LASPNET LAUNCHES 1ST TRENDS ANALYSIS REPORT ON ACCESS TO JUSTICE

04 December 2017 -

Written by Laspnet

One of the objective of LASPNET’s current strategic plan is to promote research and knowledge management to support evidence based programming and advocacy for legal aid and access to justice. The Network in collaboration with other justice system actors has been at the forefront of advocating for the enactment of the National Legal Aid Policy to address the many challenges faced by the poor, vulnerable and marginalized in accessing justice in Uganda.

In a bid to shed more light on these challenges with corresponding recommendations to relevant state and non-state actors, LASPNET conducted the first trends analysis Annual survey documenting the status of access to justice along the parameters of legal protection; legal awareness; legal assistance; redress mechanisms and enforcements.

The report was launched by H.W Dr.Immaculate Busingye, the new Inspector of Courts on behalf of H.W Paul Gadenya, the Chief Registrar on 19^th October 2017 at Hotel Africana. The launch involved a presentation of the report on behalf of LASPNET by Ms.Lydia Namuli, the General Secretary on the LASPNET Board, a panel discussion with views from Mr.Musa Modoi, the JLOS Technical Adviser on Human Rights and Accountability; Mr.Rober Munanura, Commissioner Uganda Prisons; Mr.George Musisi, the Legal Aid Manager at Foundation for Human Rights Initiative and Mr.Henry Tukahirwa, a Senior Commissioner with the Uganda Police Force, and a plenary session.

While presenting the report, Ms. Lydia Namuli explained that, “the rationale for this annual trend analysis was to assess the implementation of the legal frame work of access to justice and to identify legal issues and impediments to access to justice that would inform a documentation process which will be disseminated to improve trial advocacy and overall service delivery”.

In a speech read on behalf of the Chief Registrar, H.W Busingye applauded LASPNET for the report mentioning that, “ without information, we would be legally blind, so thank you for putting together this report”. She acknowledged that legal awareness, one of the key features on the report, is a key element of justice and access to justice in particular as it empowers justice seekers to understand and claim their rights. This, she however noted was not the case as many Ugandans are not aware of their legal rights set out in various provisions of the law.

Mr.Musa Modoi, was in agreement referring to the report as “practically fair in its findings”. He reiterated the human resource, institutional and structural challenges of the Judiciary but called for joint efforts by both state and non-state actors in addressing them. He however cautioned against being over ambitious in addressing the structural challenges calling for linkages between the formal and traditional justice institutions.

Mr.Robert Munanura applauded CSOs and legal aid service providers for supporting the work of Uganda Prisons, noting that many times their hands are tied as they are unable to offer much to the prisoners. He acknowledged the challenges mentioned in the report such as prisons congestion but shared that the statistics were much higher, that is 54449 prisoners in custody with 27747 on remand and 26419 convicts as at September 2017. He also noted an average ratio of staff to prisoners being at 1:7, making their work extremely difficult. He urged LASPNET other partners to scale up on awareness creation among prisoners and for lower legal fees as most prisoners cannot afford them. The Commissioner called for concerted efforts from NGOs and government towards realizing a free and just society.

Speaking about the Police, Mr. Henry Tukahirwa noted that justice almost always starts with them. He explained that the problem of corruption is escalated because there are two willing participants; the offender and the police officer on duty hence making reporting incidences difficult. He however said that they were increasing the level of community awareness on rights and responsibilities and would soon set up electronic bill boards at each police station.

Mr.George Musisi focused more on pre-trial detention noting the disconnect between the law and practice, noting that many suspects were still being detained beyond 48 hours without a charge. He recommended establishing clear sentencing guidelines to ensure it is exercised uniformly.

The plenary session evoked further recommendations like; including persons with disabilities in matters of access to justice, utilizing innovations such as teleconferencing where possible to address the problem of transport challenges and calling on Parliament and relevant committees to increase funding to the justice system.

The launch was attended by 58 participants including development partners, JLOS partners, strategic partners like Equal Opportunities Commission and Uganda Local Governments Association, LASPs, the academia and the media.

LASPNET calls on the different justice system institutions mentioned in the report, that is to say; the Judiciary, JLOS Secretariat, Uganda Police Force, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the LASPs themselves to follow through with the recommendations raised in order to inch closer to the realization of a free and just society.