Hon. Justice Dr Bamwine (3rd from R) with the court users at civil division after the meeting
KAMPALA:The Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr Yorokamu Bamwine, on Tuesday June 25, 2019 presided over a court users meeting at the Civil Division in Kampala.
The courtroom was filled to capacity with Judges; Hon. Justice Dr. Andrew Bashaija;Hon. Lady Justice Lydia Mugambe and Hon. Justice Musa Ssekana in attendance.
According to the Division's Deputy Registrar, HW Sarah Langa, such meetings promote accountability and improve the performance by courts and all actors within the justice chain.
The Principal Judge commended the Court for continually holding such meetings where causes of case backlog, prevention, and the best practices of its elimination were discussed as a family. He urged the court users to really embrace Mediation because of its immense advantages.
He called upon the Uganda Law Society to assist the Judiciary in calling for such interactions.
The Head of the Division, Hon. Justice Dr. Bashaija, said the Division's work load as at June 24 stood at 4,235 cases while the backlog was 1,389 cases.
In his brief to the Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr Bashaija pointed out that Mediation at the Court has not been embraced by parties. "...Since October 2017 to date, 592 Mediation cases have failed while 80 were settled"adding that many people have not understood its benefits and therefore the need to continually sensitize the public on Mediation.
He said if court users embraced the initiative, it would reduce case backlog in the courts.
Interms of innovations to improve access to justice, the Head of Division said they have embraced e-submission, set up a breastfeeding room and created a WhatsApp forum for advocates to improve communication.
Inspite of the innovations, it was pointed out that the Civil Division still had some challenges such as poor time management, huge workload for Judges, late filing,filing suits without Mediation summaries among others.
The Principal Judge urged the Judicial Officers need to embrace the habit of starting a case and finishing it instead of accumulating several partially heard matters.
The advocates thanked the Principal Judge and the Civil Division for such opportunities to interact with them and hear out their grievances.
They appealed that such practices should continue.
Posted 25th, June 2019
