Trial on Indictments Act

Section Interpretation Section In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires “currency point” has the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act.

Section Jurisdiction of High Court Section The High Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under any written law and may pass any sentence authorised by law; except that no criminal case shall be brought under the cognisance of the High Court for trial unless the accused person has been committed for trial to the High Court in accordance with the Magistrates Courts Act.

Section Sentencing powers of High Court Section The High Court may pass any lawful sentence combining any of the sentences which it is authorised by law to pass. When a person is convicted at one trial of two or more distinct offences, the High Court may sentence him or her for those offences to the several punishments prescribed for them which the court is competent to impose, those punishments, when consisting of imprisonment, to commence the one after the expiration of the other, in such order as the court may direct, unless the court directs that the punishments shall run concurrently. For the purposes of appeal, the aggregate of consecutive sentences imposed under this section, in the case of convictions for several offences at one trial, shall be deemed to be a single sentence.

Section Assessors Section Except as provided by any other written law, all trials before the High Court shall be with the aid of assessors, the number of whom shall be two or more as the court thinks fit. The rules entitled “The Assessors Rules” set out in Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the several matters mentioned in them. The Minister may, by statutory instrument, after consultation with the Chief Justice, amend the Assessors Rules, except rules 2 and 9 of those rules.

Section Place and date of sessions of High Court Section For the exercise of its original criminal jurisdiction, the High Court shall hold sittings at such places and on such days as the Chief Justice or the judge who is to preside may direct. The Chief Registrar of the High Court shall ordinarily give notice beforehand of all such sittings.

Section Notification of substance of warrant Section The police officer or other person executing a warrant of arrest shall notify the substance of the warrant to the person to be arrested and, if so required, shall show him or her the warrant.

Section Person arrested to be brought before court without delay Section The police officer or other person executing a warrant of arrest shall, without unnecessary delay, bring the person arrested before the High Court.

Section Where warrant of arrest may be executed Section A warrant of arrest may be executed at any place in Uganda.

Section Irregularities in warrant of arrest Section Any irregularity or defect in the substance or form of a warrant of arrest, and any variance between it and the indictment, or between either and the evidence produced on the part of the prosecution at any trial, shall not affect the validity of any proceedings at or subsequent to the hearing of the case.

Section Power of court to order prisoner to be brought before it Section Where any accused person whose presence is required by the High Court is confined in any prison, the court may issue an order to the officer-in-charge of the prison requiring him or her to bring the prisoner in proper custody, at a time to be named in the order, before the court. The officer-in-charge, on receipt of the order, shall act in accordance with the order and shall provide for the safe custody of the prisoner during his or her absence from the prison for the purpose aforesaid.

Section Release on bail Section Notwithstanding subsection (1) , in any case where a person has been released on bail, the court may, if it is of the opinion that for any reason the amount of the bail should be increased— The High Court may at any stage in the proceedings release the accused person on bail, that is to say, on taking from him or her a recognisance consisting of a bond, with or without sureties, for such an amount as is reasonable in the circumstances of the case, to appear before the court on such a date and at such a time as is named in the bond. issue a warrant for the arrest of the person released on bail directing that he or she should be brought before it to execute a new bond for an increased amount; and commit the person to prison if he or she fails to execute a new bond for an increased amount.

Section Refusal to grant bail Section Notwithstanding section 15 , the court may refuse to grant bail to a person accused of an offence specified in subsection (2) if he or she does not prove, to the satisfaction of the court— An offence referred to in subsection (1) is— In this section, “exceptional circumstances” means any of the following— In considering whether or not the accused is likely to abscond, the court may take into account the following factors— that exceptional circumstances exist justifying his or her release on bail; and that he or she will not abscond when released on bail. an offence triable only by the High Court; the offence of terrorism and any other offence punishable by more than ten years imprisonment under the Anti-Terrorism Act; the offence of cattle rustling contrary to section 249 of the Penal Code Act; an offence under the Firearms Act, punishable by more than ten years imprisonment; rape, contrary to section 110 of the Penal Code Act; aggravated defilement contrary to section 116(3) and (4) of the Penal Code Act; embezzlement, contrary to section 18 of the Anti-Corruption Act; causing financial loss, contrary to section 19 of the Anti­Corruption Act;...

