GULU – The Court of Appeal will for the next two weeks be working in Gulu District in order to dispose of over 40 cases that have been filed at the court since 2012.
Court of Appeal Justices Percy Tuhaise, Remmy Kasule and Kenneth Kakuru on Monday started the session at Gulu High Court, which they said is intended to eliminate the case backlog.
The court’s presiding officer, Deputy Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny said their decision to pitch camp in the area came following an overwhelming number of appeals they have registered from the region over the years.
During the opening session, Justice Dollo warned lawyers against promoting their personal interests when seeking justice for their clients.
“I am saying, maintain your integrity. You are not a trader and that is why they don’t give you a licence but a certificate to show that this is a professional person who qualifies to help the courts of law deliver justice,” he said.
Justice Kasule said: “Because of this, we decided that this court should come and handle issues of the ordinary people from the ground here instead of them travelling to Kampala,” he said.
Justice Kakuru added: “We plan to be here for two weeks to complete the appeals and come back to deliver judgment on them. We have already had a meeting with the lawyers in Kampala in preparation for this session.”
Ms Margret Orik Obonyo, the Aswa region prisons commander, welcomed the coming of the judges, saying they have so many inmates who have filed appeals.
Mr Conrad Oroya, the regional president of the Uganda Law Society, said the decision by the court to sit in Gulu offers an opportunity to victims who cannot go to Kampala.
“The cost of travel is high and relatives of the accused persons will have an opportunity to come and attend the court. Certainly, this contributes to decrease in case backlog,” Mr Oroya said.
