Parliament approves increase of High Court judges to 151

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament upped the number of High Court judges from the current 83 to 151, after agreeing with Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Hon. Norbert Mao on the need for higher numbers on the bench to ease case backlogs.

This followed the approval of a motion seeking to increase the number of judges of the High Court from the current 83 to 151 during the plenary sitting of Tuesday, 04 July 2023 chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa.

In defence of his motion, Mao said with the rise in criminality and civil disputes, there is a need to have an expanded High Court.

“There is an increase in population and crime rate leading to high demand for judiciary services and court use; acute case backlog, since the High Court has unlimited original jurisdiction in all matters and such appellate and other jurisdiction as may be conferred on it by the Constitution or the Judicature Act,” he said

MPs unanimously supported the motion, with Hon. Abdallah Kiwanuka (NUP, Mukono North) asking the government to bring an amendment to the Judicature Act to increase the financial jurisdiction of magistrate courts, currently limited to matters of Shs50m value, which he said overburdens the High Court with small claims.