SSEKAANA

1. Introduction
   Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) working with the Ugandan Judiciary,  organised an exposure program for Judges and Magistrates at various professional levels. The exposure program was a platform for learning and experience sharing on the intersectionality between vulnerability and access to justice. 
   
   
   
2. Justification 
   Access to Justice is “a process which enables people to claim and obtain justice remedies through formal or informal institutions of justice, and in conformity with human rights standards.” 

Vulnerability is analytical, both a descriptive and prescriptive tool, which involves exploring how societal and institutional arrangements originate to sustain and reinforce vulnerabilities. Groups of vulnerable people include people with neglected and often misunderstood diseases (including the mentally ill and nodding disease victims), Persons with Disabilities, the Elderly, lonely and isolated, Children, the landless, women, especially widows, the chronically sick (including those with HIV/AIDS), the elderly, the youth, the internally displaced, refugees and those living in areas prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides and ethnic minority groups. 

Access to Justice for vulnerable people remains limited for various reasons. Vulnerable persons are mainly illiterate. Most courts are found in the urban areas and central region and use a highly monetised and adversarial system of Justice combined with a strong focus on procedures and rules. These factors can be distressing and disempowering for the vulnerable groups to seek Justice. Judges and Magistrates are products of a society characterised by marginalisation, discrimination, exclusion and exploitation alongside gender, class, and tribe. Thus, they are highly susceptible to conscious and unconscious bias, further exacerbating the situation and leading to extreme vulnerability. 

The intervention was timely for the Judiciary at the time as it is undertaking strategies for the full operationalisation of the Administration of the Judiciary Act and its Strategic Objectives 1 and 4 - To enhance equitable access to Judiciary services and to develop and support the Judiciary workforce and institutional capacity under Strategic Plan V FY2020/2021 – FY2024/2025 to improve business processes for improved efficiency and effectiveness in the administration of Justice. Some of the strategies include improving physical and functional access to Judiciary services and proximity to courts to accommodate people with special needs, such as children, people with disabilities, pregnant and nursing mothers, and the elderly, among others. They are promoting people-centred court services and processes and developing and supporting the Judiciary workforce and institutional capacity with capacity building. 

The exposure program included:

3. Activity
A 10 day exposure program for Ugandan Judicial Officers on Access to justice and Vulnerability in India.

• Rationale
  CSJ was selected because it has made strides and progress in interventions ensuring vulnerable communities access justice. 

CSJ specialises in legal awareness, legal services, policy reforms, and pedagogy for legal education. 

CSJ has a long-standing experience in responding to individual rights violations, which has enabled it to identify systemic issues that hinder access to justice and given it a niche in supporting capacity-building initiatives of individuals and organisations to understand the intersectionality of vulnerability and access to justice. 

The exposure program will, therefore, build the judicial officers’ capacity, give a hands-on learning experience and pick lessons on how to address the intersection of vulnerability and access to justice in Uganda. 

• Objectives
  The exposure program by CSJ in India was  planned with the following objectives:- 

1. To support the Judicial Officers  in understanding of self, and their own relationship with vulnerability
2. To explore the role of a judicial officer in protecting the rights of the vulnerable 
3. To support Judicial Officers explore their role as leaders 

• Short term Outcomes

1. Guided self-exploration sessions on personal experiences of discrimination and exclusion and how they influence self. 
2. Online/offline interactions to explore best practices in India and Uganda around the role of the judiciary in ensuring the protection of the rights of vulnerable people.
3. Field visits, interaction with activists and academics and group reflection on thematic understanding of the rights of the vulnerable.

• Long term Outcomes 

1. Improve access to justice for vulnerable groups in Uganda

• The Ugandan Delegation
  The Ugandan Delegation comprised carefully selected 20 male and female Judges and Magistrates at various career levels who have demonstrated an interest in the intersection of vulnerability and access to justice through their judgements and other professional activities.