Judiciary deploys 57 new magistrates
Justice Bart Katureebe
What you need to know:
Appointments. The new magistrates were appointed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) about a month ago after successfully passing the interviews
Kampala.
The Chief Justice, Mr Bart Katureebe, has asked the 57 newly sworn-in Grade One Magistrates to safeguard the independence and image of the Judiciary as they assumed their judicial careers.
Mr Katureebe reminded the new magistrates that they will often be faced with the cancer of corruption that will tempt them to get rich quick but warned them to desist from such schemes. The Chief Justice was last Friday speaking after he administered a judicial oath to the new magistrates at the High Court premises in Kampala.
“As foot soldiers and frontline officers of the Judiciary, you will be faced with very high expectations from the public amid temptations of getting rich quick. These threats and temptations will come from people who are close to you like the court staff, bailiffs, advocates and politicians who will tempt you with bribes and other inducements to tilt the scales of justice,” Justice Katureebe warned the magistrates
“I urge you to resist the cancer of corruption for your own good and that of the profession and the country. I therefore call upon you to safeguard the independence and the public image of the judiciary through adherence to the Uganda Code of Judicial Conduct,” he added
The Chief Justice asked the new magistrates to always be punctual. He said there are some officers who report to their duty stations at 11am to adjourn cases, and by midday, leave to go and run their own errands. Justicce Katureebe said such judicial officers will soon be caught and disciplined.
Speaking at the same swearing in function, Chief Registrar Courts of Judicature Paul Gadenya, advised the magistrates who have been posted to hard-to-reach duty stations to willingly report for duty, saying two years later, they will be transferred.
Mr Gadenya added that government has to that effect, commenced paying an extra fund to judicial officers who work in hard-to-reach areas.
The new magistrates were appointed by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) about a month ago after successfully passing the interviews.
The appointment and posting of the 57 new Grade One magistrates, now brings the total number of Grade One Magistrates to 211.
