Uganda Judiciary the Inspectorate of Courts

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1 Uganda Judiciary the Inspectorate of Courts

Uganda Judiciary the Inspectorate of Courts

The Inspectorate of Courts is situated at the High Court of Uganda premises, Plot 2 the Square, just above the Constitutional Square in Kampala.

The Inspectorate of Court is currently manned by 3 Registrars namely; the Inspector of Courts, the Deputy Inspector of Courts and the Assistant Inspector of Courts. They are assisted by 8 support staff namely; the Personal Secretary, Office Supervisor, Research Assistant, Records Assistant, 2 Drivers, Process Server, and Office Attendant.

MANDATE OF THE INSPECTORATE

The mandate of the Inspectorate is to monitor and evaluate the performance of Judicial Officers and other staff and court facilities. In the performance of the above mandate, the Inspectorate performs the following functions:-

i)Investigate and evaluating of complaints from the public.
ii)Conducting regular court inspections.

iii) Evaluating the performance of Magistrates and other judicial staff.

iv)Identify performance bottlenecks that impede effective delivery of justice.
v)Analyzing court returns to determine the efficiency of court operations.
vi)Producing and disseminating information to the public about the operations of the courts.

PROBLEM

Complaints go to the Principal Judge or to the Chief Registrar of the High Court or straight to the Inspectorate ( there is no official Complaints Desk/Reception)
Inspections are carried out as and when a complaint is made or when funds are available

COMPLAINTS

INSPECTION

1. At the Inspectorate the Complaints are recorded by the Office Supervisor and forwarded to the Inspector of Courts

(Complainants who make verbal complaints are advised to put them in writing)

2. The Inspector of Courts allocates some to the Deputy Inspector and the Assistant Inspector.

3. In the absence of the Inspector the Deputy Inspector acts.

4.The Secretary types all communication going out either to the complainant, judicial officer or advocate and copies to the Chief registrar.

5. The records assistant files all complaints.

6. The process server delivers all letters.

7. Office attendant cleans/tea

1. From the Complaints the Inspector of Courts identifies those urgent courts that have to be inspected

2. The Inspector handles or delegates

3. In the absence of the Inspector the Deputy Inspector acts

4. The Secretary types all replies going out either to the complainant, judicial officer or advocate and copies to the Chief registrar

5. Inspectors carry out inspection with the Research Assistant.

6. Drivers manage the vehicles during inspection

7.Inspection report with recommendations forwarded to the Chief registrar for action

1. The Chief Registrar orders the Inspectorate to inspect the court in question

2. The Inspector handles or delegates

3. ”

4. ”

5. ”

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ACTIVITIES/ VARIOUS FORA INVOLVING THE INSPECTORATE

i) COMPLAINTS

A total of 1004 complaints were registered during the period 1^st July 2013 to 30^th March 2015 out of which 962 were investigated and addressed conclusively leaving 42 for follow up.

TABLE SHOWING COMPLAINTS REGISTERED FROM 1^ST JULY 2013 TO 30^TH MARCH, 2015

Month	Complaints registered	Complaints completed	Pending complaints
July 2013	64	64	Nil
August 2013	56	56	Nil
September 2013	46	46	Nil
October 2013	50	50	Nil
November 2013	56	56	Nil
December 2013	28	28	Nil
January 2014	55	50	5
February 2014	46	41	5
March 2014	52	47	5
April 2014	39	38	1
May 2014	54	52	2
June 2014	61	59	2

July 2015	57	57	Nil
August 2015	41	41	Nil
September 2015	40	38	2
October 2015	46	41	5
November 2015	44	43	1
December 2015	30	29	1
January 2015	36	30	6
February 2015	36	35	1
March 2015	67	61	6
Total	1004	962	42

i) INSPECTION, MONITORING AND SUPERVISION
a) Strengthened monitoring and supervision.

The Inspectorate of Courts has been strengthened by deploying two more Registrars to carry out supervision and monitoring interchangeably whereby there is constant presence of a Registrar at the Centre. The three Registrars are now able to conduct country wide inspections and routine visits to Courts in the country. A number of general surveys in different Regions have been carried out aimed at establishing the levels of administration of Justice. Routine and on-spot inspections continue to be done throughout the country.

Note: Inspections carried out this year are less compared to the previous year. This has been caused by lack of funding and vehicles to carry out inspection despite the increased number of Inspectors.

ii) JLOS INTEGRITY COMMITTEE (JLOSIC)

The Inspectorate is part of the JLOS Integrity Committee formerly known as the Judicial Integrity Committee has its Secretariat in the Inspectorate of Courts. The JLOSIC carried out its annual Nation Wide Tour 2014 in November, 2014. The report is in advanced stages.

The Secretariat suffers the usual constraint of financial support to organize this activity since it is funded 100% by JLOS.

Funding for this activity is controlled by JLOS just and the Judiciary does the budgeting. The Judiciary experienced problems during the 2014 JLOSIC Nation Wide Tour whereby funds released did not adequately cover all items and most of the items were underfunded. The problem of funding was also experienced during the JLOSIC Retreat held at Imperial Golf View Hotel in Entebbe from 10^th – 11^th February, 2015 whereby funds released were less than funds budgeted.

We as the Inspectorate have to engage the Chairperson, Justice Tumwesigye on the future of the JLOSIC secretariat and the need to revive the original JIC which was funded the Judiciary.

Ø JLOS Anti-Corruption Strategy.

The Judiciary Anti-corruption strategy was launched on 4^th October, 2013 as a tool in the fight against corruption.

Strengthening of the Complaints Handling System/Mechanisms

JLOS Complaints handing framework was introduced.
Information Desks Introduced.
Introduction of Complaints Registry.
Ø Peer Committees:

The Committees were introduced some time back and the results are average. Need to rejuvenate this Committee through sensitization.

iii) JLOS INSPECTORS FORUM JOINT INSPECTIONS BY JLOS INSPECTORS

The Inspectorate is part of the JLOS Inspectors Forum whose membership comprises all JLOS institutions and has its Secretariat in the Inspectorate of Courts. It was initially chaired by the Inspector of Courts but currently it is chaired by Hon. Justice H. Wolayo (Resident Judge Soroti), and the Co-Chair is Hon. Justice Elizabeth Jane Alividza, J (Criminal Division) who were former Inspectors of Court.

The forum has done the following:

Ø Development of Inspection Guidelines and Checklist. The said documents are now in place to guide Inspectors while on inspections. The guidelines were developed by the Forum with support from JLOS.
Ø Joint Inspections

In 2012 Joint 2013 the Forum carried out Joint inspections. However, in 2014 Joint Inspections were not carried out due to lack of funding and/or busy schedule of the Judges. The Forum only carried out a pre-testing exercise of the JLOS Inspection Guidelines. The Report was made and sent to JLOS.

Preparations to have the Joint Inspection by JLOS Institutions are on. The necessary requisitions have been sent to the Ministry of Justice for funding.

iv) JUDICIARY DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE

The Inspectorate is part of the Judiciary Disciplinary Committee which deals with cases of Discipline against Judicial Officers and members of Staff among others (Established in 2012). The Committee is chaired by Justice of Supreme Court and sits once a month to handle disciplinary cases. All departments are represented on this Committee. The JDC lacks representation from the Court of Appeal to replace the late Justice Byamugisha.