The Family Justice Summit concluded successfully with Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera expressing satisfaction with the event. He highlighted the importance of the past week's case settlement, which saw a historic 200 cases resolved. The DCJ emphasized the need for ongoing training for advocates and committed to implementing the conference resolutions presented by the Family Division.
Justice Musa Ssekaana underscored the benefits of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in saving time and resources, noting its significance in addressing case backlog. He praised the summit for fostering a collaborative environment to share experiences and solutions.
Justice Eudes John Keitirima acknowledged the support from development partners, especially IDLO, and proposed a quarterly Family Justice Case Settlement Week. He also suggested holding an annual Family Justice Summit and the development of case management rules and mediation processes for family justice.
Some of the recommendations included ;
The Judiciary should provide specialised training and capacity building for judicial officers and staff, lawyers and accredited mediators and other stakeholders.
The Judiciary should engage communities in integration of ADR and AJS in Justice.
The Judiciary should provide resources to the ADR function in Family Justice.
The summit concluded with the distribution of 200 certificates, including 20 personally handed out by the DCJ to advocates.
Article Courtesy of Patience Kengoro & Danielle Nalukenge