Access to Justice

Access to Justice (16)

DOWNLOAD

This HiiL report follows the outcomes of nation-wide justice needs and satisfaction survey that HiiL conducted in Uganda in 2016. That report showed that justice problems relating to the family rank constitute the most prevalent justice problem for Ugandans. More than 1 million serious family justice problems occur in Uganda every year: most of them are domestic violence and separation related. As in other countries, our survey shows high impact of family problems on people’s lives. Impact on women is more severe than impact on men.

The Family Justice report contains a deeper understanding of the family-related problems that Ugandans face. This includes the processes people follow to solve these problems and the outcomes that they obtain when attempting to get a solution. It sets out the foundation for an agenda for innovation that builds on the needs of users of family justice processes.

Instead of proposing new legislation or financing additional services, the report outlines terms of reference and user stories: what should the family justice process achieve for women, men, girls and boys? What do justice providers from the informal or formal sector need, in order to help solve family problems more effectively?

 

DOWNLOAD REPORT

 

The Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) has been at the forefront of reforming Uganda’s justice system since its inception in 1999. Nineteen years on, the achievements, milestones and success stories are visible, challenges notwithstanding. From reforms in commercial justice to the good legislative and policy environment, unprecedented infrastructure development (construction of numerous justice centres across the country) to award-winning innovations and initiatives (small claims procedures, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, sentencing guidelines, plea bargaining, etc,) – the sector is on course in its bid to create a pro-people justice system in Uganda.

It is, however, important to further examine how “pro-people” the workings of the sector are. Pro-people in this context is that JLOS has over the years strived to champion the cause of the vulnerable, the poor and generally those who are disadvantaged in different ways – financially, socially and even physically.

 

READ MORE

 

NOTE: This article was originally published in the Daily Monitor on 17th January 2019.

 

By Edgar Kuhimbisa / Published: January 17, 2019 

Page 2 of 2