Executive Meeting between Honourable Chief Justice Bart Katureebe and LASPNET

07 August 2015 -

Written by Laspnet

On the 7th of August 2015 LASPNET Board of Director held breakfast meeting with Chief Justice of Uganda Hon Bert Katureebe. The meeting took place at the High court building -Kampala and it lasted for about 2 hours. The objective of the meeting was to congratulate his Lordship upon elevation to the office of the Chief Justice and to use the opportunity to share experiences and lessons of the Legal service provision in Uganda and to call upon the leadership of the Justice Law and Order Sector to fast track enactment of Legal aid policy and law.

Also in attendance was the head of Programmes Ms.Helen Mealins, Mr.Musa Modoi the JLOS Technical Advisor Human Rights and Accountability representing the Senior Technical Advisor, as well as LASPNET members from Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Legal Aid Project of the Uganda Law Society and FIDA Uganda.

Through the Chairperson Mr. Samuel Herbert Nsubuga, the Hon Chief Justice was briefed about the network, its membership and mandate. The Chairperson in his remarks mentioned the strides made by the Justice sector in providing for an enabling environment and responsible legal system for the indigent and vulnerable to access justice. Such efforts include having in place a strategic plan III 2012/13 – 2016/17 which prioritizes improved access to justice for the poor; reforms that include small claims procedure; mediation rules, sentencing guidelines; plea bargain to mention but a few. In the same vain he pointed out the systemic challenges that hinder meaningful access to justice, such as delayed hearings of cases, un necessary adjournment, congestion in prison, corruption tendencies , limited coverage of legal services. Lack of facilities for the vulnerable such as children and the disabled, and many more. In conclusion the remarks pointed out that it is important for the leadership to fast track the legal aid policy and law to make justice available, affordable accessible and institutions accountable.

The Head of Programmes DGF Ms. Hellen retaliated the remarks made by the chairperson, and also noted that their scope of support also targeted human rights empowerment and prevention of human rights abuses and excesses. All this is intended to create an enabling environment, for citizens to demand for their rights and ensure rule of law, good governance and accountability. She emphasized the need to have the legal aid policy and law in place so as to make services more available in terms of geographical coverage and quality service provision especially that even with the input from the donors, there is more demand for the services, hence the need to develop long term financing options for the legal aid sector led by government.

The Members present reacted by sharing experiences and dimensions related to the paradox of justice as being not easily available and affordable for the poor and vulnerable. Among the issues raised was limited geographical coverage citing Karamoja which has 7 districts but with no presence of legal aid services, delay in approval of legal aid clinics by the Uganda Law Council, interference in political related cases, limited investment in the right to legal aid, the fact that judiciary needs are not given attention with a low budget and planning priority, delay in having the legal aid policy-promises made year in year out without progress, failure of the judicial officers to appreciate alternatives option like community service, systemic corruption. The also noted that the aspect of the support staff being recruited by public service and the judicial officers recruited by judicial service commission limits the supervision role of the judiciary leading to vices like corruption with impunity.

The representative of the JLOS secretariat Mr. Musa Modoi confirmed the partnership related to issues of access to justice. JLOS together with LAPS and LASPNET in particular contributing to the legal aid policy development which has been of mutual benefit. He mentioned that LASPS practically participate in the sector through working groups. He said the provision of access to justice for all is of utmost importance to JLOS as evidenced in the Strategic investment Plan III which makes access to justice a priority area and adoption of legal policy and law as a key output. He informed the meeting that this process is still at cabinet level with changing priorities but added that the expectations remain high despite the context of operation. He advised that all actors should cease the opportunity so as to realize the fruits of the input by the Development Partner DGF which started as DANIDA HUGGO that has immensely contributed to this process of enactment of the legal aid policy, with participation and advocacy by the non-state Actors. He cited the forth coming 3rd National Legal Aid conference on 10th August 2015 where his Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda is expected to be the Chief Guest as one such opportunity, where we need to emphasize that the policy is dealing with the most vulnerable but who also play a critical role in defining the future of this country. Adding that if we think justice is expensive then probably we have to test anarchy. The bottom line therefore remain that as we continue to work together and pushing for the cause of justice , we need to pay attention to the leakages, delays all of which affect the image of justice delivery.

The Chief Justice was happy with the interaction. In his remarks he pointed out a number of issues that requires joint efforts, such as the fact that as the institution responsible to administer justice they are under resourced in terms of human and financial. He also mentioned that their image is tainted by a segment of some of his colleagues who don’t provide expeditious justice citing a case of bail application with a ruling taking over one year hence contributing to perceived corruption. The delay in enactment of the Administration of Justice Act which would go a long way to minimize delays, corruption has been hampered by changing priorities failing to make the judiciary a more responsive institution to the needs of justice especially for the needy and vulnerable. He then called upon the CSOs to be more proactive in advocating for issues related to administration of justice so that the voice is not only internal but given an external outlook and interest.

To the LASPs, His Lordship has appealed for self-regulation of especially pro-bono lawyers to ensure that they provide quality services rather than providing services half- hazard. He said as lawyers and CSO involved in access to justice we should emphasize self-regulation even before inspection of our chamber by Uganda Law Council and ensure that the chambers are to the required standards. His view is that the best should be provided out of pro-bono

He has advised that the CSO should widen the scope of rights education and have a massive and deliberate effort to educate the public on their rights and the existing court systems to enable them easily access justice without being manipulated.

On improvement of administration of justice the honorable chief justice has emphatically added and said “the efforts of all partners should be geared at making the government and key policy and decision makers understand that administration of justice and rule of law are not gifts but a right!” Our ideal situation should be to see a less donor dependency by ensuring adequate funding and facilitation of institution of justice so that the biggest population of Uganda is better served. He cited an example of the fact that JLOS is a critical actor in ensuring that the government is not duped into having brief case investors, hence strengthening the sector will go a long way in checking those lapses.

In his conclusion the Hon Chief justice pledged availability and willingness to continue working with Non-state actors especially on issues of common interest such as the administration of justice and making access to justice a reality for all. The Legal Aid service provider’s network is grateful to the opportunity provided by the Hon Chief Justice and is looking forward to a continued and mutual benefit that will enhance access to justice in-order to foster sustainable development.