The Deputy Chief Justice, Flavian Zeija, has asked prisons officers to encourage inmates to opt for plea-bargaining as a means of reducing case backlog and avoiding prolonged remand periods.
“The prison officers have a big role to convince people to do pre-bargaining. Since these people believe in you more than us, always tell them that if they know they committed the offence, to come up and bargain their sentences so that we don’t have many people over stay on remand,” Zeija said.
Justice Zeija made the remarks on Tuesday at the commencement of a 3-day court of appeal criminal session at Kabale High Court, which will handle 30 appeal cases.
He explained that the decision to hold regional court sessions aims to improve access to justice for people from different regions, reducing transportation and litigation costs.
“We are mindful that Kabale High Court circuit, like other High Court circuits, is faced with challenges of case backlog and complaints from prisoners over staying on remand,” Justice Zeija said.
He added that the court of appeal has a significant workload with a limited number of justices, but expressed gratitude for the recent increase in justices from 13 to 20, with plans to reach the statutory requirement of 35 justices.
Zeija also emphasised the need for judicial officers to hold special court sessions within remand homes to address the issue of juvenile offenders overstaying on remand.
The Kabale High Court judge, Justice Karoli Lwanga Ssemogerere, highlighted efforts to reduce case backlog in the circuit, thanking stakeholders for their coordination and support.
The Kigezi regional prisons commander, Mr Festo Sambya, asked the Judiciary to handle the 20-files that were completed and pending judgement at Kabale High Court so that the affected people get timely justice and save them the current stress they are going through.