The Deputy Chief Justice, Moses Kazibwe Kawumi, has urged judicial and investigating officers to pay attention to quality investigations for proper prosecution of cases and preserve exhibits properly.
The Deputy Chief Justice, who is also the head of the Appeals Court, was addressing judicial officers and litigants during the opening of the criminal appeals court in Arua on Monday.
‘Please prepare the records properly, how certified are the records to be presented to the courts. In courts, you see records with missing pages, you do not see the exhibits, you get perturbed, you write a letter to request the records, and files don’t come. Please and please, colleagues, let us do our work,’ he said.
The three-day appeals session will see three justices of the appeals court, Justice Christopher Gashirabake, Lady Justice Margaret Tibulya and Justice Cornelius Kakooza Sabiiti, listen to 28 appeals cases.
He continued: ‘I call upon investigators, prosecutors and judicial officers to pay particular attention to the quality of investigations, documentation and record management. Every testimony matters, every exhibit matters, every detail presented in the trial record must be preserved and presented to the appellate court.’
Among the cases lined up are 14 murder cases, 9 aggravated defilement, 2 aggravated robbery and 4 rape cases.
Mr Richard Muhereza, the representative of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in the region, appealed to the Judiciary to operationalize the two high court circuits of Nebbi and Moyo districts, saying it was too costly for litigants in far districts to travel up to Arua. But Justice Kazibwe said he will present the issue.
Ms Daisy Yayi, the chairperson of West Nile Bar Association, also appealed to the Deputy Chief Justice to see to it that appeals courts for civil cases also sit.