Covid-19 and The Administration of Justice in Uganda
Covid-19 and The Administration of Justice in Uganda
Introduction
In line with the standard public health guidelines, Uganda had to institute a partial
lockdown of the country when it was confirmed that there was an outbreak of COVID-‐‑
19 within the country. When the lockdown was instituted only “essential” services were
allowed to operate, those deemed basic and yet indispensable without which the nation
would collapse.2
Indeed the COVID-‐‑19 pandemic means we are wading in uncharted waters. But with
no vaccine in the near future and with the number of patients increasing by the day,
there is no way of predicting how long the lockdown will be in force, or how long it will
take for judicial work to return to “normal”. This article therefore examines existing
presents an opportunity for access to justice through LC Courts.
The Judiciary was listed as an essential service but would only hear remands, urgent
mentions, bail and other very pressing interlocutory applications. Court registries were
directed to stay open but only for the purposes of filing new suits.3 Even then extreme
social distancing was to be practiced by all participants to the court process. To mitigate
this, the Chief Justice issued the “Guidelines for on-‐‑line hearings in the Judiciary of
1
Magistrate
Grade
one,
Courts
of
Judicature
Uganda
Email:
[email protected]
2 Luke Anami, 'ʹUgandan Takes Govt to EACJ over Lockdown'ʹ (The East African, 2020)
<https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/ea/Ugandan-‐‑takes-‐‑government-‐‑to-‐‑EACJ-‐‑lockdown-‐‑against-‐‑the-‐‑
law/4552908-‐‑5520778-‐‑wl31aaz/index.html> accessed 12 May 2020.
3 Chief Justice’s Circular, Administrative and Contingency Measures to Prevent and Mitigate the Spread
1
Uganda”4. The Guidelines indicate that online hearings may be used for inter alia,
delivering of judgments and rulings, plus the hearing of bail applications, mentions and
provided link. The hearing of these matters is not exclusively limited to the online
option though and in some cases, advocates and parties appear in person before the
judicial officer.5
These efforts are building upon a foundation set by other recent Judiciary interventions.
For example the installation of a Video Conferencing Facility between Buganda Road
Court and Luzira Maximum Prison (Male and female Wing), Kigo Government prison
and Kitalya Government prison. Initially it aimed at handling cases at mention stages
especially in very sensitive cases that require a high level of security where transporting
the accused persons to Court may cause security threats to the entire public or
unnecessary cost.
The Judiciary is also in final stages of developing the Electronic Court Case
(i) A fully-‐‑featured system which automates and tracks all aspects of a case life
distribution and retrieval of significant amounts of case specific data as well
as the processing of payment of relevant court fees and fines by the Citizens.
The system will ease filing of matters and all documents, reducing the need for physical
2
Hurdles in the administration of justice
Even then, as we await the interventions to be put to full use, currently, access to justice
has been greatly hampered by the pandemic. Restricting court hearings means,
ultimately, that all pending matters before the courts had to be adjourned sine die until
the lockdown is lifted and courts are allowed to resume normal operations. Save for
very urgent maters that would require party to first obtain a certificate of urgency. In
addition to that, because the Judiciary does not work in a vacuum and relies on other
Prosecutions) for it to be effective and with these stakeholders also substantially limited
by the lockdown, court business has literally ground to a halt. There are a few matters
It is a well-‐‑established principle that justice shall not be denied. Article 126(2) (b) of the
Constitution provides that justice shall not be delayed. But as the lockdown continues,
for litigants who had matters before court, justice is delayed. They have to wait until the
lockdown is lifted for their matters to be heard. Even then, the judiciary which has for
long been affected by case backlog which will no doubt ne exacerbated by the
lockdown.
Relatedly, the lockdown (and pandemic as a whole) has also led to a rise of novel legal
situations. Some parties are unable to execute their obligations while others will no
doubt use this as a cloak to hide from their obligations. For the aggrieved party, waiting
until the world is declared free from COVID-‐‑19 for him or her to get a remedy is justice
denied. Ominously, there are also increased reports of domestic and gender based
violence as people are forced to stay at home.6 Studies have identified that isolations
6 The Independent, 'ʹPolice Records 328 Cases Of Domestic Violence During COVID-‐‑19 Lockdown'ʹ (The
Independent Uganda:, 2020) <https://www.independent.co.ug/police-‐‑records-‐‑328-‐‑cases-‐‑of-‐‑domestic-‐‑
violence-‐‑during-‐‑covid-‐‑19-‐‑lockdown/> accessed 11 May 2020.
3
and extreme social distancing protocols tend to affect the mental health of individuals
and may be a contributing factor to the violence.7 The victims of domestic violence are
unable to obtain justice since both public and private means of transportation are
prohibited unless one has a special car sticker from the Ministry of Works and
Transport.8 The ban on transportation means that even if a litigant has a matter which
the courts are allowed to hear in this period, he or she may not be able to attend, if they
These concerns raise questions about whether justice is being “done to all irrespective of
their social or economic status”.9 But they also present opportunities for the justice
“Judicial power is derived from the people and shall be exercised by the courts
established under this Constitution in the name of the people and in conformity
with law and with the values, norms and aspirations of the people.”
