KAMPALA- The Judiciary has revealed that over 17.9 billion shillings was released to the economy at the close of financial year 2023/2024 through Small Claims Procedure one of the Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) Mechanisms the Judiciary innovated to fight the monster called case backlog.
That the said money arose from a total of 23567 cases that were completed through this mechanism called “Small Claims Procedure” which means, ” a case whose subject matter does not exceed ten million shillings.
This was revealed at the Judiciary Headquarters in Kampala, as the Chief Registrar Sarah Langa Sui and Public Relations Officer Ereemye Mawanda addressed the press on the 5th Strategic Plan of unpacking the recently released Annual Performance Report of the Judiciary that was launched by the Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo.
Today the two Judicial Officers told Journalists that they have started unpacking several sections of that report just to give the public a clearer and a detailed understanding of what the Judiciary managed to do at the close of last financial year.
During this press briefing it was also made clear by the Judiciary that “Plea Bargain” which is another ADR Mechanism of resolving cases quickly; should not be taken as a short cut to justice.
According to the Judiciary’s Chief Registrar Sarah Langa Siu the Judiciary is still very available and willing to handle cases of persons who have been charged with criminal matters.
However for many the Judiciary always first holds a Plea Bargain camp to tell people that this is for those who know and believe that they truly committed those offences.
It is not intended for an innocent person who knows that he is innocent but only concerned about a delayed trail, to register for it.
Langa has therefore implored the suspects to let the ADR bodies remain for those who are confident that they committed these offences; and not take it as a short cut to justice.