The Network of Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL) has called on various state actors (police, security agencies, courts of law) to ensure effective access to justice as well as effective remedies to the people of Uganda. This call was made at a media breakfast meeting held on Wednesday, 17th November, 2021 at Piato Restaurant in Kampala. The meeting was intended to equip media personnel with knowledge and skills to report on abuses as well as seek a remedy for victims. The Report titled ‘The 2021 General Elections’ in Uganda: Human Rights Violations & the Spectacle of Violence’ produced by NETPIL was also shared.
NETPIL brings together individual lawyers, CSOs/NGOs and law firms committed to public interest litigation and advocacy; NETPIL is hosted by the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) established at the School of law, Makerere University in 2012. PILAC seeks to promote hands-on experiential learning as well as exposing students to ‘live’ cases of individuals who have been confronted by the law in its varied manifestations.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Arthur Nsereko – Coordinator, NETPIL said ‘Access to justice (A2J) is a right and basic principle of the rule of law. In the absence of access to justice, people are unable to have their voice heard, exercise their rights, challenge discrimination or hold decision-makers accountable’. He noted that numerous reports have been recorded on violations and abuse in Uganda, but never follow through with access to justice for the abused.
Mr. Nsereko further explained that the State has a duty to respect, protect and fulfil rights including particularly the duty of states to ensure that the rights are implemented through the provision of legislative measures and judicial remedies, in accordance with the national legal system. The State is also obliged to take appropriate steps both to prevent rights violations and to investigate, punish and redress such abuse when it does occur – in other words, to provide access to remedy.
Facts shared at the meeting about the November 2020 riots highlighted that at least 54 people including women and children were reported extra judicially killed where 32 were adjudged rioters, hit by stray bullets while 22 persons were declared innocent and these included juveniles. However, an effective remedy, including reparation and compensation have not been possible for those affected which is a violation of rights.
Presenting at the meeting, Ms. Veronica Kange – Legal Officer, PILAC said ‘for the violation of every right, there must be a remedy. Rights and Freedoms are meaningless if there are no consequences for their violations. For a remedy to be adequate, it should be accessible, affordable, timely and effective. The remedies should be simple and urgent’.
‘There is an expectation by victims to access effective remedies premised on restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, guarantees of non-repetition as well as satisfaction’, Ms. Kange noted.
Issues arising from the presentations and discussions included:
In boardrooms, lecture rooms we may not be able to solve the challenges hence involvement of the media to disseminate the messages.
There is a right to truth, justice and remedy.
Uganda has very good laws but implementation is poor.
Backlog in courts deters people from seeking for justice in courts of law.
There is need for effective court processes.
There is common belief that justice is for the rich because of the costs involved.
There is thought that the state has abdicated its responsibility.
Appreciate that police and government always say that they will investigate but how soon do the remedies happen.
Pre-emptive statement by leaders biases the final decision example bail discussions in parliament.
The State must respect its institutions.
Treatment of suspects by the statement.
Police and other security agencies should desist from use of force or live ammunition when dealing with suspects.
Interim reports would be welcome as we await final report.
Opportunity to engage the institutions concerned by civil society but where it fails then alternative steps can be explored.
At the end of the meeting, a press statement on the ‘denial of political players’ to access broadcasting houses’ was presented.
Please see Downloads below for the presentations.
Zaam Ssali is the Principal Communication Officer SoL & MakCHS
The East African Journal for Peace and Human Rights (EAJPHR) is an international, peer-reviewed, bi-annual scholarly publication of the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC) at the School of Law, Makerere University. The Journal has since its inception in 1993 remained at the forefront of igniting intellectual and policy debates on contemporary governance and human rights issues in the East African region and beyond. It seeks to provide a platform to scholars, researchers and practitioners in the fields of governance and human rights to disseminate cutting-edge research and share knowledge and experiences.
