"The Judiciary of Uganda", A Critical Analysis of Its Independence.

Abstract The study is aimed at examining whether Uganda has done enough to meet the normative standards set by the international community in various instruments on nurturing and maintenance of judiciary as an independent arm of government. The study also eyed at establishing whether Uganda's judiciary is independent, how far has the Ugandan government endeavored to observe its obligation of maintaining and nurturing an independent judicial system as a member of international community. Whether the law guarantees judicial independence, or whether the judicial officers are independent minded in performance of their duties subject to their judicial oath and the conduct of the other arms of government towards judicial decisions. Due to the nature of the study, fieldwork was conducted at Mengo chief magistrate's Court, High Court of Uganda (Commercial Division, Execution division, Civil Division) and at Court of Appeal of Uganda and from renowned law firms in Uganda and the work also is based on qualitative research which was conducted in analytical manner. In conclusion, it has been established that judicial independence is guaranteed under the Ugandan laws but there is lack of will to implement and observe the laws. The procedure of appointment of Judges is transparent but there is external interference especially from the political wing and the civil society. Further the legislature have not readily embraced and honored court decisions. However, security of tenure of Judges is guaranteed under the Ugandan laws.