(L-G) Hon. Lady Justice Wolayo, Hon. Lady Justice Musoke, Hon. Lady Justice Dr Nabisinde and Hon. Lady Justice Kazarwe at the Masaka open day
MASAKA: Hundreds of Court Users turned up at Masaka High Court on June 25, 2019 to take part in a Court Open Day held in partnership with National Association of Women Judges in Uganda(NAWJU). The theme for the day was: "Equality in the Administration of Family Justice" and was presided over by High Court Judge and NAWJU President, Hon. Lady Justice Henrietta Wolayo.
Hon. Lady Justice Wolayo urged members of the public to always report complaints of malpractice of justice to relevant authorities instead of sitting back with them. This was in response to concerns raised by court users on corruption tendencies especially in the Magistrates' courts.
"We are disappointed that some Judicial Officers take bribes from court users,but don’t suffer in silence, you can reach the Inspectorate of Courts, Judicial Service Commission or even the Inspectorate of Government and your concerns will be addressed," she said.
She appealed to members of the public to become ambassadors of change in their communities and ensure that Sexual and Gender Based Violence is minimized.
The guest speaker for the day, Hon. Lady Justice Eva Luswata, the Jinja High Court Senior Resident Judge, and also vice president of NAWJU called upon the Ministry of Education and Sports to incorporate human rights studies in primary education curriculum.
She also decried the high violation of human rights in communities adding that it was important to impress children in primary schools the need to preserve and conserve human rights for a violence free society.
Hon. Lady Justice Luswata added, "There is a misconception that you can only make money by being corrupt and how can we end this practice when we don't teach pupils in schools that corruption is bad?"
She urged the court users to embrace access to justice initiatives such as Mediation to settle disputes. "If we take advantage of the initiatives in place such as Mediation, we shall help to solve the case of case backlog in courts,"she said.
The Officer in Charge Masaka Central Prison SP Deogratius Ogwapat, appreciated NAWJU's efforts to sensitize the public on human rights and equally appealed for expedited hearings of inmates on remand so that accused persons can access justice.
More than half of the 1,679 inmates at Masaka Central Prison are on remand.
", and notable among the participants were Court of Appeal Justice, Hon. Lady Justice Elizabeth Musoke, Judges of the High Court, Hon. Lady Justice Eva Luswata, Hon. Lady Justice Olive Kazaarwe and host Judge Hon. Lady Justice Dr. Winfred Nabisinde. The High Court Assistant Registrar HW Sempala Dorothy Lwanga, coordinated the event.
It was noted that Human Rights Studies should be incorporated In Primary Education
Curriculum.
Masaka resident Judge Hon. Lady Justice Dr Winfred Nabisinde said the Court Open Day was aimed at engaging the public about family justice because many cases in courts are related to family conflicts. She said most cases in communities result from fights among family members due to property or gender based violence. Hon. Lady Justice Dr Nabisinde said it was important for the public to be enlightened on the different remedies available at their disposal within the confines of the law.
Posted 27th, June 2019
