2019 best judges named

Oct 12, 2020

Chief Justice reacts Chief Justice Alfonse OwinyDollo described the scorecard as a stimulus for high performance and a reliable appraisal tool by the public on the daily performance of the Judiciary.

Retired Chief Justice Bart Katureebe and 13 judicial officers have been rated top in the delivery of justice in 2019.

A 2019 scorecard report by the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) ranks justices Augustine Nshimye (retired), Paul Kahaibale Mugamba and Katureebe, the 2019 best Supreme Court Justices.

Justices Christopher Madrama, Kenneth Kakuru, and Hellen Obura topped their colleagues at the Court of Appeal, while Paul Gadenya, Richard Wabwire, and Stephen Mubiru topped High Court.

Paul Kedi, Elisha Arinaitwe and Dan Mwesiga were rated the best magistrates, with outstanding performance.

Speaking at the launch of the report on Thursday 8th October, Solomon Rukundo said their outstanding performance was judged on the quality of the judgments they wrote, drawing from the common law jurisprudence of what amounts to a good judgment.

"We considered whether the judge was able to grasp the facts or narration of the facts that were adduced at the trial (20 marks), whether the judicial officer was able to use the law applicable and precedent (20 marks), resolution of issues, whether the law was properly applied to facts (20 marks) and whether the reasons for the decision were articulated in a clear manner that can be understood even by an ordinary person (20 marks)," he said.

The researchers also relied on other performance indicators, such as fairness in the administration of justice (45%), impartiality (30%), professionalism (10%), certainty (5%), behavior and attitude (5%) and communication (5%).

The score-card report, however, does not name worst-performing judicial officers.

Justice Nshimye scooped the overall performing judge at Supreme Court, Madrama for Court of Appeal, Kakuru at Constitutional Court and Mubiru for High Court.

Lead researcher Rogers Twesigye said they interviewed 2,918 litigants, 581 legal professionals, eight judges, 17 magistrates, 42 court clerks, eight registrars, and 37 members of the civil society organization in the selection of the best judicial officers.

"They were selected best due to their style of judgment writing, which we found to be easily identifiable, with a proper articulation of their judgments in terms of law and precedent rated to be of great jurisprudential value," he said.

The Court of Appeal was ranked the least on explaining reasons for the delayed hearing of cases, while Kabarole High Court was ranked the overall best performing court at 76%. This was the third report by CEPIL on the Judiciary performance in the country.

CEPIL board member Francis Gimara said the scorecard is not intended to name and shame judicial officers, but amicably seek an alignment where necessary. Gimara, however, said the report does not cover all courts due to financial constraints.

He said they have marked three institutions — the Judiciary, Parliament, and media as those that need to be supported in the execution of their mandate for access to justice to thrive in the country.

Chief Justice reacts Chief Justice Alfonse OwinyDollo described the scorecard as a stimulus for high performance and a reliable appraisal tool by the public on the daily performance of the Judiciary.

In a speech read by his deputy, Richard Buteera, Owiny-Dollo applauded CEPIL for the survey, saying it will help the Judiciary to reflect on its performance in the administration of justice.

"I, therefore, applaud all partners, especially CEPIL, for taking up this initiative and making it an annual event that helps us evaluate our performance at all levels," Owiny-Dollo said.

The Chief Justice called for dissemination of the findings of the report to many stakeholders to develop a holistic approach in the administration of justice, noting that building a pro-people effective service delivery matrix requires participatory information gathering, dissemination and implementation.

He, however, projected better service delivery following the enactment of the Administration of Judiciary Act, 2020.

Owiny-Dollo said the Act is intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the courts and facilitate a judicial process that is committed to the expeditious determination of disputes.

He revealed that the Judiciary has embarked on the process of enrolling courts on the Electronic Case Management Information System to enhance user interface between court staff and the public to eliminate perceived or actual corruption among judicial officers.

Court of Appeal justice Remmy Kasule said the report is very productive to the Judiciary and suggested that it should always be presented at the annual judges' conference to appreciate their strengths and weaknesses.

Uganda Law Society president Phiona Wall Nabasa said there is a need to simplify and demystify the court process, noting that this will enhance access to justice in the country.

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