabarole Chief Magistrates’ Court. In the magistrate’s courts category, Samuel Twakyire, the Chief Magistrate of Mbarara court, emerged the best.
This was the second Judiciary performance scorecard with the first one having been released last year.
In the maiden Judiciary scorecard, justices Kasule, Mubiru and Arach were among the winners. The same judicial officers have maintained their high performance since the recognition for their exceptional performance in the previous scorecard.
In his remarks at the release of the scorecard in Kampala yesterday, Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, whose speech was delivered by Justice Kakuru of Court of Appeal, said the performance scorecard report offers an opportunity to the consumers of justice and those actively involved in the justice system to hold the dispensers to account.
“Therefore, we must observe the judicial code of conduct and the core values of independence, transparency, impartiality, professionalism, integrity, accountability, equality and respect that underpin an excellent Judiciary...,” Justice Owiny-Dollo said in his written remarks.
