The Judiciary has unveiled new bail guidelines aimed at promoting uniformity and consistency by courts while considering bail applications.
The new guidelines, launched by Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo at the Judiciary headquarters on Wednesday, require courts to consider and dispose of bail applications expeditiously within 30 days from receipt of the application, with the intention of reducing incidences of pre-trial detention.
In the past, there was no time-frame for considering and determining bail applications. While presenting the bail guidelines, the former Uganda Law Society President, Francis Gimara, said that it would take between one and six years for a simple bail application to be disposed of in some cases.
According to the new guidelines, where an offence is triable by both the High Court and the Magistrate’s Court and the accused person has been on remand for 60 days before the commencement of trial, the person shall be released on bail on such conditions that the Court considers reasonable.
The same guidelines also indicate that when the offenses are triable by the High Court only and an accused person has been on remand for six months before the case is committed for trial, the Magistrate shall immediately refer the file to the High Court for mandatory release on bail. Previously, magistrates could grant bail for capital offences if an accused person went six months without being committed to face trial, but the new guidelines strip them of such authority.
The guidelines state that when granting bail, the courts will give an opportunity to a complainant to submit any information that he or she thinks should be considered by the court in making a decision. But on the issue of granting bail to capital offenders, such as charges of terrorism, cattle rustling, rape, aggravated defilement, embezzlement, corruption, bribery of a member of a public body, and others, where a magistrate lacks jurisdiction to try them, the person who wants bail must plead exceptional circumstances.
The exceptional circumstances listed in the Guidelines, a copy of which Uganda Radio Network has seen, include having a grave illness certified by a medical officer of the prison or other institution or place where the applicant is detained as being incapable of adequate medical treatment while the applicant is still in custody.
It also requires the applicant to bring a certificate of no objection to bail signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions and proof of infancy or advanced age. The applicant is also required to present an introduction letter from their local councillor one chairperson.
Previously, this was only required from the sureties. The Guidelines drafted in a 24-page document further say that, where applicable, an asylum seeker or refugee registration document issued by the Office of the Prime Minister shall be among the contents of the bail application. Speaking at the launch, Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo faulted the Criminal Investigations Directorate of the police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for stalling the disposal of cases through endless investigations and adjournments, respectively.
He asked the Executive and Parliament to intervene and strengthen the Criminal Investigations Directorate and DPP so that evidence is collected in time to allow cases to be heard without delay, which will reduce the applications for bail. On his part, the Principal Judge, Dr. Flavian Zeija, who also doubles as the Chairperson of the Law Reform Committee of the Judiciary, said in a speech read for him by Justice Musa Ssekaana, that they did robust consultations about the guidelines before they were put in place and encouraged the courts to make good use of them for uniformity purposes.
The guidelines come at a time when the Chief Justice is clashing with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni over bail issues. Museveni has severally called for the scrapping of bail for capital offenders. However, the Chief Justice has insisted that bail remains a constitutional right that shall be granted at the discretion of the presiding judicial officer.
