The Steering Committee is the body responsible for policy formulation, coordination, fundraising, external accountability, and quality assurance of the Access to Justice (JLOS) sub-programme results to the people of Uganda. The Committee consists of the following officials from JLOS institutions:
The Steering Committee may co-opt any institution(s), individuals, Development Partners, or Non-State Actors as deemed necessary to their meetings.
Mr. Francis Atoke, the Solicitor General is the current Chairperson of the Access to Justice Steering Committee.
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This is the Committee comprised of all heads of institutions, who are ultimately accountable for the delivery of JLOS services in the country and is responsible for political leadership and guidance to the Sector. It is responsible for the articulation of the JLOS Vision and Sector development policy. The Leadership Committee is comprised of the following officials:
The Leadership Committee may co-opt any institution(s), individuals, Development Partners, or Non-State Actors as deemed necessary to their meetings. The Leadership Committee may create Ad hoc or Standing committees to support its work. The Leadership Committee will determine its rules of procedure. The Leadership Committee meets a minimum of two times a year.
Hon. Nobert Mao, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs is the current chairperson of the Access to Justice Leadership Committee.
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Special Edition on SGBV (Published: June 2023)
Special Edition on Transitional Justice (Published: December 2020)
Special Edition on the JLOS Evolution (Published: June 2019)
Special Edition on SIP III (Published: December 2017)
Special edition on Civil and Business Registration (Published: 2012)
Special Edition on Public Order Management (Published: 2011)
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For more information on the JLOS Bulletin, email the Editor on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Assessment of JLOS Performance delivered by Mr. Nicolas Gonze on behalf of the JLOS Development Partners Group (DPG).
General Comments
I now turn to the highlights of our assessment of the performance during the period under review.
My Lord, under Outcome 1 on “People centred service delivery system strengthened”.
Overall, the assessment of Development Partners of Outcome 1 is “Satisfactory”.
My Lord, regarding Outcome 2 “JLOS Business Processes Reformed and Strengthened”
In view of the detailed comments above, the assessment of the performance under Outcome 2 is “Satisfactory”.
My Lord, regarding Outcome 3 on “Compliance with the Uganda Bill of Rights Strengthened”
In light of these comments, the overall assessment of Development Partners of Outcome 3 was that limited progress was achieved.
Thank you for your kind attention.
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His Lordship the Honourable Chief Justice
Honourable Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Honourable Minister of Internal Affairs
Honourable Minister of Local Government
Honourable Attorney General
Honourable Minister of State for Internal Affairs
Honourable Justices and Judges of the Courts of Judicature
Director of Public Prosecutions
Excellencies Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Missions present
Honourable Members of Parliament
Chairpersons of Constitutional Commissions
Solicitor General
Permanent Secretary – Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Permanent Secretaries of Ministries present and Secretaries of Commissions present
Inspector General of Police
Commissioner General of Prisons
Representatives of Development Partners
Representatives of Civil Society
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am honoured to deliver these remarks on behalf of the Access to Justice Development Partners Group.
My Lord, today’s review is yet another valuable opportunity for us to jointly reflect on the performance of the Access to Justice Sub-programme in its mission to empower people, build trust and uphold rights.
When I took up my tour of duty recently, I was briefed on the good collaboration between the Access to Justice Development Partners Group and the Government, and its institutions over the years. Therefore, I convey our sincere gratefulness for the opportunity afforded to us to once again engage constructively.
My Lord, there were several significant achievements registered during the period under review and I now would like to highlight a few.
Building on progress in past years, there is now a one-stop frontline service point in 83% of the districts which is contributing to increased access to justice and satisfaction by the population.
In terms of infrastructure, the development partners would also like to laud the start of the construction of the JLOS house which will be a landmark building in Kampala, and which will lead to closer collaboration amongst the Access to Justice Sub-programme actors and ultimately improved service delivery to citizens.
We also positively note an increased percentage in case disposal rates, underpinned by disposal of a substantial number of cases especially in lower courts, and in the Anti-Corruption Court Division. Complementing these achievements was high conviction rates that demonstrated increased efficiency and competences at various phases of the criminal justice chain.
In addition, my Lord, we note the increased strengthening of business registries and the accelerated pace of automation of business processes within the Access to Justice Sub-programme institutions. The ability of the different systems to ‘speak’ and connect to each other will result in improved efficiency in the delivery of justice, law and order services thereby building more trust and confidence of users.
The report also highlights a significant drop in crime rates. We hope that this positive trend will continue.
I would like to turn now to some areas which deserve further discussions and efforts.
