Rights activists seek speedy access to justice

Women activists have asked the government to invest in digital and electronic services that support the court processes to speed up access to justice.

Citing the Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS), the activists said the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) should work with telecommunication service providers to improve access to the Internet by lowering the cost of data and other online services for women and girls.

“Access and affordability of the Internet and other digital technologies is critical to achieving gender inclusion. Unfortunately, many structural inequalities such as those in income, education and employment opportunities increase barriers to access and use which women are likely to experience severely,” the women said in a joint statement released yesterday. 

Today the world marks Women’s Day which celebrates the role of women in society.

Addressing a press conference in Kampala yesterday, Ms Elizabeth Ampeirwe from the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) said although the Judiciary has also undertaken some major steps of improving access to justice by migrating from a paper-based filing system to ECCMIS, there is still a need to sensitise women and girls about the system.

“This is a fully featured system that automates and tracks all aspects of a case life cycle from initial filing through disposition and appeal to each individual party for any case type and it is meant to reduce case backlog within the court. But the majority of women in remote areas are still challenged with access to the Internet,” she said. 

Ms Ampeirwe added that ECCMIS is facing resistance from officials from the Judiciary who prefer to use the old system in the delivery of justice.

“This created a double burden for women who already struggle to access justice because they are poorer with lower social status,” she said. 

Ms Ampeirwe also called for a data protection policy saying it will ease access to the Internet and digital services. 

However, Ms Justine Nabwire, the coordinator of the Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), said they have realised that some people may not be able to access ECCMIS due to lack of sensitisation to access the system.

“We need these services lowered to the nearby courts which women can easily access for justice because with the high-level courts using electronic media, women will be left out,” she said 
She added that technology can be used to save evidence of crimes.

She said many cases end up being thrown out of court due to lack of evidence.

“We need national toll-free lines for women, and as starters, we need to advocate for sensitisation on the use of technology to access justice, if we can have toll-free lines reporting cases will be easier,” she said.

Internet access 

According to the Digital 2022 Global overview report, as of January 2022, Uganda’s Internet penetration rate stood at 29.1 percent of the total population.

It added that 49 percent of Ugandans own an Internet-enabled phone, with 71 percent of those connected using a basic phone.

According to UCC, Uganda has the highest-Internet prices in East Africa and as a result, millions of women and girls are either forced to depend on their husbands to access the Internet or remain offline.