Courts fall under the judiciary, which is one of the arms of the state. They are government organs, which are charged with the administration of justice. Courts are presided over by Judges, Magistrates, and L.C. Chairpersons in the case of L.C. courts. Courts administer justice with the aid of police, lawyers and the society at large through giving evidence. The following are the Courts of law in Uganda:
1. The Supreme Court of Uganda
Until October 1977, the Court of Appeal of East Africa was the final appellate court in Uganda’s judicial system as well as that of Kenya and Tanzania. However, on the disintegration of the East African Community the East Africa Court of Appeal broke up and this gave rise to three individual Courts of Appeal.
In the case of Uganda, the Court of Appeal was renamed the Supreme Court by the 1996 Judicature Statute and the 1995 Constitution. The Supreme Court is the Highest Court of the land and basically has only appellate jurisdiction. It entertains appeals from the Court of Appeal of Uganda and from the Constitutional Court. But it has Unlimited Civil, Criminal and territorial Jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court is the highest Court in the land and it has only appellate jurisdiction; it does not have original jurisdiction except in the case of Presidential Election Petitions. It is comprised of the Chief Justice (C.J) and other justices of the Supreme Court who must not be less than five (5) while hearing / entertaining an appeal.
The President, in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission, appoints the chief Justice and other judges. He is the head of the judiciary. The Deputy Chief Justice who heads the Court of Appeal deputizes the Chief Justice. The Supreme Court has powers to uphold decisions from the lower courts, reverse them and to substitute judgments or to order for a fresh trial. The procedure, powers and jurisdictions of the Supreme Court are regulated by the Supreme Court Rules, 1996.
2. The Court of Appeal of Uganda.
This is the second highest court in the land. While presiding over matters, it is duly constituted when it consists of an odd number not less than 3 justices of the Court of Appeal. It is this court, which constitutes itself into a Constitutional Court in accordance with the constitution, to hear Constitutional Cases.
The Constitutional Court consists of five justices and handles all matters, issues or cases concerning the interpretation of the constitution. The Court of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction. It handles appeals from the High Court of Uganda. It only has original jurisdiction when sitting as a Constitutional Court. Otherwise, it has unlimited Civil, Criminal, Territorial and Constitutional jurisdiction in such matters. The Court of Appeal Rules, 1996, governs its procedure and powers.
3. The High Court of Uganda
It is the third highest in the hierarchy. It has unlimited original, civil, criminal and territorial jurisdiction. It means that it can try any case from Uganda, of any value of the subject matter or any crime committed and can impose any penalty conferred by law. It even has power to do anything or issue any order to further justice by virtue of S. 101 of the Civil Procedure Act. 12 The judges of the High Court and all the above courts enjoy security of tenure and cannot easily be removed. The High Court is presided over by one Judge but in criminal cases they sit with assessors.
The High Court also has supervisory jurisdiction over all subordinate courts and over all administrative bodies. It exercises this kind of jurisdiction by giving prerogative orders, which include the following:
1. Habeas Corpus.
This is a prerogative remedy, which is available from the High Court, and it is directed against persons or Institutions, which are alleged to be detaining a particular person in a manner that is contrary to the established law. The Constitution protects all persons from any form of illegal detention. The circumstances for lawful detention are specified under the law, i.e. in gazetted areas and for a maximum of 48 hours (. Art. 23 (2) & (4)). Therefore Public Authorities which abuse their powers by engaging in unlawful detention of citizens can, can be subjected to habeas corpus proceedings and a purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is to command the detaining authority to appear before Court and present the alleged victim with a view of establishing reasons for the continued detention of such victim. (Cf cases of people detained in “safe houses”.)
2. Mandamus
This is an order issued to any person or body of persons directing them to carry out a public duty according to the law. In R –VS- Dunsheath Exparte Meredith (1950) 2 ALLER 741 it was stated that mandamus is issued where an injured party has a right to have anything done and has no other specific means of compelling its performance. Mandamus is neither a writ of course but will be granted if the duty is in the nature of a public duty and specifically affects the individual, provided there is no appropriate remedy. The person to whom it is issued must be under a statutory duty to do something. In Christopher Sebuliba –VS- Treasury Office of Accounts Misc. Appn. 127/92, it was stated that a prerogative writ of mandamus is a presumptive writ whose purpose is for the Court to protect the citizen against government and the abuse of executive power by forcing the arm of government to function in order that the citizen is not put at a loss.
3. Prohibition
This is an order issued to an inferior Court, tribunal or a public body or person, prohibiting the doing of a certain thing either without power or in excess of its power or jurisdiction or where the rules of natural justice have been infringed. Prohibition is usually called for in situations where the alleged Act of a Public authority is likely to lead to either loss or damage or other inconvenience to the aggrieved party. The order is therefore meant to minimize the consequences of an act alleged to be illegal. (E.g. awarding of tenders by local authority, contrary to established procedure.)
4. Certiorari
This is an order directed to inferior courts, tribunals or administrative bodies exercising judicial functions, to have the record of the proceedings presented to the High Court for scrutiny. An order of Certiorari may squash the decision or correct errors found in the lower courts judgment. 13 Illustration: Charles Sserunjogi –VS- The Returning Office, Electoral Commission & Bbosa Kiyingi Misc. Cause No. 7/2001; The Returning Officer was in breach of S.55 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, No.8/2001, i.e. he ordered for a re-count of votes after the Applicant had been declared winner and the results submitted to the Electoral Commission. Upon service on the Applicant, of a notice of intention to recount, the Applicant applied to the High Court for an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Returning Officer and the same was granted. Note that the High Court also has powers to give prerogative remedies such as specific performance, injunctions and relief against forfeiture for non-payment of rent. The High Court also sits as the Commercial Court, in the High Court Commercial Division. The establishment of the High Court Commercial division was meant to bring about expeditious settlement of commercial disputes and to bring about business efficiency.
4. The Chief Magistrates Courts of Uganda.
The Magistrates Courts Act, Cap 16, establishes Magistrates’ Courts. A Chief Magistrates’ Court is presided over by a Chief Magistrate who possesses a law Degree. This court may try all offences except those whose maximum penalty is death. Thus they have limited original criminal jurisdiction. In Civil Cases, they also have limited original jurisdiction for they can only try civil cases whose value does not exceed 50 million. They have appellate jurisdiction from grade II courts. This court has supervisory powers over all magistrates’ courts of the lower levels.
Magistrate Grade 1
This court is presided over by Grade I magistrates who must also be qualified lawyers. They are ordinarily situated at District Head quarters. Their criminal jurisdiction is limited to offences whose maximum penalty is not death or life imprisonment. Their civil jurisdiction is limited is limited to cases whose values of subject matter does not exceed 20 million.
Outside the mainstream court structure, there are specialized courts with specific powers. These are:
1) The Industrial Court;
This court is established by the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act Cap 224. Its main objective is to determine trade disputes between employers and employees. It is presided over by a judge appointed by the president in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.
2) The Court Martial;
These are military courts established to try offences under the military law. It s jurisdiction is penal and disciplinary in nature. See UPDF Act, Cap 307.
3) Human Rights Court;
Its jurisdiction is limited to activities, which are done in violation of human rights. It has powers to make orders for compensation to the person whose rights are proved to have been violated. It should be noted that there are a number of other avenues for settling disputes e.g. Tribunals such as the Tax appeals Tribunal, Land Tribunals e.t.c. But the High Court has appellate and supervisory jurisdiction from most of them.
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