By Mulengera Reporters
Not very long ago, some of the Ugandan Judges serving on both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal (aka Constitutional Court) converged in the Western Ugandan City of Mbarara where they reflected on the demonization and bad publicity the Dr. Kizza Besigye trial in the court martial has caused their institution of the Judiciary since his dramatic arrest last November from the Kenyan Capital Nairobi.
Knowledgeable sources say it was strictly a closed session to which no media was invited nor permitted. It was right to have this discussion and create new thinking and understanding around the legal provisions enshrined under Chapter 8 of the Constitution. This inter-alia refers to the hierarchy of Courts, which everyone desiring to have a clear understanding of the position of the court martial and military tribunals ought to read and comprehend.
To their credit, the retreat organizers invited Chief Justice Emeritus Benjamin Odoki who besides holding that very important office for such a long time also famously chaired the Review Commission which collected ordinary Ugandans’ views and opinions on what the populace desired the 1995 Constitution to look like.
Odoki reportedly gave very good insights which enabled the Honorable Justices to have a better understanding and more clarity of the Constitution’s Chapter 8 especially that part relating to the hierarchy of Courts.
And briefly here is why the placement, alignment and positioning of the Court Martial and military tribunals (whose authority to try civilians is what the Supreme Court will be pronouncing itself about on 31st January) has remained complex for many lawyers, scholars and judicial officers.
The Supreme law of the land makes reference to several other tribunals such as the Industrial Court, equating it to the High Court, but remains conspicuously silent about the Court Martial or military tribunals which are exclusively referenced and provided for under the UPDF Act.
You have other tribunals like the Electricity one and another on Taxation disputes but not much on military tribunals. And it’s very clear where and how one appeals against a decision from any of these tribunals in case of dissatisfaction with their decisions. It’s not that clear regarding decisions from military tribunals.
So, there has always been need to agree and provide for the placement of the court martial and the army tribunals so that there is consensus and clear direction on how to handle and entertain appeals coming from there.
At what level do you place the appeals from the court martial? Do such appeals lie with the High Court as is the case with matters from the tax tribunal? Or is it with the Court of Appeal? What relationship ought to exist between the court martial and say the High Court or CoA without contravening the hierarchy of courts-related provisions under the Constitution?
At the Mbarara retreat, members present ought to have reflected on all these questions while equally focusing on the need to reset the country’s Constitutional dispensation regarding the appropriate alignment and placement of the military court martial and the relevant military tribunals in the overall hierarchy of courts.(For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
