Julia Sebutinde: The making of a World Court judge

By  Edna Mubiru

She had hopes, dreams and ambitions. But, as a young lawyer sitting in a cubicle in Parliament listening to MPs debating, Julia Semambo Sebutinde never imagined she would one day be a judge in the International Court of Justice.

She had no idea that the out-of-sight job she took in the 1979 with the Attorney General’s office would be her springboard into international judicial practice.

“I was working under the Office of the first Parliamentary Council. Our work then was to listen to the MPs debate on issues, analyse the debates and then draft laws out of what they had said,” she says.

After that, the drafts would be taken back to Parliament and looked over by the legislators, fine-tuned and passed into laws.
“My listening, analytical and writing skills came in handy. Seeing a bill you had drafted being passed into law was rewarding,” she says. It did matter that she was earning a paltry sh1,790 per month, but the skills she gained on the job were more important than the money.

“I have always set out to spend at least 10 years on a job to learn as much as possible from it to take the skills into the next job. The money I earned then was little but I baked to make an extra income,” she adds.

As other civil servants left their coats hanging on their chairs and went out to make more money on government time, Sebutinde stayed back and covered for them. For 13 years, she prayed for bigger opportunities. Her prayer was answered in the form of a scholarship for a masters degree at the University of Edinburgh.

She graduated in 1991 and joined the ministry of the commonwealth in the UK. She was later sent to the ministry of justice in Namibia, which needed support because the country had just attained independence.

Then came her appointment as a Uganda High Court Judge in 1996.
“When I was appointed, I wondered how I would pull off the job with no experience on that side of the bench. Justice

Samuel Wako Wambuzi, who was the chief Justice then, told me I could do the job because I had all the skills required on the job,” she says.

It turned out that her job drafting bills and her work in the UK and Namibia had not gone unnoticed.

“I am a good listener, analytical and I write well. Justice Wambuzi told me I just had to apply those skills on the other side of the bench. And that is much of what I do. When you have two good lawyers, they can be persuasive. So you go back and analyse and see what the law says about their arguments and write your judgement,” she adds.

Before long, Justice Sebutinde’s name and work were on everyone’s lips. Corrupt officers in the Police, Army and Uganda Revenue Authority had reason to tremble because of the inquiries into their operations.

The Sebutinde Commission is one of the most publicised commissions of inquiry in Uganda’s judicial past.
In 2005, she was appointed, to the Special Court on Sierra Leone, a war tribunal, established by the UN.

She was later appointed the Presiding Judge in Courtroom II, which was hearing the case against former Liberian leader, Charles Taylor and nine others. The court is handling the last case and her work there will be done by February.

Julia at a glance

Born to Moses Kibuuka Semambo and Idah Semambo
Married to John Sebutinde, they have two  daughters
Studied at Lake Victoria Primary School; Gayaza High School for O’level and Kings College Buddo for A’level
Qualifications:
Attained a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Makerere University
Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre
Master of Laws from the University of Edinburgh in 1991
Got an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburg in 2009

Doing Uganda proud
Justice Julia Sebutinde was recently elected into the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague. The election process is rigorous because it is countries that vote and not individuals.

Since it was established, the court has had 15 judges, most of whom were men. Judge Sebutinde won absolute majorities in the Security Council and General Assembly to beat Sierra Leone’s Abdul Koroma.

In its 60-year-history, only three women have held places at the ICJ. Justice Sebutinde is the fourth woman and first African woman to be elected there. Rosalind Higgins, a Briton who completed her term in 1995, was the first woman in the ICJ.

“This position is not just about me, it is a country position,” she says. The electoral process proves this. All the candidates up for election are well-qualified but it is their country relations that give them the extra push.

“I started my campaign to be elected into the ICJ about two years ago. I had to approach various countries to show them that I am fit for the job. However, as an individual I can only go so far. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to come in and even the President had to liaise with other heads of states to see how they would vote.”

Justice Sebutinde starts her nine-year term at the ICJ in February.

“Getting to this point has been a combination of diligence and recognising opportunities. It does not matter where, when or to what family one is born. We are all presented with opportunities and the only challenge is grabbing them and making the most of them,” she concludes.