The Ugandan Human Rights (Enforcement) Act of 2019: Addressing Some of the Likely Challenges to its Implementation

Abstract

Abstract Article 50(4) of the Constitution provides that ‘Parliament shall make laws for the enforcement of the rights and freedoms under this Chapter [the Bill of Rights].’ In January 2019, the Ugandan Parliament passed the Human Rights (Enforcement) Act to give effect to Article 50(4) of the Constitution. The Act was assented to by the president in March 2019. This Act has the potential to revolutionize the protection of human rights in many ways such as holding public officials accountable for human rights violations; compensating victims of human rights violations; criminalizing the violation of human rights; and requiring courts to nullify trials if a non-derogable right of the accused has been violated. It also stipulates the time within which a victim of a human rights violation has to institute a claim for compensation. Cases have started to emerge from the High Court on some of these issues. The purpose of this article is to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the relevant provisions of this Act, on the issues above, and suggest ways in which the Act can be interpreted by courts to better protect human rights in Uganda. Weakness of the Act include: failure to define some of the offences which means that people will not be prosecuted for violating some non-derogable rights; the fact that the sentence provided for in the Act is not applicable to juristic persons means that they will not be punished for violating human rights; the Act does not address the issue of costs and the danger of excluding evidence which was not obtained through violating a non-derogable. The Act would have to be amended to address these shortcomings.