These priorities are meant to focus our work as DPG on specific areas that represent particular challenges in the JLOS sector. We will give particular attention to them in our semi-annual and annual assessments and in our interactions with JLOS and the individual institutions. Once the priorities are agreed upon, the next step will be the drafting of particular messages that we (and our agencies) can use in our policy dialogue throughout the year.

• PRE-TRIAL DETENTION

At police level: After arrest by the police, detainees can – according to the Ugandan constitution [Art 23 (4)] – be held for a maximum of 48-hours in a police cell before being produced at court where the charges against the accused are being read out and from where the accused is being remanded to a prison (this is the norm) or released on bail (which is the exception). This timeline is frequently not being adhered to and there is no data showing the percentage of suspects that are being detained beyond 48 hours. One would have to visit each police station, peruse the lock-up register and calculate the days to access this information. Furthermore, sensitization is needed on questions such as: Do the weekends count as part of the 48-hours? If so, are people in fact being released on police bond during the weekends? Does the time that a suspect was held at a police post (before being transferred to a police station) count as part of the 48-hours and where is the time spent at the post being recorded? Lawyers and courts have become complacent in raising the violation of the 48-hour-rule during a court trial.

At prison level: The number of prisoners on remand (who have not yet gone through a trial and were not yet convicted or acquitted) make up for approximately half of all prison inmates (currently with an all-time low of 46%). This is part of the congestion problem in Uganda, where prisons have a holding capacity for approximately 20.000 prisoners but are currently holding 62.000 prisoners. Some prisoners wait for several years before their trial takes off. This is also linked to the fact the there are not enough Judges to deal with the high number of cases, especially at the High Court Level. The maximum periods on remand are 2 months for petty offenders and six months for capital offenders. However, when a capital offender is “committed” to the High Court (= when the prosecution officially declares that investigations are complete) the six-month-period is not applicable anymore and there is no maximum timeline to be adhered to between the committal and the actual start of the trial. This is the reason why some prisoners have “legally” waited for several years for their trials to start.

• CASE BACKLOG ELIMINATION

The reduction of case backlog along the chain of justice, i.e. from police to prosecution to the courts and the prisons will have a considerable impact on increasing access to justice in terms of timeliness and predictability. With the establishment of the Case Backlog Reduction Committee which is chaired by a Judge of the Supreme Court, some considerable progress has been made. However, there is need to move away from the objective of simply reducing the backlog towards making the elimination of the backlog a key priority.  This would also allow for performance assessment measures for judicial officers to be implemented in a meaningful way. The caseload in Ugandan courts currently stands at approximately 144,000 cases, with 32,500 being officially backlogged (= older than two years).

• OTHER ISSUES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN

1. Development of service delivery standards
2. SGBV
3. Justice for Children