BAKAMPA BRIAN BARYAGUMA
MOBILE: +256753124713 / +256772748300;
EMAIL: bakampasenior@gmail.com;
WEB ADDRESS: www.huntedthinker.blogspot.com;
Kampala, Uganda.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Monday, 30th
March, 2026.
To:
The Court Administrator,
Court of Appeal of Uganda,
Courts of Judicature,
KAMPALA.
Your Lordship,
Re: Overriding Circumstances Justifying
Overlooking the Court’s First In, First
Out Principle, Necessitating Appointing a Panel of Justices to Hear and
Determine Civil
Appeal No.
"What
counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference
we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the
life we lead," Nelson Mandela.
Thank
you for your good service to Uganda, my Lord. God bless you.
 |
| The letter was duly served on the Court Administrator and L.D.C.'s advocates as can be seen from the signature and stamp acknowledging receipt of it. The registrar's copy was put on the court's online portal, ECCMIS. |
I have written many letters to Your Lordship and to the
former Deputy Chief Justice requesting for a panel of justices to hear and
determine my above captioned appeal and its attendant application. But my
requests have been denied on all occasions.
In reply to my latest letter dated Friday, 20th
February, 2026, Your Lordship instructed HW the Registrar to constitute a panel
in compliance with this court’s first
in, first out principle. I am very grateful for this directive; thank
you very much, my Lord. But it is not enough because effectively it means that the
case cannot be heard urgently and soon enough, like in the upcoming session of
April this year that I am reliably informed of, considering that there are already
older cases that are cause-listed to be heard first and disposed of by the
court.
Fortunately, I learnt that if there are overriding or
extraordinary circumstances justifying overlooking the fist in, first out principle, then latter cases can be churned out
before earlier ones; and, my Lord, there
indeed exist such circumstances in my case i.e. one, that it is soon being rendered moot and, two, my professional career life and prospects are fast dwindling due
to denial of justice.
On
my case being soon rendered moot
Your Lordship, as I pointed out in my previous letters, the
Government of Uganda is in the process of abolishing the Law Development Centre
(LDC) – my opponent in the case – and Attorney General has already issued a
draft Bill to this effect. By this Bill, people who failed three or more examinations at LDC but are not
registered students of LDC immediately before the commencement of the Act, are
shut out of the proposed National Legal Examinations Centre (NLEC) and are thus never to become advocates to practise their
profession. See clause 53 (2) and (3) (draft of 22nd July 2025). (The relevant page of the Bill
having the clause is extracted and hereon attached as “A” for your reference.)
In
summary, sub-clause (2) provides that a person who immediately before the
commencement of the Act was registered as a student of LDC and has failed three
or more examinations shall enroll to study the postgraduate diploma in legal
practice programme at an accredited institution. On the other hand, sub-clause
(3) propounds that a person who immediately before the commencement of the Act
was registered as a student of LDC, fails a supplementary examination set by
the envisaged National Legal Examinations Centre shall apply to study the
postgraduate diploma in legal practice programme at an accredited institution. My
Lord, I am adversely affected by this provision.
I fall squarely in the category of people locked out of the new
NLEC because
as the situation stands now, I stand dismissed from LDC for failing four (4)
examinations. Actually, it is not far-fetched to say that I am the primary and
principal target of this sinister and bad-hearted provision, aiming at making
my case in this court moot. What an absurdity this
is!
For reason of avoiding this absurdity and preventing the court
itself from being somewhat responsible for occasioning injustice to me, I
request Your Lordship to appoint
a panel of justices to hear and determine my said
appeal and its attendant application.
On
my professional career life and prospects fast dying out due to injustice
My Lord, I am now forty (40) years old and soon to be 41, on
5th August 2026. Clearly the days of me practising my legal
profession are fast dwindling and phasing out. Yet law is my only
course/profession. It is not like I have any other before it on which to fall
back.
Therefore, on this account also, I earnestly request the
Court of Appeal, through Your Lordship, to give me a chance to salvage what little
is left of my career prospects by giving me a chance to make my case before a
panel of justices for justice to be served. My case is very good, with high
probability of success. I spent many years fighting for reforms at LDC so that later
students do not suffer the same abuse my peers and I endured; now is my turn to
be liberated also.
In conclusion, I implore Your Lordship to find my aforesaid extraordinary
circumstances meritorious enough to justify overlooking the court’s first in, first out principle, thus necessitating
appointing a panel of justices to hear and determine Civil
Appeal No.
My Lord, even if it is said that my opponent, LDC, will be
replaced by another entity, the National Legal Examinations Centre, against which I can continue my case (but remember that the proposed law
prohibits this), surely the ease, simplicity and clarity with which
prosecution of the case can be done cannot be the same as if it were with LDC –
much like it is when dealing with an administrator of an estate vis-à-vis the
deceased person him/herself. Removing LDC will negatively impact the progress,
outcome and even conclusion of my case. Imagine, for example, how would I
complete my bar course, if need be? It is therefore imperative that a court bench
be empanelled immediately to dispose of the case. A slot in the upcoming April session
will be most appreciated.
Most obliged,
Bakampa
Brian Baryaguma
Appellant/Applicant
Mob:
+256753124713.
Email:
bakampasenior@gmail.com.
Copy to: Registrar,
Civil
Kyagaba & Otatiina Advocates (also p/a Dentons)
No comments:
Post a Comment