The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
The Hoima Regional Police Commander, SSP Apollo Kateba, told The Independent, that the Justice Centres Baraza’s – many of which focus on domestic related crime – have helped reduce it.
“Justice centres has done a commendable job since most of the small issues are settled out of court and some even don’t reach police,” Kateba said.
The Hoima Prison Commandant, Paddy Opio, said the Justice Centres help in decongesting the prison.
“They have helped in arbitrating cases where litigants are given sentences like community service which they do while coming from their homes,” he said.
In Lira magisterial area, intervention by the Justice Centres has ensured that case backlog was as low as 30 cases as at April 14, 2016.
Lira Resident Judge Winfred Nabisere was full of praise: “Justice Centres have blended well with the regional traditional custom of arbitrating cases out of court.
“Coupled with the sensitisations carried out by the Justice Centres, people in this area are among those who are highly knowledgeable about their rights and what case to take to which court. Justice Centres have really eased our work in this region,” she said.
But Justice Centres face challenges; including lack of staff. Rita Asiimwe is the Justice Centre manager for the entire eastern region; from Jinja to Tororo, and the issues tackled can be unique to each district.
Jinja has child neglect as a major issue. But in Tororo, land and bride price wrangles are the most serious issues. She attributed them to lack of education and rigid customary norms and wills.
“They favour boys more than girls,” she said. She said legal rights and obligations are not well-known and needs to be introduced to children in schools.
For Samuel Munobe, the Chief Magistrate at Masaka Court, Justice Centres resolve a major bottleneck in Uganda’s criminal justice system; the issue of cost of litigation.
“The bulk of our litigating public is not well to do but they find themselves in the unfortunate situation of interacting with court,” he told The Independent, “We are privileged to have the services of Justice centres without whom we would have had challenges.”
He explained that, by law, there are cases that require legal representation for litigants or, in technical terms; a state brief to proceed.
“Because the rates of the commercial lawyers are out of reach of the litigating public, our friends the Justice Centres come in to bridge the gap.
“Justice centres help us quite a lot because we refer some of the civil cases to them for mediation and they get to us on criminal side as state brief council. Even when they are representing litigants as private lawyers, we treat them like any other lawyer,” he said.
He added: “The most important thing is that services by justice centres are really required and my proposal, one that I wish the public would get, is that Justice Centres should have outlets in every chief magisterial area.”
Justice Keitirima of the Masaka High Court recalls the time before Justice Centres were set up.
“There was a general apathy among the population,” he told The Independent, “Many people could not afford to access these institutions and there was a bit of fear that it was a waste of time especially for the poor.
“In other words you had a population that could sit on their rights, their rights could be violated but still have no morale to approach the institutions that would be there to help them. That is what the Justice Centers have come in to assist on.”
According to Keitirima, the law says everybody is equal before the law and, since the state has not provided a mechanism for ensuring that, the Justice Centres, address that problem.
“I can assure you their intervention has been very timely in giving the law a human face,” he said, “People are yarning for justice and once there is an avenue which is affordable, which they think is friendlier and more responsive, they will come out.”
