By Ritah Kemigisa
The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
The resolution is among the several that were adopted during the Council’s 50th session that was concluded last week in Geneva, Switzerland.
In this resolution, the council called upon all states to guarantee the independence of judges and lawyers and the objectivity and impartiality of prosecutors, and to promote the full, equal, and meaningful participation and representation of women at all levels of the administration of justice.
Speaking to KFM, the ULS president Ms. Pheona Wall says this is a timely and welcome move.
She notes that in Uganda although many women join legal education, just a few actually get to practice, expressing hope that this UNHRC resolution will help change this trend.
“I think it’s going to mean a transformation, as you know very well the Uganda Law society is really the source of all judicial officers and you’ll find that much as women are almost 50-50 when it comes to legal education, when we go into practice there are very few that end up in actual private practice of the law and we’ve even had fewer in the judiciary.
Ms Wall however quickly adds that Uganda is doing a lot better now when it comes to comes women representation in the judiciary.
“Of late we are encouraged by the numbers and we want to thank the government of Uganda because we see that as a country we seem a bit way ahead, but there are gaps at other levels of administration like parliament and local government that need to be checked”, said Ms Wall.
During the just concluded 50th regular session of the UNHRC, 24 resolutions were adopted and 8 special procedure mandate holders were appointed.
The next session is slated for 12 September – 7 October 2022.
