Lower courts to try defilement cases
Feb 24, 2008
THE high number of cases in the High Court will now reduce after Parliament passed a law allowing lower courts try defilement cases. The House passed the Trial on Indictment (Amendment) Bill, 2006 on Thursday.
By John Odyek
and Joyce Namutebi
THE high number of cases in the High Court will now reduce after Parliament passed a law allowing lower courts try defilement cases. The House passed the Trial on Indictment (Amendment) Bill, 2006 on Thursday.
As a result, chief magistrates will now try and grant bail to defilement suspects.
This will also reduce the strain on prisons that are holding hundreds of such suspects.
Defilement is a capital offence and bail for it was previously granted only by the High Court which was also the only trial court.
The deputy Attorney General, Fred Ruhindi, who tabled the Bill, said defilement was punishable by life imprisonment.
He observed that the Magistrates Court and Penal Code acts would also be amended accordingly.
Denis Obua (NRM), who backed the Bill, said it would decongest many upcountry prisons that are full of suspected defilers. Huda Oleru (NRM) argued that many mothers had turned defilement into a money-making scheme.
“They accuse young men of defiling their daughters and force them to pay money in out-of-court settlements.â€
The new law also grants powers to the High Court to deny bail to suspects for offences under the Firearms Act which are punishable by more than 10 years imprisonment.
According to the law, bail can only be granted when a suspect proves that they will not abscond when released or prove exceptional circumstances such as old age and illness.
The law also allows the trial of an accused person to proceed in absentia if the judges deem it necessary.
The new law bans corporal punishment since the Constitutional Court declared it as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
In the case of Kyamanywa v Uganda of 2000, the court noted that corporal punishment was inconsistent with Article 24 of the Constitution that guarantees the right of citizens to live in dignity.
and Joyce Namutebi
THE high number of cases in the High Court will now reduce after Parliament passed a law allowing lower courts try defilement cases. The House passed the Trial on Indictment (Amendment) Bill, 2006 on Thursday.
As a result, chief magistrates will now try and grant bail to defilement suspects.
This will also reduce the strain on prisons that are holding hundreds of such suspects.
Defilement is a capital offence and bail for it was previously granted only by the High Court which was also the only trial court.
The deputy Attorney General, Fred Ruhindi, who tabled the Bill, said defilement was punishable by life imprisonment.
He observed that the Magistrates Court and Penal Code acts would also be amended accordingly.
Denis Obua (NRM), who backed the Bill, said it would decongest many upcountry prisons that are full of suspected defilers. Huda Oleru (NRM) argued that many mothers had turned defilement into a money-making scheme.
“They accuse young men of defiling their daughters and force them to pay money in out-of-court settlements.â€
The new law also grants powers to the High Court to deny bail to suspects for offences under the Firearms Act which are punishable by more than 10 years imprisonment.
According to the law, bail can only be granted when a suspect proves that they will not abscond when released or prove exceptional circumstances such as old age and illness.
The law also allows the trial of an accused person to proceed in absentia if the judges deem it necessary.
The new law bans corporal punishment since the Constitutional Court declared it as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
In the case of Kyamanywa v Uganda of 2000, the court noted that corporal punishment was inconsistent with Article 24 of the Constitution that guarantees the right of citizens to live in dignity.