KAMPALA, UGANDA: Each lawyer representing an accused person throughout the entire trial on state brief will be paid 1.1 million shillings.
The lawyers on state brief are those appointed by the courts to represent suspects who do not have the financial capacity to hire lawyers and are entitled to legal representation, especially on capital offenses.
The details are included in the Judicature Legal Representation at the Expense of the State Rules, 2022 which was launched on Wednesday by Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo at the Judiciary headquarters in Kampala.
According to the guidelines, an advocate who represents an accused person throughout the full trial will be paid between 400,000 to 1.1 million shillings, while a lawyer who represents to the stage when the DPP withdraws charges will be paid between 200,000 to 400,000 Shillings.
At the stage of no case to answer it will range from 300,000 to 750,000 Shillings, plea bargain 250,000 shillings to 500,000, and at the appeal stage, it will range between 350,000 shillings to 750,000 shillings.
Previously, there was no specific amount of money that was being paid to advocates to represent accused persons on state briefs.
But when the proposal was tabled before the lawyers under their umbrella Uganda Law Society in January 2022, it was criticized vehemently on the basis that the money is too low, something that one would think that the judiciary was to change after the consultation.
Caleb Alaka, a lawyer says that the money is inadequate due to delays in hearing or deciding on the cases. Alaka cited the case before the International Crimes Division of the High Court where one of the former suspected commanders in the Lord’s Resistance Army Thomas Kwoyelo is facing trial for crimes against humanity but for over seven years, the case has never taken shape.
Other lawyers including Susan Wakabala, Paul Mukiibi, and Martin Baryaruhanga argued that the money is inadequate especially when a person has already been convicted. They noted that there is a need to do a lot of research for better representation of their clients which costs more than one Million Shillings.
According to the guidelines, the fees shall be paid as assessed by courts, and where an advocate represents a person on appeal review or revision, they shall be paid fees for the appeal separately and the money will be paid within seven working days following the conclusion of the trial or appeal.
“Any dispute concerning the remuneration payable to an advocate shall be communicated in writing to the Chief Registrar within seven working days after payment and the Chief Registrar shall forward the dispute to the committee within seven days from the date of receipt of the dispute for consideration and disposal”, reads the rules in part.
The same guidelines provide that a person shall not be appointed on state brief unless they have one year experience for cases triable by Magistrates Court, two years experience for cases at High Court, and five years’ experience for cases in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court and they shouldn’t have any previous professional misconduct or disciplinary action.
The rules have been put in place to ensure an expeditious, efficient, and fair trial of the accused persons and establish clear criteria for the selection and remuneration of advocates for state-funded legal representation, and ensure that the interests of justice are met in cases that carry a sentence of death or imprisonment for life.
Justice John Eudes Keitirima said that the advocates will now have enough time to even provide counseling to their clients.
A lawyer who preferred anonymity said, “Nobody will accept that money on an appeal. That money, if it’s for lawyers on state brief, doesn’t usually come in time. And sometimes when it comes, it doesn’t go directly to them. So you find chief magistrates who are shrewd and are eyeing it. I know many who have suffered at Buganda Road Court”.
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