The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Judiciary has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Kingdom government for the design and pilot of an 18 months automation project aimed at consolidating Uganda’s efforts in fighting corruption.
The British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) through Strengthening Uganda’s Anti-Corruption Response (SUGAR) project will provide £290,000 (about Shs1.5b) to automate the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The funds will mainly be used for the installation of an Electronic Court Case Management Information System to be used within the judiciary.
The system will record all court case information (Online) from the time a plaintiff files a civil case on-line; or in criminal matters, from the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) through sentence and execution; efficiently sharing that information among all relevant Parties in the case including the Public.
Chief Justice Bart M. Katureebe and the Secretary to Judiciary Kagole Expedito Kivumbi, signed the MoU on behalf of the Judiciary on February 21 while the British High Commissioner to Uganda, Peter West, signed on behalf of Britain. The event was witnessed by officials from the British High Commission in Uganda, DFID and SUGAR.
On his part, West said it was important to give people confidence in systems. He said the provision of the money would help Judiciary do its job more efficiently.
He congratulated the Judiciary on its performance despite the strain of the number of judicial officers and limited financing.
Katureebe thanked the British government for their response to the Judiciary in the fight against corruption.He said, “fighting corruption in the Judiciary and improving its image is something that cannot be done in an instant but it will be eventually reached.”
He added that the intervention and that of the government of Uganda that will see the court processes automated will ensure transparency for all parties involved and do away with systematic corruption.
The Judiciary is in advance development of an Electronic Court Case Management Information System that will serve as an online single point of entry for all parties involved in managing court cases.
Strengthening Uganda’s Anti-Corruption Response Technical Advisory Facility (SUGAR TAF) and the Judiciary have worked jointly since May 2, 2015 and have collectively decided to implement a prioritized set of interventions including the mapping of the information needs of the Electronic case administration system within the Judiciary; and support the development and launch of the pilot electronic case administration system.
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source Judiciary Uganda & UK in Uganda
