UK court convicts Justice Mugambe of modern slavery charges

A United Nations judge, Lydia Mugambe, has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave.

Justice Mugambe, 49, also a High Court judge in Uganda, was found guilty of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness.

Prosecutors said Mugambe took "advantage of her status" over her victim in the "most egregious way" by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and provide childcare for free.

The prosecution told the Oxford Crown Court that Justice Mugambe, while pursuing her PhD at Oxford University, lured the woman with promises of work but instead subjected her to forced labour. LBC, a UK news site, reports that prosecutors described Justice Mugambe’s actions as an abuse of her position, taking advantage of the woman’s desire to earn money in the UK. Jurors at Oxford Crown Court were shown police bodycam footage from February 10, 2023, when officers visited Justice Mugambe’s residence in Oxfordshire following reports of a woman being held as a slave.

The footage reportedly shows the woman packing in a bedroom, telling officers she was not allowed to leave until she repaid Justice Mugambe for her travel expenses. The woman, who arrived in the UK in July 2022 on a work visa, expressed her desire to leave Justice Mugambe’s home. Simultaneously, Justice Mugambe was allegedly recorded telling officers the woman was “acting funny” and prioritising work over childcare, the news site reports.

Ms Caroline Haughey KC, prosecutor, told jurors during the trial: "Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused (her alleged victim), taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK."

The court heard that Mugambe had engaged in an "illegal folly" with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa, conspiring to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK.

Prosecutors said the duo participated in a "very dishonest" trade-off, with Mr Mugerwa arranging for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the woman's entrance into the UK in exchange for Mugambe attempting to speak to a judge handling legal action against Mr Mugerwa.

Mugambe's trial heard that she had the intention of "obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself." The young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court she felt "lonely" and "stuck" after her working hours were limited.

Justice Mugambe denied forcing the young woman to do household chores, claiming she "always" treated her with love, care, and patience.

However, the prosecution presented evidence that Mugambe had taken advantage of the woman's vulnerability, exploiting her for her own benefit.

A conviction for modern slavery in the UK carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Who is Justice Mugambe?
Justice Lydia Mugambe is a judge of the High Court in Uganda. Her areas of specialization include international law, criminal law, international human rights law, intellectual property law, insolvency law and practice, trade and investment law, corporate finance and commercial law as well as executive leadership. She also is an expert arbitrator and mediator in areas like oil and gas, artificial intelligence and new edge law, commercial transactions, and land.

She is currently a PhD researcher at the University of Oxford in the UK and holds an LLM in International and Intellectual Property Rights Law (with Distinction) from Lund University in Sweden; and an LLM in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and the Bachelor of Laws with Honors from Makerere University in Uganda. 

She has had specialized training at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Southern Methodist University in Texas, USA as well as the Saiid Business School at Oxford University.
She has over 27 years of work experience at the international, regional, and national levels including in litigation, advisory, legal research, drafting, and training.

Justice Mugambe has worked at both the Chambers Division and the Appeals and Legal Advisory Division of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, the International Bar Association in London, UK, INTERIGHTS in the UK, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, the Judiciary and Law Development Centre - Legal Aid Clinic in Uganda. She also is currently an examiner and contributor for the Oxford Human Rights Hub at Oxford University.

For her exemplary work, she is the winner of the Women’s Link International Gavel Award for 2017; the United States Ambassador’s Human Rights Award - for 2015, and the prestigious Vera Chirwa Award from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 2020. 

She also graduated with a second LLM in International and Intellectual Property Rights Law from Lund University in Sweden. Previously, she briefly worked as a Magistrate in Uganda, as a legal researcher at the International Bar Association in London, UK, and as a Legal Counsel at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.

Justice Mugambe, who was appointed to the High Court Bench in 2013, has presided over a number of influential cases, including the ruling against Mulago National Referral Hospital after their negligence resulted in the disappearance and loss of a newborn twin.
In 2020, Mugambe also ruled in favour of prisoners and Ugandans in the diaspora to be allowed to participate in the general elections and voting of their leaders.

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