JLOS is a sector wide approach adopted by Government bringing together institutions with closely linked mandates of administering justice and maintaining law and order and human rights, into developing a common vision, policy framework, unified on objectives and plan over the medium term. It focuses on a holistic approach to improving access to and administration of justice through the sector wide approach to planning, budgeting, programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The sector comprises of: Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (MOJCA); Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA); The Judiciary; Uganda Police Force (UPF); Uganda Prison Service (UPS); Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP); Judicial Service Commission (JSC); The Ministry of Local Government (Local Council Courts); The Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development (Probation and Juvenile Justice); The Uganda Law Reform Commission (ULRC); The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC); The Law Development Centre (LDC); The Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT); The Uganda Law Society (ULS); Centre for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (CADER) and The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB)

The sector has over the years prioritized and placed focus on land, family, criminal and commercial justice reform.

Under criminal justice, efforts were placed at enhancing institutional response to crime engage in crime prevention, legislative reform, case backlog reduction programs, human resource development, and increasing the geographical spread of key institutions with specific attention to conflict areas. The sector also has taken positive steps to address prisoner welfare, promote prisoner rehabilitation and community re-integration among others.

Under Commercial Justice, effort is towards improved access to commercial justice countrywide through the formal courts, small claims mechanisms and alternative dispute resolution systems; reform of the regulatory regime restructuring the business registries, streamlining processes and fostering a customer culture to enhance efficiency and reduce costs of doing business; and building capacity for the legal profession to enable effective delivery of services.

Under the Family Justice, the Sector concentrates on support towards legislative reform, increasing staff strength, restructuring and retooling family justice institutions including the Administrator General’s Office, the Family division in the Judiciary, the Family and Child Protection Units in the Uganda Police Force.

Under the Land Justice, focus is on improving land dispute resolution mechanisms while also engaging with other stakeholders to enhance land administration and registration. Interventions aim at streamlining the various dispute resolution mechanisms, strengthening agreed for a especially at the local level, utilizing alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, fostering judicial oversight and supervision and utilizing innovative approaches e.g. piloting the use of paralegals at Local Council Courts and operationalisation of land courts in a number of prioritized districts/regions identified with a huge backlog and with frequent recurring land disputes. Visit Site

Annual Reports

Other Commission Publications

Research and Study Reports

The Department is headed by the Undersecretary assisted by the Principal Assistant Secretary, Senior Personnel Officer, Senior Economist and the Senior Accountant, among other staff members.

The Department’s core functions are to oversee the overall coordination and monitoring of all programmes of the Commission and mobilization of resources; financial, human and material for effective operation of the Commission and analyzing and submitting technical reports on the projects of the Commission. It ensures prudent resource planning and management.

The Department is also charged with collecting and analyzing data for conducting feasibility studies to determine the financial and administrative viability of Commission projects and sets priorities in conjunction with implementing departments. The Department is also responsible for coordinating development plans of the Commission as well as for budgeting.

Activities of the Department

Administration

• Annual and quarterly reports are prepared by the department .
• The Ministerial Policy Statement was prepared and submitted.
• Final accounts for each Financial Year are prepared and submitted to Accountant General on time.
• Responses to Auditor General’s queries for each Financial Year are prepared and submitted to the Public Accounts Committee.
• Recruitment of staff

During the year, the Department facilitated various procurements of the Commission such as:

1. printing of Commission publications;
2. equipment & furniture;
3. media adverts and supplements;

Plans for the year 2011

In the coming year, the Commission will continue implementing its Strategic Plan and the second JLOS Strategic Investment Plan- SIP II. Priority will be given to the following activities:

• completing the recruitment process of all Commission staff and filling in all vacant posts;
• finalising and adopting a work place HIV /AIDS Policy;
• completing and implementing the Commission’s Human Resource Manual;
• reviewing the structure and administrative policies and procedures of the Commission in order to enhance staff welfare and development;
• following-up on the appointment of part-time Commissioners;
• continuing to support staff development through training;
• constantly updating information on the Commission website;
• continuing to mobilize resources and equipment to facilitate Commission activities;
• publishing the Uganda Living Law Journal; compiling the Annual Report; the Ministerial Policy Statement; and other publications from the different Departments of the Commission;

The Law Reform Department is responsible for making changes in the substance of the law so as to make the law useful in achieving its purpose. Accordingly, the Department undertakes studies and research to inform proposals for law reform. It also undertakes documentation, education, training, simplification and translation of laws.

Structure

The Department is headed by a Commissioner who is assisted by an Assistant Commissioner, Principal Legal Officers, Senior Legal Officers, Legal Officers and Sociologists. The Department comprises of three sections namely; law reform and research; education, documentation and training; and sociology.

Activities of the Law Reform Department

The main activities of the Department are to:-

• study, document and make proposals for the modernization of the law through proposals for the substantive change in the law and the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary laws;
• simplify and translate specific laws;
• carry out research, document and make proposals for the integration of different systems of the laws of Uganda;
• make proposals for the improvement of methods in the administration of law and dispensation of justice;
• educate the public on the law making process and the law in action;
• facilitate ope-rationalization of international and regional legal instruments which Uganda has ratified;
• give advisory opinions to any department of government; and
• participate in the activities of the East African Community.

Achievements of the Law Reform Department

The achievements of the Commission under the Department in the year 2010 are reported under the following seven categories:-

• proposals/bills enacted into law;
• bills approved by Cabinet and tabled in Parliament;
• bills submitted to Cabinet for approval;
• bills to be submitted to Cabinet;
• regulations drafted;
• publications made; and
• other on-going activities.

Law revision is the process of updating the law without changing its substance. It is aimed at presenting the law in its correct form at any given time thus facilitating the administration of justice, law enforcement, legal education, research, law reform, efficient use of the law and access to justice.

Structure

The Department is headed by a Commissioner assisted by an Assistant Commissioner, two Principal Legal Officers and two Senior Legal Officers.

Activities of the Law Revision Department

The activities of the Department include the following:-

• ensuring that the laws of Uganda are regularly revised and an up-to date status of the law is produced and made available to and accessed by the public;
• preparing and publishing compendia of related laws to ensure easy accessibility of and reference to the laws;
• managing the database of the revised laws by constantly updating it as new laws are made from time to time;
• constantly analyzing decisions of superior courts to ascertain their effect on legislation and making proposals for review of the affected laws; and
• simplifying and translating specific laws to enhance access to justice by the public.

Achievements of the Law Revision Department

The Department spearheaded the following projects of the Commission: