Law
72nd Graduation: Doctoral Citations – LAW
ADOCH Caroline
Access to Gender Justice in Uganda: A Feminist Analysis of the Experiences of Rape Victims in the Reporting and Prosecution Processes
Ms. ADOCH Caroline undertook a feminist analysis of how victims of rape experience the criminal justice system as they report and prosecute cases and the impact that this has on their access to justice. The study found that victims of rape who report and prosecute cases do so in a patriarchal colonial criminal justice system that is massively rigged against them; that, rape survivors are re-traumatized in a context fraught with shame, stigma and victim blaming in a criminal justice framework where they have no legally defined position, rights or voice. Ultimately, the criminal justice system does not provide substantive access to justice for women who report and prosecute cases of rape; instead they experience the process as a series of continued gendered violations. The study concludes that many of the difficulties that women face in the criminal justice system are an inherent aspect of the adversarial criminal justice system and cannot be wholly addressed by legal and policy reforms without rooting out those patriarchal structures and legacies. The study recommends a recourse to restorative justice which can provide comprehensive justice and accountability for rape survivors. The study was funded with partial tuition support by Makerere University and CivSource Africa and was supervised by Prof. Sylvia Tamale and Prof. Christopher Mbazira.
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Law
China-Africa Forum for Law School Deans ends with Partners’ committing to enhanced collaboration
On 5th November 2024, Law School Deans, Academicians, researchers and students from Africa and China met at School of Law (SoL), Makerere University in Kampala Uganda for the 6th China-Africa Forum for Law School Deans. The Forum themed, ‘Legal Guarantee and Educational Support for High-Quality Development of China-Africa’ was hosted by SoL in partnership with Renmin University of China and Xiangtan University, China.
This forum was proposed at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in 2021 in Dakar, Senegal, The resultant Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024) explicitly proposed to support holding the China-Africa Forum of Law School Deans to among other things: encourage and assist China-Africa Universities in jointly building China-Africa legal research centres; training of legal professionals; and promoting China-Africa exchanges and cooperation for legal knowledge and legal talents.
In his remarks, Dr. Ronald Naluwairo – Associate Professor and Principal, SoL welcomed participants to SoL, Makerere University and Uganda. ‘SoL opened its doors in 1968 and has grown into one of the greatest schools of law in Africa and enjoys global recognition for its work’, he said. He thanked Xiangtan University, China with who Makerere has a memorandum of understanding for the collaboration that started in 2014 and introducing the other partners present. He expressed hope that at the end of the meeting, tangible areas of collaboration supporting social justice will be defined for the partners; and a compilation of a report of the papers presented for knowledge transfer and policy development.
Professor Henry Alinaitwe – Deputy Vice Chancellor/Finance & Administration, Makerere University represented the Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe. He welcomed participants and encouraged them to tour Uganda, Pearl of Africa before departure for an appreciation of Uganda’s beauty. ‘Teaching of the law can contribute to social transformation of our people in Africa and China. This is therefore an important platform for discussion improvements in legal education for both Africa and China’, he said. Professor Alinaitwe thanked the partners for choosing Makerere to host and hoped for productive, enlightening deliberations during the forum which will lead to enhancement of the collaboration.
The forum was officially opened by His Excellency, Ambassador Zhang Lizhong – Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Uganda. Ambassador Lizhong expressed pleasure at seeing the participants from China and Africa in the room to support the China-Africa collaborations which have built synergy with multiple plans and strategies. He explained that in Uganda alone, China continues to export promotion, infrastructure development (roads, dams, and airport) among others. He noted that there has been an increase of people exchange between China and Africa and it is therefore important that the nations understand better the legal setups for better collaboration and development mutually beneficial to all. ‘I thank Makerere for the support of the collaboration and I hope to see development of legal research centres as outlined in the Accra Action Plan’ the ambassador noted.
Presentations by participants through the day culminated into proposal of the following as key issues for further consideration and development:
- Recognition that legal education and legal exchanges are essential foundations of friendly cooperation between China and Africa and the China-Africa Forum of Law School Deans is an effective platform to promote the cooperation. The Forum will therefore be held regularly.
- Expand the scope, enhance effectiveness and impact of the Forum.
- Establish exchange mechanisms to promote cooperation, including joint international conferences and co-publish academic journals.
- Encourage law teachers’ research cooperation among faculty to improve research quality and facilitate mutual visits.
- Promote friendly exchanges among young legal professionals, providing support for their studies and exchanges at partner institutions
- Collaborate of developing educational programmes, including courses on comparative studies of China-African legal systems.
