House debates Local Council Courts Bill
Apr 19, 2006
PARLIAMENT on Tuesday started debate on the Local Council (LC) Courts Bill 2003, with MPs expressing scepticism over their jurisdiction and the type of cases they would try.
By Vision Reporters
PARLIAMENT on Tuesday started debate on the Local Council (LC) Courts Bill 2003, with MPs expressing scepticism over their jurisdiction and the type of cases they would try.
Debating the report of the parliamentary committee on public service and local governments, chaired by Lydia Balemezi (Mukono), MPs said the village courts may create more confusion than what they intend to cure.
Local government minister Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, who tabled the Bill, said the LC courts would bring justice to the doorsteps of the people and off-load the magistrates’ courts of piled cases by introducing a participatory justice system at the local level.
The LC courts would be different from the local council executives and would try light civil matters arising from daily activities. They would also try matters arising out of infringement of the bye-laws duly made under the Local Governments Act.
The courts will adjudicate civil cases, interpret bye-laws in tandem with the Constitution and promote human rights, social justice and morality. Every sitting shall be held in the open, during daylight.
MPs were particularly concerned about how the courts would administer justice in a multiparty system, where those on the LC court belong to a particular party trying an opposition suspect.
PARLIAMENT on Tuesday started debate on the Local Council (LC) Courts Bill 2003, with MPs expressing scepticism over their jurisdiction and the type of cases they would try.
Debating the report of the parliamentary committee on public service and local governments, chaired by Lydia Balemezi (Mukono), MPs said the village courts may create more confusion than what they intend to cure.
Local government minister Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, who tabled the Bill, said the LC courts would bring justice to the doorsteps of the people and off-load the magistrates’ courts of piled cases by introducing a participatory justice system at the local level.
The LC courts would be different from the local council executives and would try light civil matters arising from daily activities. They would also try matters arising out of infringement of the bye-laws duly made under the Local Governments Act.
The courts will adjudicate civil cases, interpret bye-laws in tandem with the Constitution and promote human rights, social justice and morality. Every sitting shall be held in the open, during daylight.
MPs were particularly concerned about how the courts would administer justice in a multiparty system, where those on the LC court belong to a particular party trying an opposition suspect.