Court fails to beat judgment deadline on age limit petition
Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo
Kampala- The Constitutional Court has failed to beat the two-month deadline in which it was expected to deliver the judgment in the presidential age limit case after the period expired yesterday.
The Uganda Code of Judicial Conduct gives court 60 days to deliver a judgment that has been put on notice from the date of concluding the hearing.
“A judicial officer shall promptly dispose of the business of the court, but in so doing must ensure that justice prevails…Where a judgment is reserved, it should be delivered within 60 days unless for good reason it is not possible to do so,” Section 6.2 of the Uganda Code of Judicial Conduct reads in part.
However, the Judiciary spokesperson, Mr Emmy Vincent Mugabo, denied that the court had failed to deliver the judgment in time, saying a constitutional matter like this one needs more time to be determined.
“A constitutional petition is not an easy matter. I can cannot say we have failed but I need to find out more details from the court registrar but what I know is that they are finalising with it,” Mr Mugabo said in a telephone interview last evening.
On April 19, a panel of five justices led by Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo heard and concluded the hearing of the age limit petitions in Mbale District and reserved the same judgment on notice.
The petitioners were challenging the entire process that led to the amendment of the Constitution that saw the removal of the presidential upper cap age limit of 75 years and the lower age cap limit of 35 years.
