This policy brief results from an eight-year partnership between The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) and the Access to Justice (JLOS) Sub-programme, aimed at driving people-centred justice in Uganda through data and innovation. It aims to inform justice leaders, development partners, legal aid providers, justice innovators, and civil society organisations about the justice needs of Ugandans.

Based on the 2023 Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) survey, which gathered insights from 6,300 randomly selected Ugandans, this brief highlights prevalent legal issues among Ugandans, the impact those problems have in people’s daily lives, and the resolution strategies that people apply to their problems. The JNS survey follows the OECD's legal needs survey guidelines, emphasising people-centred justice — a methodology HiiL has implemented in 19 countries.

The findings were released in March 2024 at the data report launch event and a 'Justice Leaders’ Forum,' facilitating discussions among justice leaders and providers. This survey builds on previous studies conducted between 2016 and 2020, which influenced sectoral changes in Uganda's justice policies, including the Judiciary’s Alternative Justice System (AJS) strategy, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) policy, and the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF).

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KAMPALA - The Court of Appeal Justices Hellen Obura, Muzamiru M. Kibeedi, and Moses K. Kazibwe have concluded the hearing and disposal of criminal appeals at Masaka High Court. The Honourable Deputy Chief Justice, Richard Buteera, flagged off the session at an opening ceremony on 15th July 2024 with a clarion call to the actors involved in the criminal session, emphasizing the crucial role of recent precedents from the court in avoiding unnecessary delays in matters with settled jurisprudence.  Twenty-eight (28) Appeals were listed for hearing.

The Appeal Justices demonstrated their commitment to swift justice by delivering instant judgments in 24 of the 28 appeals listed, allowing all parties to leave the court with their signed judgments. This, along with the dismissal of four other appeals, resulted in a 100% case disposal in the session.

Two of the dismissed appeals involved cases in which the Appellant's prayer to set aside life sentences imposed by the High Court for murder and aggravated robbery was not granted. The appeals allowed mainly dealt with non-compliance with the constitutional requirement to deduct the pre-trial remand period.  The Honorable Justices exercised their powers under section 11 of the Judicature Act to re-sentence the appellants.

In a post-session meeting with stakeholders, the head of the panel, Honorable Lady Justice Hellen Obura, thanked the stakeholders for heeding the Chief Justice’s call and advice, which she stated had led to the results achieved. She also thanked the Senior Resident Judge of Masaka, Honorable Lady Justice Katamba Victoria Nakintu, and Deputy Registrar High Court Masaka, Her Worship Loe Karungi, for the support rendered. She further thanked the Magistrates, Research for extra hours writing legal briefs. The support staff were equally thanked for their role in facilitating the smooth flow of the session.

Justice Kazibwe thanked the lawyers for the quality submissions and said they reflected time and effort. Justice Kibeedi thanked the ODPP team for being “on top of their game” and called on the lawyers to invest in themselves, noting that there was always room to perform at their best.

This Strategic Plan for Governance and Security Programme – Access to Justice Sub Programme [Thematic Area] covers the period 2020/2021-2024/2025.

The Governance and Security Programme goal is to improve adherence to the rule of law and capacity to contain prevailing and emerging security threats.

The Programme brings together 29 Government Agencies responsible for upholding the Rule of Law, ensuring Security, maintaining Law and Order, Public Policy Governance, administration of justice, promoting Human Rights, accountability, and transparency.

This Programme contributes to the Third National Development Plan (NDP III) 2020/21-2024/25 objective five of strengthening the role of the State in development. The Access to Justice Sub Programme brings together 17 institutions responsible for administering justice, maintaining law and order, and promoting the observance of human rights. This Sub Programme draws State and Non-State Actors (NSAs) who play complementary roles in planning, budgeting, Programme implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

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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:

1. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (MoJCA)
2. The Attorney General
3. Minister of Internal Affairs
4. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
5. Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development
6. Minister of Local Government
7. Minister of State for Internal Affairs
8. Minister of State for Justice/Deputy Attorney General
9. Director of Public Prosecutions
10. Chairperson of the Uganda Law Reform Commission
11. Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission
12. Chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission
13. Chairperson of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau
14. Chairperson CADER Governing Council
15. Chairperson LDC Management Committee
16. Chairperson Tax Appeals Tribunal
17. Chairperson Citizenship and Immigration Board
18. Chairperson of the NGO Bureau
19. Chairperson of the Board-Amnesty Commission
20. Chairperson National Identification and Registration Authority
21. Chairperson Steering Committee- (ex officio)
22. Chairperson Technical Committee- (ex officio)
23. Senior Technical Advisor- JLOS Secretariat – (ex officio)

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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