Currently, the courts of judicature are the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the
High Court and subordinate courts created by Parliament.10 Currently, the only active
subordinate courts in operation are the Military Courts (Court Martial) created under
the UPDF Act11 and the Magistrates Courts created under the Magistrates Courts Act.12
7 Jamie Bartosch, 'ʹViolence Linked To Isolation And Chronic Health Problems -‐‑ Uchicago Medicine'ʹ
(University of Chicago Medicine, 2019) <https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/community-‐‑
articles/violence-‐‑linked-‐‑to-‐‑social-‐‑isolation-‐‑hypervigilance-‐‑and-‐‑chronic-‐‑health-‐‑problems> accessed 12 May
2020.
8 Supra n1
11 2005
4
It is however the Magistrates Courts which bear the load of the dispute resolution since
military courts are primarily criminal courts whose jurisdiction is limited to the few
offences of the UPDF Act. As already discussed, Magistrates Courts are not fully
operational because of the COVID19 pandemic. The online option is also limited to
courts in Kampala. Yet even in a pandemic, there is need to dispense justice.
It is for this reason that the Government should fully re-‐‑operationalise the Local
Council Courts. The courts are established in a hierarchical manner of the Local Council
the Act.14 They have both civil and criminal jurisdiction to handle matters arising from
their geographical areas of authority.15 They are presided over by the elected LC official
at the specific level. Because they are considered as a form of grassroots justice, they are
only obliged to follow the fundamental and inalienable principles of law.16 But they are
not to be bogged down in formal rules of procedure.
Because LC courts handle disputes amongst residents, they tend to uphold the
fundamental of ensuring that the parties are reconciled.17 LC Courts are generally not
adversarial in nature and as such focus on obtaining a resolution for both parties. LC
courts are also easily accessible at the grassroots level since their geographical
jurisdiction is limited to specific localities. Unlike for example the Magistrate’s Court
which sometimes serves an entire district, the LC Courts are very many and well spread
13 S.3 Local Council Courts Act states that “There is established a local council court at every village,
parish, town, division and sub-‐‑county level.”
14 Part III of the Local Council Courts Act 2006
15 S.9 of the Local Council Courts Act provides that “…the jurisdiction of a local council court shall extend
only to causes and matters arising within the territorial area of the council for which the court is
established and to causes and matters arising elsewhere if the defendant or accused is ordinarily resident
within that area.”
16 Such as the non-‐‑derogable right to a fair hearing under Article 28 and 44 of the Constitution
17 S.13 Local Council Courts Act provides that the Local Council Court may order reconciliation,
5
across the nation. The accessibility of courts is not only for the litigants but witnesses as
well. Operationalising LC Courts would also help to reduce on case backlog within the
formal judicial system since they have jurisdiction to handle civil cases of debts,
contracts, assault, battery, conversion, damage to property, trespass.18 They also have
jurisdiction to handle cases governed by customary law19, causes and matters arising
out of infringement of bye-‐‑laws and Ordinances duly made under the Local
Governments Act20, matters specified under the Children Act21, matters relating to
land22.
Conclusion
Over 90% of Ugandan people experience one or more serious justice need(s) that are
difficult to resolve. Majority of Ugandan seek information and advice from their social
network and the local council courts. Formal legal sources are used as well but to a less
extent.23 9 out of 10 Ugandan citizens who needed access to justice in the recent past
from both formal and informal systems have had their justice needs unmet because of a
myriad of factors. 24 In regards to the formal justice system, a third of the people in the
If there is any lesson to be learned from this pandemic, especially for Uganda, it is that
6
have been effective in the distribution of food to the vulnerable poor within the
Kampala Metropolitan Area. Because they are residents of their own localities, they
know who is in urgent need of food. The National Taskforce, no matter how well
intentioned it is, would not have been able to effectively execute the distribution of food
the formal security structures about new entrants to their areas, who may be potential
carriers of the Corona Virus. They have been able to execute these duties smoothly and
alongside their other day to day executive tasks. There is no reason as to why they
should be retooled and placed at the frontlines of grassroots justice. Their structures are
already in existence and they do not even need permanent buildings to operate.26
It is therefore recommended that the Justice Law and Order Sector Leadership, together
with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Local Government should
The writer is Magistrate Grade one, Courts of Judicature Uganda / Email: [email protected]
26
S.8(1)
of
the
Local
Council
Act
provides
that
“A
local
council
court
may
be
held
at
a
designated
place
within
the
limits
of
its
jurisdiction
for
the
convenient
and
speedy
discharge
of
its
business.”
7