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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development

Uganda Public Defender Pilot Project

    Description
    Description
    A pilot project to provide defense counsel for indigent Ugandans accused of crimes in Mukono Magistrate's Court. The Ugandan Judiciary is implementing plea-bargaining into the criminal justice system to reduce case backlog and pretrial detention. Ugandans accused of lower level offenses in Magistrate's Courts do not have the guaranteed right to counsel. In order to facilitate the expansion of plea-bargaining in the Magistrate's Courts and ensure access to justice for all Ugandans, the Judiciary is piloting a public defender project. We will measure the cost savings of this pilot, with more cases resolving through plea bargains and reducing pretrial detention.
    Expected Impact

    This project is hiring two Ugandan advocates to be trained as public defenders. The advocates will work full time in Mukono Magistrate's Court to provide defense counsel to all indigent accused individuals. These advocates will be trained in criminal defense advocacy and plea bargaining. They will facilitate the implementation of plea bargaining at the Magistrate's Court level. The advocates will be managed by the Pepperdine project manager who coordinates with the Technical Advisor the Judiciary. The project is monitored and evaluated by International Justice Mission staff.

    Governed

    This is an initiative of the Ugandan Judiciary. It is supported by Pepperdine University's Global Justice Program. Pepperdine has a memorandum of understanding with the Justice, Law, and Order Sector of the Ugandan government. This allows for effective partnerships between the Judiciary and Pepperdine. Pepperdine provides experts and technical assistance through the presence of a project manager and the organization of conferences and trainings. International Justice Mission supports this initiative due to its long standing presence in Mukono Magistrate's Court. This initiative is overseen by the Pepperdine project manager working directly with the Technical Advisor to the Judiciary.

    Partners
    Ugandan Judiciary
    Pepperdine University School of Law
    International Justice Mission

    Goal 16

    Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

    Goal 16

    16.1

    Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere

    16.1.1
    Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age
    16.1.2
    Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause
    16.1.3

    Proportion of population subjected to (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence and/or (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months

    16.1.4

    Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live after dark

    16.2

    End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children

    16.2.1

    Proportion of children aged 1–17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month

    16.2.2
    Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age and form of exploitation
    16.2.3

    Proportion of young women and men aged 18–29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18

    16.3

    Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all

    16.3.1

    Proportion of victims of (a) physical, (b) psychological and/or (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms

    16.3.2
    Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population
    16.3.3

    Proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism

    16.4

    By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime

    16.4.1
    Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (in current United States dollars)
    16.4.2
    Proportion of seized, found or surrendered arms whose illicit origin or context has been traced or established by a competent authority in line with international instruments

    16.5

    Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms

    16.5.1
    Proportion of persons who had at least one contact with a public official and who paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials, during the previous 12 months
    16.5.2
    Proportion of businesses that had at least one contact with a public official and that paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials during the previous 12 months

    16.6

    Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

    16.6.1
    Primary government expenditures as a proportion of original approved budget, by sector (or by budget codes or similar)
    16.6.2

    Proportion of population satisfied with their last experience of public services

    16.7

    Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels

    16.7.1

    Proportions of positions in national and local institutions, including (a) the legislatures; (b) the public service; and (c) the judiciary, compared to national distributions, by sex, age, persons with disabilities and population groups

    16.7.2
    Proportion of population who believe decision-making is inclusive and responsive, by sex, age, disability and population group

    16.8

    Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance

    16.8.1

    Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations

    16.9

    By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration

    16.9.1
    Proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority, by age

    16.10

    Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements

    16.10.1
    Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in the previous 12 months
    16.10.2
    Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information

    16.a

    Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime

    16.a.1
    Existence of independent national human rights institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles

    16.b

    Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development

    16.b.1
    Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law
    Name Description
    Providing defense counsel to indigent accused individuals in Mukono Magistrate's Court
    Establishing on-going plea bargaining in Mukono Magistrate's Court
    Evaluating the effectiveness of defense counsel in facilitating plea bargaining
    Demonstrating the cost savings and benefits of full time defense advocates in the Ugandan criminal justice system
    Financing (in USD)
    30000
    Staff / Technical expertise
    Judiciary staff: Technical Advisor, Andrew Khaukha. Pepperdine staff: Project Manager, Nicole Banister
    Other, please specify
    Judiciary office space
    Staff / Technical expertise
    International Justice Mission monitoring and evaluation staff
    No progress reports have been submitted. Please sign in and click here to submit one.
    False
    This initiative does not yet fulfil the SMART criteria.
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    Timeline
    01 January 2017 (start date)
    01 December 2017 (date of completion)
    Entity
    Pepperdine University School of Law
    SDGs
    Geographical coverage
    Mukono, Uganda
    Website/More information
    N/A
    Countries
    N/A
    Contact Information

    Nicole Banister, Project Manager