“You can refer to judges as Mr. Justice or Madam Justice, Mr. Judge or Madam Judge for High Court and if you are dealing with the magistrates, you will address them with their judicial titles, including by name or by surname,” Ssemakadde said.
However, some advocates who attended the press conference raised concern about the ban.
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Uganda Law Society President Isaac Ssemakadde made the announcement in a press release issued to commemorate Saba Saba Day, an East African annual observance connected to resisting authoritarianism.
“We must dismantle the colonial foundations of Uganda’s justice system. Our system needs to be reformed so that it becomes a citizen-centred justice system,” he said.
The Law Society also urged its members to do away with the traditional court practice of bowing in court to judges or magistrates, arguing that it “reinforces the imbalance between citizens and judicial officers” and “disempowers advocates and litigants”.
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Ssemakadde’s statement followed a press release on Tuesday that had not been made available to reporters.
He said a public consultation on Uganda’s colonial legal legacies would take place within 90 days. The consultations will discuss other reforms, such as the continued use of wigs, gowns, and complicated legal language in Ugandan courts.
“The Law Society of Uganda will initiate a 90-day nationwide consultation on our colonial legal legacies so as to review other relevant aspects, including the use of judicial wigs and gowns and verbose legal language, in order to make Uganda’s justice system truly a citizen-centric justice system and reflective of the contemporary Ugandan society,” read the press release.
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The ruling comes as several jurisdictions within the Commonwealth have been debating whether to retain colonial practices in their judicial systems.
