Law Commons^™

Uganda’S New Sentencing Guidelines: Introduction, Initial Assessment And Early Recommendations, David B. Dennison

David Brian Dennison

In April of 2013 the Chief Justice of Uganda issued the Constitution (Sentencing Guidelines for the Courts of (Practice). In doing so Uganda joined a movement of criminal justice reform that cuts across anglophone jurisdictions. This article includes a general background on the emergence of sentencing guidelines and the two primary structural approaches to sentencing guidelines design.

This article’s primary purpose is to offer a preliminary critical assessment of Uganda’s Sentencing Guidelines. An overview of key features in the Sentencing Guidelines serves as a prelude to the analytical content.

Uganda’s Sentencing Guidelines are a commendable effort. They are more than …

Confronting Child Sacrifice In Uganda: A Multi-Layered View, David B. Dennison, Heather Pate, Frieda Faith Letacie

David Brian Dennison

Child sacrifice is disturbingly commonplace in Uganda. Despite various efforts to combat this scourge, Ugandan children continue to suffer and die. The social, religious, economic and cultural roots that sustain child sacrifice in Uganda run deep. Engaging the challenge of eliminating child sacrifice requires a multi-layered assessment of the problem.

This paper begins by providing readers with a sense of scope and intensity of child sacrifice in Uganda. Next it catalogues certain duties and obligations relevant to child sacrifice arising from international and regional treaty commitments. The paper then presents the domestic legal framework relevant to child sacrifice matters and …

The Political Question Doctrine In Uganda: A Reassessment In The Wake Of The Cehurd, David B. Dennison

David Brian Dennison

The political question doctrine protects certain governmental actions and decisions from judicial review. The doctrine emerged in the United States in the early 19th Century. It reached Ugandan jurisprudence in Ex parte Matovu in 1966. After Matovu, the doctrine existed in relative obscurity in Uganda. The doctrine made a dramatic resurgence in the Constitutional Court’s judgment in Centre of Health Human Rights & Development (CEHURD) and Three Others v. Attorney General.

In CEHURD, the Constitutional Court held that the political question doctrine prevented the court from reviewing government policy concerning the provision of maternal health care. The CEHURD judgment ruffled …