The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court will be temporarily closed from February 5 to February 9 for the annual judges conference in Kampala.
Litigants with ongoing cases are advised to wait until the conference concludes to access court services. The conference, held at Serena Hotel, will focus on a “People-Centered Approach to Justice.”
Mr. James Mawanda Ereemye, the Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary, announced the closure during a press briefing on February 2nd 2023.
“I would like to inform the general public that next week starting on Monday 5th up to Friday 9th, February, there will be a judges’ conference that targets justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the High Court. So the general public is notified that operations in these courts will not be there,” Mr James Mawanda Ereemye, the Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary said on February 2 during a press briefing ahead of the conference.
Supreme Court Justice Mike Chibita, who is also the chairperson of the organizing committee, highlighted the conference’s objectives, including the sharing of views and experiences among judges, addressing case backlog, exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence in judgment writing, and discussing health and resource management within the Judiciary.
The conference will climax with the grand opening of the twin towers that house the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal on Friday 9. President Museveni is expected to be the chief guest at the opening ceremony.
“We will start the day with that key note address I have talked about and then the commissioning of the buildings. It will end with the New Law year and there will be speeches including one from the Uganda Law Society, the Permanent Secretary who will explain the journey of the buildings, the Attorney General who is the head of the Bar , the Minister of Justice and then the speech of the Chief Justice explaining what the Judiciary has done in the past year and the coming year, then afterwards His Excellency will be speaking,” the Chief Registrar Ms Sarah Langa Siu, said on February 1.
The Judiciary’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Pius Bigirimana said Shs110b was spent on the construction of the said twin buildings.He added that with strict supervision, the government saved Shs16b.
The commissioning of the twin tower buildings will save the Judiciary at least Shs6 billion it has been annually paying in rent for the two appellate courts. The Judiciary spends about Shs10 billion annually on rent of its court premises countrywide. Expenditure on rent is expected to reduce to about Shs4b annually across the courts country wide.
The twin towers are located just above the Constitutional Square, sharing the same space premises with the High Court.The seven-storey twin towers have two basement parking floors big enough to accommodate 226 vehicles at ago, customized courthouses, modern courtrooms, chambers for justices, restaurant, gym, childcare centers, and a conference hall among other modern amenities.
The opening ceremony will also feature speeches from various dignitaries, including the Uganda Law Society, the Permanent Secretary, the Attorney General, the Minister of Justice, and the Chief Justice.