Fort Portal High Court Judge Decries Advocates Soliciting Money In Turn For Judicial Favors
A High Court Judge in Fort Portal has expressed deep concern over a growing trend where advocates are allegedly soliciting money from individuals in exchange for favourable judgments.
The high court judge who described the actions by the advocates as unfortunate said it undermines the work of the judiciary emphasizing the importance of maintaining the integrity of the judicial system.
Reports coming in from Fort Portal High Court indicate that advocates of the prestigious court have been soliciting money from individuals illegally for these individuals to obtain certain favours.
The Fort Portal High Court Judge Emmy Vincent Mugabo described the dealings by the advocates as embarrassing to the judicature and lowered their standards as an honourable court. He emphasized the importance of maintaining the integrity of the supreme judiciary hierarchy.
The high court judge highlighted that such practices undermine the fundamental principles of justice, erode public trust, and tarnish the reputation of the legal profession.
The issue came to light during the District Chain-linked Committee held at Fort Portal court in Booma. The meeting was organized to review the Fort Portal court’s performance and find ways of how best they can improve in areas where they are not doing well.
In the report released by the Fort Portal Chief Magistrate Moses Nabenda, in October, the chief magistrate’s court had a total of 1150 cases which were both criminal and civil, out of these, Nabenda reports that 144 cases were backlogged.
The Fort Portal Chief Magistrate also reveals that in the same month, his court was able to register 106 cases while his team was able to complete a total of 247 cases.
This according to him doubled the number of cases that had been reported.
However, justice Mugabo expressed deep concern over the escalating numbers of children held in the Fort Portal remand home and government prisons calling for urgent attention to address this growing crisis that raises serious questions about the welfare and future of the affected children.