This call invites students, scholars, researchers, and development practitioners to submit papers for our forthcoming Issue. The papers should highlight recent trends, practices and emerging issues impacting on governance, constitutionalism, human rights and fundamental freedoms, with a view to produce a critical assessment of the same within the region and beyond.
Interested authors should submit their papers electronically to: journal.huripec@mak.ac.ug.
Important Dates:
Submission deadline: 6th September 2024 Notification of the reviewers’ decision: 20th September 2024
Submission Guidelines:
The papers should be submitted as word document, along with abstracts not exceeding 150 words and information pertaining to the author(s) (i.e., name of author, qualifications, profession, workplace/institution of placement, and contact email).
Submissions should be original contributions in the form of articles, comments, case notes, book reviews – all related to important developments on a wide range of issues relating to law, human rights, peace and conflict, and governance.
Articles should be an average length of 10,000 words (i.e., 20 pages). Comments and case notes should normally be shorter, between 4,000 and 6,000 words (i.e., 8-12 pages). Book reviews should be even shorter, at no more than 3,000 words (i.e., 6 pages).
Any enquiries about this call should be sent to journal.huripec@mak.ac.ug.
The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released lists for Mature Age Entry applicants admitted under the Private Sponsorship Scheme for the Academic Year 2023/2024.
The lists can be accessed by following the links below:
I am delighted to present to you the Makerere University School of Law 2023 Annual report. The report highlights the major activities undertaken and the major outputs in light of our core mandate of teaching, research and community outreach. It also highlights the challenges the School is facing and future plans.
With respect to teaching and learning, we successfully implemented all the scheduled activities including teaching, examinations, orientation for new freshers, field attachment, graduate admission exams and graduation. At the 73rd graduation ceremony of Makerere University, the School presented a total of 249 graduands of which 23 were awarded Master of Laws degrees and 226 awarded Bachelor of Laws degrees. To make our graduate programmes more relevant and competitive, we revised the Master of Laws programme and the Doctor of Laws programme. Additional to these revised programmes, in the course of next year, we expect to launch two new specialized Master of Laws degree programmes which are currently before the National Council for Higher Education for accreditation.
Students’ participation in moot court competitions is one of the major methodologies we employ in teaching our learners. Besides the learning, participation in moot competitions gives our learners exposure and provides them great opportunities for net-working. I am happy to report that in 2023, our students excelled in all the national and international moot court competitions they participated in. They won the Phillip Jessup International Moot Court Competitions national rounds and were supposed to represent Uganda at the international rounds but failed to secure visas in time. Our students also won the inaugural Gender and the Law moot competition. We emerged first runners-up in the Great Lakes International Humanitarian Law moot court competitions.
In the area of research, our faculty undertook a number of research projects and published many scholarly journal articles, books and reports on different subjects. I congratulate them for these research out puts. Among our major research outputs for 2023 is the edited book volume on Militarization and Development in Uganda. This publication unravels how militarization is taking place in the different sectors, the implications, and the hard choices Uganda has to make with respect to governance, human rights and economic development.
With respect to community outreach, our faculty and students participated in a number of initiatives and activities that were undertaken by our different units in particular, the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC), the Refugee Law Project (RLP) and the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC). Among these include: training of University staff and other stakeholders on refugee rights and duties; training of police officers on disability rights and the law; legal aid camp for students and staff of Makerere University; participation in the Uganda Law Society (ULS) probono day; and conducting the Administrative Law short course in various parts of the country. In addition to providing learning opportunities to students who participate in them, our community outreach activities are very important for making our School more relevant in terms of empowering the local communities and addressing some of their legal-related challenges and needs.
I thank the Government of Uganda, Makerere University Council, Makerere University Top Administration and all our partners and well-wishers for your support that enabled us to implement numerous activities and achieve the highlighted outputs. I also thank colleagues in the administration at our School, staff and students for participating in the different activities.
As We Build for the Future
Ronald Naluwairo, PhD ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR & PRINCIPAL