Section Restriction on period of pretrial remand Section If an accused person has been remanded in custody before the commencement of his or her trial— in respect of any offence punishable by death, for a continuous period exceeding one hundred eighty days; or in respect of any other offence, for a continuous period exceeding sixty days, the judge before whom he or she first appears after the expiration of the relevant period shall release him or her on bail on his or her own recognisance, notwithstanding that he or she is accused of an offence referred to in section 16(1) , unless— he or she has, prior to-the expiration of that period, been committed to the High Court for trial; or the judge is satisfied that it is for the protection of the public that he or she should not be released from custody.

Section Power to order sufficient bail Section If, through mistake, fraud or otherwise, insufficient sureties have been accepted, or if they afterwards become insufficient, the High Court may issue a warrant of arrest directing that the person released on bail be ought before it and may order him or her to find sufficient sureties, and on or her failing so to do may commit him or her to prison. For the purposes of subsection (1) , a person with a disability tail not on the basis of the disability, be taken to be an insufficient surety.

Section Discharge of sureties Section All or any of the sureties for the appearance and attendance of a person released on bail may at any time apply to the High Court to discharge the bond either wholly or so far as it relates to the applicant or applicants. On such application being made, the court shall issue a warrant of arrest directing that the person released be brought before it. On the appearance of that person pursuant to the warrant, or on his or her voluntary surrender, the court shall direct the bond to be discharged either wholly or so far as it relates to the applicant or applicants, and shall call upon that person to find other sufficient sureties, and if he or she fails to do so may commit him or her to prison.

Section Death of surety Section Where a surety to a bond dies before the bond is forfeited, his or her estate shall be discharged from all liability in respect of the bond, but the party who gave the bond may be required to find a new surety.

Section Persons bound by recognisance absconding may be committed Section If it is made to appear to the High Court, by information on oath, that any person bound by recognisance is about to leave Uganda, the court may cause him or her to be arrested and may commit him or her to prison until the trial, unless the court shall see fit to admit him or her to bail upon further recognisance.

Section Forfeiture of recognisance Section Whenever it is proved to the satisfaction of the High Court that a recognisance has been forfeited, the court shall record the grounds of that proof and may call upon any person bound by the recognisance to pay the penalty thereof or to show cause why it should not be paid. If sufficient cause is not shown and the penalty is not paid, the court may proceed to recover the penalty by issuing a warrant for the attachment and sale of the movable property belonging to that person, or his or her estate if he or she is dead. Such warrant may be executed at any place within Uganda, and it shall authorise the attachment and sale of the movable property belonging to such person. If the penalty is not paid and cannot be recovered by such attachment and sale, the person so bound is liable, by order of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months. The court may, at its discretion, remit any portion of the penalty mentioned and enforce payment in part only. When a person who has furnished security is convicted of an offence the commission of which constitutes a breach of the conditions of his or her recognisance, a certified copy of th...

Section Warrant of arrest Section The High Court may issue a warrant of arrest at any time to secure the attendance of the accused person.

Section Form, contents and duration of warrant of arrest Section Every warrant of arrest shall be under the hand of the judge issuing it and shall bear the seal of the High Court. Every warrant of arrest shall state shortly the offence with which the person against whom it is issued is indicted and shall name or otherwise describe that person, and it shall order the person or persons to whom it is directed to apprehend the person against whom it is issued and bring him or her before the High Court to answer to the indictment mentioned in it and to be further dealt with according to law. Every warrant of arrest shall remain in force until it is executed or until it is cancelled by the court.

Section Warrants, to whom directed Section A warrant of arrest may be directed to one or more police officers or chiefs named in it or generally to all police officers or chiefs; except that the judge issuing the warrant may, if its immediate execution is necessary and no police officer or chief is immediately available, direct it to any other person, and that person shall execute the warrant. When a warrant is directed to more officers or persons than one, it may be executed by all or by any one or more of them.

Section Execution of warrant directed to police officer Section A warrant directed to any police officer may also be executed by any other police officer whose name is endorsed upon the warrant by the officer to whom it is directed or endorsed, and similarly a warrant directed to any chief may be executed by any other chief whose name is endorsed on the warrant by the chief to whom it was directed or endorsed.

Section Contents of indictment Section Every indictment shall contain, and shall be sufficient if it contains, a statement of the specific offence or offences with which the accused person is charged, together with such particulars as may be necessary for giving reasonable information as to the nature of the offence charged.

Section Joinder of counts Section Any offences, whether felonies or misdemeanours, may be charged together in the same indictment if the offences charged are founded on the same facts or form or are a part of a series of offences of the same or a similar character. Where more than one offence is charged in an indictment, a description of each offence so charged shall be set out in a separate paragraph of the indictment called a count.

