Africa-Press – Uganda. The Judiciary’s bid to expand the Small Claims Procedure, one of its innovations aimed at quick disposal of cases, has now moved to cover more courts in Western Uganda.
The Judiciary notice seen by this publication indicates that five courts are to launch the innovation starting today in its 3rd quarter exercise.
The Small Claims Court, a new justice procedure, was established in 2012 to adjudicate disputes whose subject face value does not exceed Shs10m and with lawyers not involved.
The courts to launch this innovation are Bunagana (today), Kyaniak (today), Rubanda (tomorrow), Rwashameire (Wednesday), and Ndeija (Thursday).
Giving advantages of this innovation in the Judiciary, Ms Mastula Mulondo, the assistant registrar of the Small Claims Court Registry, said at the weekend that the same process is quick as the dispute has to be settled within 30 days.
She added that it is cheap as it doesn’t involve the hiring of lawyers, and that it is very informal as it allows the litigants to represent themselves in court and also use their native languages.
“On the side of the Judiciary, it has helped to reduce and fight case backlog since cases are completed in time,” Ms Mulondo said.
Usually, the cases that are adjudicated by way of Small Claims arise from the supply of goods, debts, and rent, among other commercial disputes.
Statistics
Statistics from the Judiciary show that the case backlog is more than 43,000 cases. A case qualifies to fall under backlog when it has been in the system for more than two years without being concluded.
The Judiciary’s annual performance report of 2021/22 presented by Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo showed that the roll-out of the Small Claims Procedure (SCP) was programmed on a country-wide basis.
So far, 182 magistrate courts have since embraced this innovation out of the 481 gazetted courts. The disposal rate of cases under this innovation is 71.3 percent.
For example, during the reporting period, 5,363 cases had been registered out of which 5,086 cases were successfully disposed of.
Overall, the Small Claims innovation has since seen the recovery of over Shs16b in the same reporting period.
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