Although there are initiatives, the absence of a nationally funded legal aid scheme remains a significant impediment to access to justice, in particular for the poor and vulnerable persons. With the end of the Democratic Governance Facility that was providing legal aid to some 90,000 Ugandans, we would like to reiterate our previous calls for a nationally funded legal aid scheme to support access to justice and promote the right to a fair hearing enshrined in the Constitution.
As development partners, we would like to express our continued commitment to this important aspect of access to justice. In this regard, we would also like to stress the importance of the National Legal Aid Bill which we hope will be enacted soon.
My Lord, the annual report reveals that suspects spend a considerable period of time on remand, and that congestion in prisons and remand homes is acute – a situation that has been worsening in successive years. A concerted action and reforms are needed to address these challenges.
My Lord, distinguished guests, case backlog remains a significant issue. Although some gains are noted, the problem persists thereby eroding trust and impeding access to justice, law and order services. In particular, the Development Partners would like to renew their call for an expeditious disposal of backlogged cases, in particular a speedy trial of cases of sexual and gender-based violence and juvenile cases.
My Lord, I would like to make some observations on Outcome 3 which provides account of interventions undertaken to strengthen compliance with the bill of rights and tackle corruption within the Sub-programme institutions.
Progress on Outcome 3 has historically been the most mixed and this is the same for the period under review.
My Lord, as stated in the report, and I quote “Torture consistently remains the most reported human rights violation over the years, although with a declining numerical count compared to the baseline year 2016/17”[1]. The second most reported violation is denial of personal liberty. In this regard, we would like to call for perpetrators of human rights violations including those related to the November 2020 events to be held to account and ensure justice for victims. In addition, we would like to emphasise the urgency for finalisation and implementation of the National Action Plan on Human Rights, a process that in our view, has stalled.
We also note with concern reports about a resurgence of irregular arrests. We hope that implementation of the recent declaration of Honourable Minister of Internal Affairs to end arrests before investigations are complete will curb violations of the rights of suspects.
My Lord, and as I concluded, we would like to reiterate that the effective and close collaboration between the Access to Justice Sub-programme and the Administration of Justice Programme is essential. The participation of the leadership of both programmes in this review show your commitment to this collaboration.
With these remarks, I wish you fruitful deliberations during the course of the review.
Thank you for your kind attention!
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Speech delivered at the 27th Annual JLOS Review on 6th December 2022 at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala
[1] Access to Justice Sub-programme Annual Report 2021/2022, P.110
The Honourable Chief Justice of Uganda
Honourable Ministers
The Honourable Principal Judge
My Lords, Justices, and Judges of the Courts of Judicature
The Head of the European Union Delegation in Uganda and Chairperson of the Access to Justice Sub-Programme Development Partners’ Group
Your Excellencies, Heads of Diplomatic Missions to Uganda
Honourable Members of Parliament
Heads of Access to Justice Institutions
Members of the Steering and Technical Committees
Members of the District Chain Linked Committees
Distinguished invited guests in your respective capacities
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is my honour and privilege to welcome you all to this 27th edition of the Annual Access to Justice, Government of Uganda - Development Partners’ Review.
This year’s review is being held against a backdrop of a challenging year. The aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic has globally been a challenging phenomenon – socially, economically, and politically. More specifically, the pandemic created unprecedented demands on the access to justice community but also tested the resilience and resolve of our coordination and collaborative model. I’m proud to note that in the face of such challenges, our decades-old coordination structures and mechanisms remained firm and intact.
Our review today is being held under the theme: “Empowering the People, Building Trust, Upholding Rights”. This theme is aligned to the National Vision 2040 that seeks to consolidate the principles of good governance including constitutional democracy, protection of human rights, the rule of law, Government effectiveness and citizen’s participation in development processes and peace and security among others. Indeed, Access to Justice Sub-Programme initiatives have been directed towards these results and the performance report that we will discuss today, will highlight the achievements made so far and the challenges ahead.
The evolving environment we operate is dynamic and there are high expectations from the public from access to justice service providers and duty bearers
The evolving environment we operate is dynamic and there are high expectations from the public from access to justice service providers and duty bearers. Cognizant of the fact that access to justice is a core pillar of our nation’s social economic transformation, we during the reporting year (2021/22) invested effort and resources in deconcentrating JLOS service delivery by reducing the distance people traverse in search of justice services; simplifying and streamlining business processes; improving customer experience and “justice journeys” at JLOS service points; empowering duty bearers in our institutions; tackling case management bottlenecks; and leveraging information and communication technologies (ICTs) to create new service delivery realities of efficiency and effectiveness.
However, challenges still abound. We need to find solutions to the ever-growing prison congestion; staffing gaps in frontline access to justice institutions; aspects of human rights violations; and the scarce financial resources allocated to the sub-programme – just to mention a few.
