Africa-Press – Uganda. Hundreds of Court users Tuesday thronged Tororo Chief Magistrates Court grounds to witness the official launch of the High Court Circuit in an event presided over by the Principal Judge the Justice Flavian Zeija.
Tororo High Court Circuit is among the six High Courts that were operationalized by the judicial commission in 2022.
On Tuesday, community members sang songs of praise towards government for establishing a High Court Circuit “expected to improve justice in the region at a reduced cost.”
Earlier, court users dramatized past incidences of frustration due to frequent case adjournment.
But Principal Judge Zeija emphasized that the circuit court will serve key purposes including the reduction of case backlog and the distance that litigants had been travelling from districts of Butaleja, Busia and Tororo to Mbale High Court.
He further urged the resident judge to ensure that “justice is timely by exhausting best practices like good customer care, zero tolerance to corruption and maintenance of organized archives for files and exhibits.”
“I also encourage you to conduct a regular weeding out exercise, physical counting of case files in respect with the court case administration system records, delivery of judgments within two months after hearing as well promoting alternative disputes resolution mechanisms especially plea bargain and small claims procedure,” justice Zeija said.
The minister of state for defense and veteran affairs, Jacob Oboth Oboth, urged professionalism noting that access to justice had been a big challenge especially for the poor.
“Those people who have stationed themselves in courtyard to extort money from our poor people should stop or else they will go to hell. You junior officers should stop taking advantage of people’s anxiety for justice to ask for bribes. All money you get through dubious means is a curse in your families,” he warned.
The judiciary’s chief registrar, Sarah Siu Langa, hailed the district leadership for donating land where the High Court premises are to be constructed.
She reassured members of the public that the launched high court circuit will operate in an open-door policy meant to ensure that litigants are satisfied with the court services and effective accessibility to justice.
‘’Part of the judiciary’s strategies and mechanisms for improving physical access to justice is to take services closer to people,’’ she explained at a ceremony attended by several district political and religious leaders together with some locals.
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