THIS WEEK: Judges conference focus on extending justice to the disadvantaged

THIS WEEK: Judges conference focus on extending justice to the disadvantaged

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Judges on Jan.22 embarked on a week-long conference to brain storm on how to improve Uganda’s justice system.

Held at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Paul Gadenya the registrar of courts said that the gist of the conference was to look at ways how justice can extended to disadvantaged Ugandans who cannot afford for legal fees.

Held under the theme, an inclusive judiciary for sustainable development, Gadenya said before the conference that they would explore informal justice mechanisms in addition to exploring how they can streamline administration of cases to make courts accessible to all.

This judges’ conference comes amidst mounting criticisms regarding the independence of the judiciary and the fact that the entity is not self- accounting.

Recently the lawyers umbrella – Uganda Law Society petitioned court over failure to pass the judiciary administration bill and government actions that impend the judiciary from attaining the self -accounting status. T

he lawyers maintained that government has continuously violated these provisions as the legislature and the executive have failed to take action or enact appropriate laws that would enable the arm of government to operate independently. He also expressed concern that the judiciary operates with a small budget that doesn’t allow it dispense justice in a timely manner.