Courts to close next week as judges attend conference

The conference, to take place at Serena Hotel, will run under the theme; "A People-Centered Approach to Justice." 

"I would like to inform the general public that next week starting on Monday 5th up to Friday 9th,  February, there will be a judges' conference that targets justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the High Court. So the general public is notified that operations in these courts will not be there," Mr James Mawanda Ereemye, the Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary said on February 2 during a press briefing ahead of the conference.

Speaking at the same media briefing, Supreme Court Justice Mike Chibita who also doubles as the chairperson of the organizing committee for the conference said the objectives of conference include; judges sharing views and their experiences, how to tackle case backlog that is averaging 50,000 cases, issues of Artificial Intelligence on judgement writing tools, and health issues such as cancer management.

Others are parenting skills to judicial officers, and management of financial and non financial resources within the Judiciary.

Supreme Court, Court of Appeal twin towers for grand opening

The conference will climax with the grand opening of the twin towers that house the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal on Friday 9.

President Museveni is expected to be the chief guest at the opening ceremony.

"We will start the day with that key note address I have talked about and then the commissioning of the buildings. It will end with the New Law year and there will be speeches including one from the Uganda Law Society, the Permanent Secretary who will explain the journey of the buildings, the Attorney General who is the head of the Bar , the Minister of Justice and then the speech of the Chief Justice explaining what the Judiciary has done in the past year and the coming year, then afterwards His Excellency will be speaking," the Chief Registrar Ms Sarah Langa Siu, said on February 1.

Ms Langa said the opening of the New Law year on February 9 is expected to attract about 500 guests, with the Chief Justices of South Sudan, Tanzania and Somalia confirming their attendance.

The Judiciary's Permanent Secretary, Mr Pius Bigirimana said Shs110b was spent on the construction of the said twin buildings.

He added that with strict supervision,  the government saved Shs16b.

The commissioning of the twin tower buildings will save the Judiciary at least Shs6 billion it has been annually paying in rent for the two appellate courts.

The Judiciary spends about Shs10 billion annually on rent of its court premises countrywide.

Expenditure on rent is expected to reduce to about Shs4b annually across the courts country wide.

The twin towers are located just above the Constitutional Square, sharing the same space premises with the High Court.

The seven-storey twin towers have two basement parking floors big enough to accommodate 226 vehicles at ago, customized courthouses, modern courtrooms, chambers for justices, restaurant, gym, childcare centers, and a conference hall among other modern amenities

The Chief Registrar also revealed that this year, there will be a court open day on February 29 at Kololo Independence Grounds where the higher courts officials will interact with the general public and also get feedback from them.

"All the seven Divisions of the High Court will participate among other courts. We want the public to understand how we operate, we will sensitize them about some appeal procedures," Ms Langa said.

Adding; "We also want to get feedback from the public. The different actors will be there also interacting with the public. The other justice actors such as IGG, prisons , DPP, police and Legal Service providers, the entire chain of the justice service providers will be there.  The event is open to the public, let the Wanainchi come , let them come and see what happens in courts."

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