Address Conflicts between Judges and Lawyers for Peaceful Professional Co-existence

 By Bakampa Brian Baryaguma

bakampasenior@gmail.com; +256753124713

I learnt with great concern that on Friday, 14^th February, 2025 High Court Judge, Justice Musa Ssekaana, sentenced the President of Uganda Law Society, Senior Counsel Isaac Ssemakadde, to two years imprisonment for contempt of court i.e. Justice Ssekaana himself.

First of all, I must declare my conflict of interest in this matter which somewhat complicates my detached and impartial discussion of these developments. The difficulty for me is that both Justice Ssekaana and Senior Counsel Ssemakadde are my friends. So, it is really difficult for me to choose one over the other in terms of either offering praise or leveling criticism. Therefore, whereas what I say is informed by events occurring between the two, I nevertheless speak generally, but not on and about these learned gentlemen per se. Suffice to say that one thing I know for sure is that both men are inherently good people who mean well and are out to do a good job in what they do.

Now, it should be known that there is a boiling conflict in the legal profession between judicial officers and lawyers, which explains the increasingly frequent and even public clashes between the bench and the bar. The misunderstandings come from the conduct and methods of work of the adjudicators and lawyers that members on either side find perverse, unacceptable and intolerable.

So, what or where is the problem? For lack of space, let me summarize it this way: there is shamelessness, extremism and uncouthness among judges and lawyers alike, causing erosion of civility and professionalism. On one hand are judges who make dubious and scandalous decisions with impunity. Many judicial officers today do not care how wrong and ridiculous their decisions are as long as the wishes/desires of their favorites are satisfied. On the other hand are lawyers who, annoyed and frustrated by judges, seek to hit back and punish the judges for their carelessness and insensitivity, in whichever way they can, usually (and increasingly) through public ridicule and scorn on social media. Many lawyers today are unduly disrespectful of their superiors. These are not the only causes and manifestations of the simmering conflict but they are the more prominent nowadays. For now the quarrel is still largely internal but sooner than later, if the causes are not addressed, the discontent will spill over to the general public and become a national crisis/disaster.

Unfortunately, the political and administrative class is either unwilling or unable to intervene and help streamline things by fairly holding offenders accountable to eliminate impunity. If wrongdoers can be detected and uprooted from the system, then discipline and order would prevail. But the regulators/overseers seem to have left it to the judges and lawyers to tussle it out, in a survival for the fittest fashion. This is a recipe for oppression, anarchy and lawlessness.

With all said and done, let us note that infighting in the profession is a luxury we cannot afford. We should all exercise self-restraint, remain civilized, courteous and above all aspire to do our jobs well as demanded by our noble profession. That way, conflicts will be sorted and not dangerously personalized. Going forward, I suggest that we have a joint meeting of judges and lawyers to frankly talk and iron out issues. Jesus’ question, “Can a house divided against itself stand?” aptly comes to mind here. I request the Chief Justice and Attorney General to lead us in reconciliation.

The writer is a lawyer and researcher.