Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo has cautioned judges against presiding over the trial of cases where they supervised plea bargaining processes that failed.
The administrative head of the Judiciary reasoned that the judge who has partially heard evidence during the plea bargaining process, will be biased should the process fail and the matter goes on full trial.
A plea bargain is an agreement between the prosecutor and the accused person in a criminal case whereby the latter agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for a lesser punishment or lessened charge.
The caution by the Chief Justice was prompted by retired Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine, who said some judges remain adamant and preside over cases after a botched plea bargaining process.
He said some judges claim that a guilty plea is not equivalent to a confession so they are at liberty to go ahead and hear the matter even if they are privy to the information given by the accused person during the plea bargaining process.
Speaking at the same event, Principal Judge Flavian Zeija said the performance of plea bargaining is exceptional in terms of case backlog and caseload reduction as well as minimizing costs in the administration of criminal justice.
He said Mbarara High Court was the best-performing court in terms of plea bargaining in the recent past, having completed 1,320 cases.
Justice Zeija added that of the 1,320 cases, 518 were non-capital cases whereas 802 were capital cases.
