Breaking the Law

The team took Monday to catch its collective breath after running at full throttle for the prior ten days.  The group that returned Sunday night from gorilla trekking on Saturday bubbled over when they described how cool the rare experience was of spending an hour hanging out with the mountain gorillas.  The eight in our group who trekked had been broken into two groups and tracked two gorillas packs, one of which caught more than a glimpse of energetic efforts to enlarge the herd.  Yikes.

While the rest of the Pepperdine team in Kampala (not including the students, as they returned to work for the judges on Monday) slept, exercised, and explored in the morning, I met with a couple judges about the status of our projects and about their thoughts on the newly rolled out Sentencing Guidelines.

We reconvened for lunch with five of my favorite Ugandans at an excellent Chinese restaurant.  Each of these five judges has worked closely with Pepperdine teams over the last few years, so it was fitting for us to thank and honor them, while at the same time introducing them to the team who came out on this trip.

The Pepperdine Team and Five "Pepperdine" Ugandan Judges

After lunch we spent about an hour with Justice Mukasa, the head of the Criminal Division of the High Court.  As we were waiting for the meeting to begin outside his office, I was caught breaking the law, breaking the law.

You're Not the Boss of Me

We talked about the Sentencing Guidelines, plea bargaining, the upcoming juvenile session – July 15^th for 29 kids awaiting trial, and strategies for increasing the efficiency of the criminal justice system.  I was heartened to learn that one of the primary recommendations in my July 2012 report has come to fruition – a committee of internal stake-holders has been appointed to oversee the statutory implementation of plea bargaining in the adult realm.  The Principal Judge is chairing this blue ribbon committee.

Also during this meeting, Judge Doyle and Professor Chase continued their discussions from lunch about what role they might play in the future in Uganda, both in person and from abroad.

As we were getting ready for dinner, I decided to pull the car around.  My streak of accident-free driving came an abrupt end as a scraped another car as I backed out.  I asked the hotel guard to track the owner of the other car.  A few minutes later, he came out to inspect the damage.  After he surveyed the damage, he named his price and I paid it – 30,000 Uganda Shillings (about $12).

We dined with four of the Sixty Feet team.  Our dinner companions were Kelsey (lead intern who has been here for two years), Aaron (recently arrived intern who joined our team in Fort Portal and is now seriously considering attending Pepperdine this fall), Abby (legal intern with whom I worked last summer and who is working closely with David and me on all things J-FASTER), and Ambassador Edith Ssempala (former Ugandan Ambassador to the United States who serves on Sixty Feet’s Ugandan board).

Pepperdine + Sixty Feet = Gold

I love introducing people I know and love to each other, and a good time was had by all.

Tuesday was leaving day for the Pepperdine team, so we had only one official meeting before I took them souvenir shopping.  We met the Principal Judge, who is the head of the High Court.  We had productive and promising discussions about the new Sentencing Guidelines, the Plea Bargaining committee he is chairing, and the new rollout of mediation (for the first time) in the Civil Division of the High Court.  They have had mediation in the Commercial Division for the past four years, since Pepperdine Nootbaar Fellow John Napier was the country’s first.

Jessie and Sophia Make their First "Appearance" before Judge Doyle in Ugandan Courtroom

Professor Chase in the Prisoners' Dock

It was exciting to plan for new points of collaboration between Pepperdine and the Ugandan Judiciary.  Our relationship continues to expand and we are eager to continue to seek to be helpful to them.

Joline and Jessica are still on the road – they return to Kampala on Thursday evening, where we will all remain until the following Wednesday.

Tomorrow promises to be another interesting day as I join Sixty Feet for my first visit to the Rehabilitation Centre, which is where children who are convicted serve out the remaining time, if any, of their sentences.