Court stops law society meeting over judge's ruling

The High Court in Kampala has stopped the Uganda Law Society from convening an extraordinary meeting to discuss the alleged judicial misconduct and incompetence of Justice Jesse Rugyema Byaruhanga relating to his decision involving the Tilenga oil project in Hoima District. The Monitor reports that Judge Emmanuel Baguma said the Law Society does not have the powers to discipline a judicial officer. ‘This application succeeds with the following orders; an order of prohibition is hereby issued against the respondent from discussing the alleged judicial misconduct, incompetence, bias, irregularities and illegalities of ... Rugyema,’ ruled Baguma. He added: ‘It goes without saying that the mandate to handle complaints and disciplining judicial officers is a preserve of the Judicial Service Commission and not any other body. The respondent, by making a decision to call a meeting whose agenda was to do what it’s not mandated to do, amounted to an illegality actionable by judicial review.’ Baguma also ruled that ‘judicial decisions are only challenged by appealing, revision or review and not by discussion or explanation outside the judgment itself’. ‘When the respondent received the petition to convene the extra general meeting to discuss the conduct of a judicial officer, it was procedurally fair and just that the applicant as a member of the council and likely to be affected by the subject of discussion should have been informed. Failure to do so amounts to procedural unfairness on the part of the applicant,’ Baguma ruled.