Stop messing up clients’ cases, Justice Katureebe tells lawyers

Law Development Centre students Geoffrey Turyamusiime followed by Isaac Mwebaze join Crane Performers to celebrate the 43rd graduation of the centre in Makerere on Friday. PHOTO by Stephen Wandera.

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Concentrate. Lawyers told to stop going to bars but give clients’ cases more time

KAMPALA.

Chief Justice Bart Katureebe has warned Ugandan lawyers who mess up their clients’ cases due to being ill-prepared before court.

“Many lawyers go to court without preparing. You find a lawyer in a night club and the next day he is in court representing a client’s good case but fails. This has led to court adjourning unnecessarily which has contributed to the backlog of cases. We are coming up with reforms where such behaviour will not be entertained anymore,” Justice Katureebe warned at the graduation of 474 students with diplomas in Legal Practice at Law Development Centre on Friday.

He also urged lawyers to offer free legal service to the poor as a means of reducing case backlog in the courts.

Rising cases
Justice Katureebe said there are more than 1,000 cases which have been lying in court files for more than 10 years without being concluded.

“You should not just work up to 5pm and pack your files back home. Find some time like one hour a week to help the needy, ” he told the law graduates.

Justice Katureebe cited Bushenyi District where he said he found two women who had been on remand for five years without conclusion of their cases. “It pains to have cases that do not even attract six months sentence delay in court,” he lamented.

He also urged the lawyers to get prepared for stiff competition from their colleagues in the East African Community region.
“Think of merging with fellow firms in the region and embrace information technology,” Justice Katureebe advised the students.
The LDC director, Mr Frank Othembi, said the centre is putting up a new structure to accommodate the increasing number of student admissions.

Justice of the Supreme Court Jotham Tumwesigye and Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago attended the event.