It's my hope that today, we shall have a meaningful and engaging discussion on the broad spectrum of all these issues that have direct and indirect impact on access to justice service delivery in our country.
I wish to welcome our friends from other programmes to this review. We are partners and comrades in this cause, and we look forward to renewed and strengthened inter-programme partnerships going forward.
I wish to welcome and thank our Development Partners for their unrelenting support over the years. We sincerely appreciate your unwavering commitment to the access to justice sub-programme going back twenty (20) years from the formative years of the Sector-wide approach.
Once again, thank you all for honouring our invitation and I look forward to your active participation in this Review.
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Speech delivered at the 27th Annual JLOS Review on 6th December 2022 at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala
The Access to Justice Sub-Programme on Tuesday 6th December 2022 held the 27th edition of its performance review for the FY 2021/ 2022 at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala. This event was organized by the Governance and Security Programme Secretariat and had the participation of stakeholders from all Access to Justice (JLOS) member institutions, the Development Partner's Group (DPG), the public, civil society, and the media. A key component of this event (and a major topic of discussion) was the presentation and discussion of the Access to Justice Annual report for FY 2021 / 2022.
Various stakeholders have recognised the unique effort that a civil society organization Defend Defenders is applying in the protection and promotion of human rights. During the opening of its new office premises at Lotis Towers on Mackinnon Road, Nakasero – Kampala, several Diplomats and human rights defenders, including the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) lauded them for specializing in defending people and organizations that face risks in defending human rights.
In his speech delivered on behalf of the UHRC Chairperson Mariam Wangadya, member of the Commission Hon. Crispin Kaheru particularly recognised Defend Defenders and its Executive Director Mr. Hassan Shire for entering into partnership with the National Human Rights Institution to strengthen its human rights defenders’ desk.
“We are proud that under the leadership of ED. Hassan Shire, Defend Defenders has made an indelible mark on the national, regional and international scene as the go-to-entity for protection and support of human rights defenders, for championing advocacy, engagement and strengthening collective effort in defending human rights".
“We are proud that under the leadership of ED. Hassan Shire, Defend Defenders has made an indelible mark on the national, regional and international scene as the go-to-entity for protection and support of human rights defenders, for championing advocacy, engagement and strengthening collective effort in defending human rights,” he noted.
Hon. Kaheru revealed that the UHRC’s Defenders’ desk is a free space through which any controversies and suspicions that may arise between human rights defenders and government can be settled.
He noted that there is a need for more human rights defenders to serve as advocates, watchdogs and voices for those who may not have the means or opportunity to speak out in the ongoing and emerging challenges like global health crises, migration issues, environmental concerns, and increasing social injustices.
The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has concluded a series of training for District Planners and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) across the Country in the Human Rights-based Approach (HRBA). While officiating at the last training on Friday (August 11, 2023) the UHRC Chairperson Hon. Mariam Wangadya said the HRBA strives to ensure that every person in Uganda, regardless of race, beliefs, social, economic and political status effectively enjoys his/her rights and fulfils his/her duties and responsibilities. She said HRBA is a key strategy through which sustainable development can be progressively realised.
“The enjoyment of human rights does foster development when people are placed at the centre and have participated in development processes; they not only own it but also value and sustain it."
“The enjoyment of human rights does foster development when people are placed at the centre and have participated in development processes; they not only own it but also value and sustain it. The HRBA requires that development initiatives focus on the people who should then be a central consideration in all development processes; right from conception and planning; resource allocation; programming; to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Needless to say, denial of rights impacts negatively on development. It is therefore important for every rights holder and duty bearer to appreciate that development is not charity but an obligation to fulfil human rights,” she said.
She revealed that for many years, the Commission has spearheaded the campaign for HRBA, which in simple terms means integrating human rights in all government actions.
Published: 14th August 2023
The Resident Judge Luwero High Court Circuit, Hon. Lady Justice Henrietta Wolayo, on Wednesday September 6, 2023 started a Sexual Gender Based Violence Session in Nakasongola where 50 cases are going to be handled. The cases which are going to be handled in one month consist of 39 Defilement Cases, four Murder and Seven Rape cases.
The session began with the Judge inspecting a guard of honour mounted by officers of the Uganda police.
This was followed by a stakeholders meeting with the justice actors who included civic and political leaders, state attorneys, heads of police and prisons from Nakasongola, among others.
Hon. Lady Justice Wolayo called for the cooperation of all the stakeholders and urged the civic and political leaders to sensitize communities to desist from domestic violence, which is the main cause of these crimes.
Published: 6th September 2023
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