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Judges asked to avoid unnecessary case adjournments

Former Chief Justice Wako Wambuzi Addressing Journalists as the Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo looks on

Kampala, Uganda  | THE INDEPENDENT |  The President Uganda Law Society, Simon Peter Kinobe has asked judicial officers to desist from unnecessary adjournment of cases.

Kinobe made the appeal on Wednesday while presenting a paper at the 22nd Annual Judges Conference titled: “Discharging the mandate of the Judiciary: Towards a Modern Professional and Effective Judiciary.

According to Kinobe some judicial officers fix several cases on the same dates for hearing which leads to unnecessary adjournments and case backlog. 

He also noted that failure to keep time by some advocates as well as some judicial officers especially in upcountry courts, reduces on the number of cases that are scheduled for the day.

In December 2018, Justice Lydia Mugambe of Civil Division of High Court heard the case in which government was sued for failure to include prisoners and Ugandans in the Diaspora into the voting process. 

Judgement of the case that was filed by City Lawyer Steven Kalali will be made in March. 

Another example is the Legal Brains Trust’s Constitutional Petition against businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba in which he was sued for receiving illegal compensation of 142 billion shillings for cancellation of city market contracts.

The case which dates way back in 2012 was heard in 2019 but to date, it has been adjourned five times with a judgement yet to be made. 

Court of Appeal Judge Egonda Ntende says that it’s not professional for the judges to delay decisions since the public loses trust in them.

The former Chief Justice Wako Wambuzi appealed to the Judges to give citizens the best services that they deserve.

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