Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo
Case backlog reduced
In the year under review, there was a small reduction in the case backlog, which has always been the biggest elephant in the Judiciary.
While presenting the report, Justice Owiny-Dollo revealed that there was a small reduction of the case backlog by 372 cases (an equivalent of 0.87 percent).
The report indicated that during the financial year, courts completed 239,431 cases out of the total caseload of 401,269. The caseload comprised 143,205 cases brought forward from FY 2022/2023 and 258,064 freshly registered cases in the Financial Year 2023/2024.
“Courts closed with a pending caseload of 161,838 cases, of which 42,588, were backlogged, accounting for 26.32 percent,” the report released last Friday indicated.
The administrative head of the Judiciary attributed the reduction in case backlog to mainly to plea bargaining programme, a programme that allows suspects to plead to the charges in exchange for a lesser sentence or charge.
“The plea-bargaining programme was conducted through the day-to-day hearing of cases in courts, through plea-bargain camps or special sessions dedicated to plea-bargaining. The number of cases disposed of through this initiative increased by 22 percent from 5,246 cases in FY2022/2023 to 6,408 cases in FY2023/2024,” Mr Owiny-Dollo said.
He added: “This initiative has helped in realising fast disposal of cases and prisons decongestion,among others.”
Increased budget
The report indicated that the Judiciary received an increment in its budgetary allocation from Shs383.25b for the Financial Year 2022/2023 to Shs392.54b in the Financial Year 2023/2024.
Shs17b collected in non-tax revenues and bail deposits The report shows that in the year under review, a total of Shs17b was collected, out of which Shs10b was non-tax revenue, which was remitted to the Consolidated Fund, with the balance of Shs6b being bail deposits.
The non-tax revenue represented an increase of 7.16 percent from the previous year’s collections. The average time to hear and dispose of a case reduced The Judiciary completed 239,431 cases out of a total caseload of 401,269 cases under the year in review. The caseload comprised 143,205 cases brought forward from the financial year 2022/23 and 258,064 cases freshly registered in FY 2023/24.
“Overall, the courts registered a total disposal rate of 59.67 percent. As a result, the average time taken from filing to disposal of cases in days reduced from 1,074 days (3 years) in the financial year 2021/22 to 891 days (2.5 years) in the financial year 2023/24,” the report stated in part.
More judicial officers recruited The report shows that in the previous year, the Judiciary continued to recruit more judges, with notable recruitments being Justice Monica Mugenyi and Justice Catherine Bamugemereire who were elevated to the Supreme Court from the Court of Appeal. Other recruits were Justices Moses Kazibwe Kawumi, Dr Asa Mugenyi, and Ms Margaret Tibulya, who were recruited to the Court of Appeal/ Constitutional Court.
The recruitment of more judicial officers brought the total number to 655, out of which 369 are Grade One Magistrates, 90 are Chief Magistrates, 16 Grade Two Magistrates, one Chief Registrar, 78 High Court Judges, 13 Court of Appeal justices and 10 Supreme Court justices.
The Chief Justice said the current number of judicial of 655 vis a vis the total population of more than 45 million Ugandans is a very small fraction and called for more judicial officers if the case backlog is to be reduced.
922 complaints registered against judicial officers In the year under review, the report indicates that a total of 300 courts were inspected by the Inspectorate of Courts, which saw a total of 922 complaints registered against judicial officers.
The report further shows that out of the 922 complaints that were registered, a total of 900 were investigated to completion, with only 22 remaining, pending further investigations.
Supreme Court/ Court of Appeal enter their new home In the year under review, the report shows that the two appellate courts, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal/ Constitutional Court entered their own new home in the Twin Towers after the same were commissioned by President Museveni in April this year.
The report showed that Adjumani Justice Centre was at the finishing stage, with up to 90 percent completion; Lyantonde Chief Magistrate’s Court was at the finishing stage, with up to 70 percent completion; Budaka Chief Magistrates Court was at the final touches, with up to 95 percent completion; Tororo High Court was at First-floor slab shuttering stage with up to 30 percent progress; Alebtong Chief Magistrates Court was at finishing the stage, with up to 60 percent completion and Namayingo Justice Centre was completed and was under defects liability period.
Nwoya Justice Centre was completed and is under defects liability period, Buyende Justice Centre was completed, Karenga Magistrates Court was at the finishing stage, with up to 90 percent completion; Abim Magistrates Court was at the roofing stage, with up to 40 percent completion; Soroti High Court was at the plastering stage, with up to 60 percent completion; Rukungiri High Court was at external works stage, with up to 85 percent completion.
Challenges
Inadequate budgetary, low wages for administrative support staff, inadequacies amongst key justice agencies, and understaffing in the courts of law were some of the challenges that the Chief Justice pointed out while presenting the report.
