Human rights activist and lawyer Steven Kalali has petitioned the Court of Appeal to crush recent bail guidelines issued by Chief Justice Owiny Dollo on grounds that he usurped legislative powers of parliament.
On June 18th, 2022, the Chief Justice issued new changes to granting bail at the (Bail Guidelines for Courts of Judicature), Practice Directions.
According to the new guidelines, where an offense is triable by both the High Court and Magistrates Court and the accused person has been on remand for 60 days without trial, the person shall be released on bail on such conditions that the court considers reasonable.
The same guidelines also indicate that when the offenses are triable by the High Court only and an accused person has been on remand for six months before the case is committed for trial, the Magistrate shall immediately refer the file to the High Court for mandatory release on bail.
But on the issue of granting bail to Capital offenders such as charges of terrorism, cattle rustling, rape, aggravated defilement, embezzlement, corruption, bribery of a member of a public body, and others where a Magistrate lacks jurisdiction to try them, a person who wants bail must plead exceptional circumstances.
The Magistrate's court is also directed to immediately refer the file to the High Court for mandatory release; an issue that Kalali says is unconstitutional.
He says the actions of enacting these guidelines undermine the provisions of judicial independence enshrined in the constitution and infringe on the right to personal liberty and that they were also made without public consultation which is contrary to the national objectives and directive principles of state policy.
"The guidelines are irregular, unconstitutional and a clear departure from the well-set constitutional principle that judicial power is derived from people and ought to be exercised in accordance with their norms as well as aspirations and as such is unreasonable/unconstitutional in a free Democratic Society," says Kalali in his affidavit.
Kalali wants three guidelines 10, 11, and 14 to be removed on grounds that they are unconstitutional and a clear abuse of the administrative powers
Kalali is also challenging the guideline on bail for capital offenses that will only be granted under exceptional circumstances in circumstances where a Magistrate lacks jurisdiction to try them.
“He tries to make provisions in regard to mandatory bail in Capital offenses and vesting them typically to the high court which has jurisdiction to release any suspect who has spent over 180 days on remand The constitution under article 29 clause 6© clearly says if one has been remanded for 180 days without committal, the court may release that person on terms it may deem feat It doesn’t specify which court,” he says
