On Tuesday August 23, 2022, the Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny – Dollo, officially opened a two-weeks residential induction of the 40 newly appointed Acting Chief Magistrates at Colline Hotel in Mukono.
The Chief Justice congratulated the Chief Magistrates upon their appointment.
He implored them to keep in mind the Judicial Officers. Constitutional mandate under Article 126 of the Constitution to exercise judicial power on behalf of the people. “You must therefore keep the people at the center of your service delivery and observe these principles,” he said.
He informed them about the plans which are being implemented to have a Chief Magistrate’s Court for every district, a Magistrate Grade One Court for every constituency, and more High Court Circuits and Court of Appeal branches across the Country.
“Some of you are already deployed in new Magisterial areas where a Chief Magistrate is serving for the first time,” he said. He called upon them to be true ambassadors of the new Judiciary in those areas, and let the people seethe justice that the Judiciary has professed.
He also called upon the Chief Magistrates to remain relevant to the profession by engaging in constant reading and studying.
“The crime trends, the nature of disputes and the laws are constantly changing which calls upon your regular refreshment and adaptation to the new technologies and new modes of justice service delivery” he said.
The Chief Justice appreciated the Judicial Training Institute Executive Director and the training team for coming up with an elaborate two-weeks long programme.
“I have examined the topics and have observed that, in addition to the court processes and practices, the program also covers administrative functions,customer care, ICT and ethics,” he said. Adding that it was a true balanced diet, with a good selection of facilitators who are not strangers to the Judiciary as they have hands-on experiences to share with the participants for better results.
The Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr Flavian Zeija, observed that corruption in the Judiciary manifests during the bail process, writing rulings and judgments, and during taxation of bills of costs. He added that they had received complaints of judicial officers asking for money to grant bail or grant bail with simple or harsh conditions depending on the interests of the litigants extending the bribe.
“We will bring to book all judicial officers engaged in corruption tendencies,”he said.
The PJ said he would be visiting different courts for spot checks to assess the Judicial Officers performance and working environment.
The Executive Director JTI, Hon. Lady Justice Damalie N. Lwanga congratulated the Chief Magistrates on their appointment and urged them to treat the training as an opportunity to particularly understand their role specifically as Chief Magistrates.
Earlier on, the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Judiciary, Dr Pius Bigirimana had taken participants through the Terms and Conditions of Service of a Chief Magistrate and the Administration of Finances in Judiciary.
The Registrar High Court, HW Rosemary Bareebe, represented the Chief Registrar. The function was moderated by HW Mary Kaitesi (Registrar JTI) and the Deputy Inspector HW Angualia Gabriel.
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