Deputy CJ's job up for grabs as Buteera is set to retire

The job of the Deputy Chief Justice is up for grabs since the current office holder Richard Buteera is set to retire after clocking 70 years in a few months from now.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which is the recruitment and disciplinary body for judicial officers, has since put out an advert, calling for those interested in the second highest job in the Judiciary after that of the Chief Justice.

"Applications are invited from suitable and eligible citizens of Uganda to fill the following vacant post available in the Judicial Service as specified below; deputy chief justice,” reads in part the advert put out by the JSC.

Some of the qualification requirements for the position of Deputy Chief Justice include; one must have served as the justice of the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court and or Supreme Court. Likewise, one would have served as a High Court Judge or a court of similar jurisdiction or has practised as an advocate for not less than 15 years before a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters.

Speaking to this publication on Friday evening, the Judiciary Public Relations Officer, Mr James Ereemye Mawanda, said the current Deputy Chief Justice will be hanging his judicial boots in April next year, hence the need to search for his replacement early enough to avoid a vacuum like how it had been with the previous recruitments.

“Our beloved DCJ is due for retirement in April next year. The law demands that the position must be advertised six months before, which is why that advert comes in handy. We shall miss our DCJ, as a career judicial official and as an administrator since you can’t stop retirement,” Mr Ereemye said in a telephone interview.

Some of the administrative functions of the deputy chief justice include; duputise the Chief Justice as and when a need arises, he/she is the administrative head of the Court of Appeal/ Constitutional Court, and performs any other function as may be delegated or assigned to him by the Chief Justice.

The graduate of Bachelor of Laws from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, was appointed as Deputy Chief Justice in 2020.  City lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi challenged his appointment before Parliament on grounds that the JSC had not recommended his name to President Museveni, the appointing authority to be picked as Deputy Chief Justice.

UTILITY

Who is retiring Deputy Chief Justice Buteera?

 He began his legal career in in 1980 when he was appointed an Assistant Lecturer/Research Fellow, the Faculty of Law – Makerere University. The following year, he was appointed as Grade One Magistrate, a position he held until 1989 when he was elevated to the position of Chief Magistrate.

In 1991, he was again elevated to the position of Registrar High Court/Inspector of Court.

In 1993, he was appointed as the Chief Registrar, a position he held for about three years before being appointed the first Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under the 1995 constitution, a position he held for about 18 years when he was appointed a Justice of the Court of Appeal in 2013.

He was later elevated to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land but in 2020, he was brought back to the Court of Appeal upon his appointment as the Deputy Chief Justice, who has to sit and preside over that very court.

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