The Judicial Training Institute has started a five days induction training for 28 Judges of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal/Constitution Court.
The training was flagged off by the Chief Justice, Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo on Monday 8th May at the Imperial Golf Hotel in Entebbe.
During his opening remarks, Chief Justice Alfonso Owiny Dollo profoundly appreciated the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) together with the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) for organizing this historic Retreat of the Judiciary of Uganda to allow sharing of their long-earned experiences in the justice service industry and together craft better ways of delivering these services to the vulnerable people.
“I am glad that you have lined up an indomitable team of facilitators all of whom are versatile and widely knowledgeable; and who are our seasoned colleagues, this will make the interactions natural and tranquil,” he added.
He also said that the mandate of the Judiciary is elaborated under Article 126 of the Constitution of Uganda, 1995 in the following authoritative terms: “Judicial power is derived from the people and shall be exercised by the courts established under this Constitution in the name of the people and in conformity with law and with the values, norms and aspirations of the people.”
Owing Dollo also revealed the plan to decentralize the Court of Appeal to various regions beginning with Gulu and Mbarara, this coming financial year, as well as an increase in the number of justices of the Supreme Court from 11 to 21 judges, Court of Appeal from 15 to 56 and the High court from 82 to 151 judges.
“I am pleased to report that the other Arms of Government have already demonstrated to us their inalienable support towards realising these milestones, for which we are grateful and it’s now our duty as custodians of justice to innovate ways and means of ensuring that quality justice is timely and meaningfully administered,” he added.
On behalf of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), Barbara Kilei the Country Manager said that Justice Programme seeks to enhance accessibility, quality and sustainability of justice services delivered for rural, vulnerable, and marginalized communities in Uganda.
“To achieve this, we are working with state and non-state institutions to empower grassroots communities to claim and uphold their rights while at the same time strengthening capacities of and linkages between formal and informal justice actors/systems to support effective redress mechanisms for justice seekers,” she added.
She also remarked that at IDLO, they believe that efficient, equitable and accessible justice systems are the lifeblood of the rule of law and for many years supporting governments to build judicial capacity has been a key area of intervention.
Kilei, therefore appreciated judges for taking time off their very busy schedules to participate in this training as well as the judiciary leadership and the judicial training institute for prioritizing this and ensuring that the trainers themselves are judicial officers, saying that it’s the key for the sustainability of such capacity-building efforts.
“I know that IDLO is not the only organization supporting such trainings and therefore we are happy to join hands with other development partners to support the Judiciary to fulfil its mandate,” she concluded.
The five days training is expected to also tackle on the new technological advancements in the judiciary sector as well as other justice related matters.
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