The Chief Justice-CJ Alfonse Owiny-Dollo has directed the resumption of the hearing of both criminal and civil matters under strict observance of the Standard Operating Procedures-SOPs aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Justice Owiny-Dollo, who had also suspended the hearing of Election Petitions, has ordered that hearings resume on August 16th 2021, saying the Principal Judge will be issuing the schedules.
The CJ suspended the hearing of cases for more than 40 days due to a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths resulting from the second wave of the pandemic.
His directive came two days after president; Yoweri Museveni announced the second nationwide lockdown for 42 to contain the second wave of infections.
On July 30, 2021, Museveni lifted the lockdown following the expiry of the 42 days, saying COVID-19 cases had significantly reduced.
Now, in line with the presidential guidelines, Justice Owiny-Dollo has ordered judges in cases where there are more than 10 Advocates in a single election petition to conduct the hearing using Audio- Visual facilities or use open spaces in the court premises where possible.
Dollo said the media interested in covering Election Petition proceedings shall be accredited and guided by the respective court registrars in consultation with the Public Relations Officer to ensure the coverage of Court proceedings is done in an orderly manner.
There are 104 parliamentary election petitions across the country and more than 50 others emanating from the LC V chairperson polls as well as other local council leaders, according to the court records.
