Kampala– The Principal Judge, Jane Frances Abodo, has called upon Judicial officers and Lawyers to take the lead position in preaching to Court users about the benefits of mediation in disposing off case disputes.
“Judicial officers, mediation starts with us , it’s mandatory for us to explain to the parties the advantages of mediation and then let them choose which way to go. This involves mindset change because many people know that cases can only be resolved through only litigation.”
She therefore pointed out that once they get to know that mediation not only resolve cases, but it takes lesser time on top of promoting reconciliation, many court users will embrace it.
On the other hand, Abodo emphasized that case backlog in the system not only affect the Court users, but they also affect Judicial officers through draining them. “if we do mediation, we are working on our wellness. Its ripple effect is that it also brings harmony within the community.”
The Principal Judge also called upon the lawyers, to always advise their clients with family related matters to handle them through alternatives Justice mechanisms like mediation adding that many court users believe in the advise of their lawyers than anybody else.
“Most of the time family matters are charged, deep emotional, they go for generations, thinking that you can solve them through court , it’s a joke. They can only fully be resolved by mediation which can fully wipe away people’s tears.”
Abodo further commended the Judicial officers at Family Division, with their staff for their efforts towards the success of this court settlement mediation fortnight.
“My Lord, the Principal Judge, we are happy to have you here, our Philosophy as Family Division of High Court is to ensure that we try as much as possible to unite families because, a family is like a tie it can bend but it cannot break.” Justice Eudes Keitirima, the head of Family Division
Her Worship, Juliet Komugisa, the Assistant Registrar Family of High Court Family Division, in charge mediation Registry at the Division revealed that the Case settlement fortnight kicked off on 29th June 2026 and closing 10th July 2026.
“We have put aside 400 cases to be handled in 2 weeks , we hope to fully settle 100 cases , we have 10 mediators who are fully committed, working here every day and helping parties.” Said Komugisa
She also stated that last week they managed to fully conclude 23 cases of mediation with no possibility of appeal , 7 cases were partially handled.
“We also had 70 unsuccessful cases of mediation but we don’t refer to them as failed case because through that alone we have brought the parties together which were not talking to each other before.”
The common cases before Family Court include Divorce related, Cases involving Child Custody and those regarding estate management.