Section Joinder of persons Section The following persons may be joined in one indictment and may be tried together— persons accused of the same offence committed in the course of the same transaction; persons accused of an offence and persons accused of abetment or of an attempt to commit that offence; persons accused of more offences than one of the same kind (that is to say, offences punishable with the same amount of punishment under the same section of the Penal Code Act or of any other written law) committed by them jointly within a period of twelve months; persons accused of different offences committed in the course of the same transaction; persons accused of any offence under Chapters XXIV to XXVIII of the Penal Code Act and persons accused of receiving or retaining property, possession of which is alleged to have been transferred by any such offence committed by the first-named persons, or of abetment of or attempting to commit either of the last-named offences; persons accused of any offence relating to counterfeit coin under Chapter XXXIV of the Penal Code Act, and persons accused of any other offence under that Chapter relating to the same coin, or of abetment of, or at...

Section Rules for framing of indictments Section The following provisions shall apply to all indictments and, notwithstanding any rule of law or practice, an indictment shall, subject to this Act, not be open to objection in respect of its form or contents if it is framed in accordance with this Act— a count of an indictment shall commence with a statement of the offence charged, called the statement of offence; the statement of offence shall describe the offence shortly in ordinary language, avoiding as far as possible the use of technical terms and without necessarily stating all the essential elements of the offence, and it shall contain a reference to the section of the enactment creating the offence; after the statement of the offence, particulars of that offence shall be set out in ordinary language, in which the use of technical terms shall not be necessary; but where any written law limits the particulars of an offence which are required to be given in an indictment, nothing in this paragraph shall require any more particulars to be given than those so required; where an indictment contains more than one count, the counts shall be numbered consecutively; where an enactment...

Section Indictment to be in name of Director of Public Prosecutions Section All indictments shall be in the name of and, subject to section 135 , signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Section Form of indictment Section Every indictment shall bear the date of the day when it is signed and, with such modifications as shall be necessary to adapt it to the circumstances of each case, may commence in the following form— “In the High Court of Uganda at________________________ the day of___________________, 20, at the sessions held ________________________ day of, 20______________________, the court is informed by the Director of Public Prosecutions that____________________________ is charged with the following offence (or offences)”. The registrar of the High Court shall give the accused person and the Director of Public Prosecutions reasonable notice, not being less than fourteen days, of the date of the trial.

Section Sentence of death Section Sentence of death shall be carried out by hanging in accordance with the provisions of the Prisons Act. When any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he or she shall suffer death in the manner authorised by law.

Section Accused to be informed of right to appeal Section When an accused person is sentenced to death, the court shall inform him or her of the period within which, if he or she wishes to appeal, his or her appeal should be preferred.

Section Authority for detention Section A certificate, under the hand of the judge by whom any person has been sentenced, that sentence of death has been passed and naming the person condemned, shall be sufficient authority for the detention of that person.

Section Record and report to be sent to Minister Section As soon as conveniently may be after sentence of death has been pronounced by the court, if no appeal is preferred, or if an appeal is preferred and the sentence is upheld by the Court of Appeal, then as soon as conveniently may be after the determination of the appeal, the High Court shall forward to the Minister a copy of the judgment of the court and of the notes of evidence taken at the trial, with a report in writing signed by the judge who presided at the trial containing any recommendations or observations on the case which he or she may think fit to make. The Minister shall communicate to the High Court the terms of any decision that has been reached by the President with regard to the exercise of the prerogative of mercy in respect of the case to which the report mentioned in subsection (1) relates, and the court shall give directions for the tenor and substance of the terms of the decision of the President to be entered in the records of the court. The President shall issue a death warrant, or an order for the sentence of death to be commuted or a pardon, under his or her hand and the public seal to give effect to t...

Section Sentence of death on pregnant woman Section Where a woman convicted of an offence punishable with death is found in accordance with section 105 to be pregnant, the sentence to be passed on her shall be a sentence of imprisonment for life instead of a sentence of death.

Section Evidence of pregnancy Section Where a woman convicted of an offence punishable with death alleges that she is pregnant, or where the court before whom she is so convicted thinks fit so to order, the question whether or not the woman is pregnant shall, before sentence is passed on her, be determined by the court. The question whether the woman is pregnant or not shall be determined by the court on such evidence as may be laid before it on the part of the woman or on the part of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the court shall find that the woman is not pregnant unless it is proved affirmatively to its satisfaction that she is pregnant. Where on any proceedings under this section the court finds that the woman in question is not pregnant, the woman may appeal to the Court of Appeal, and that court, if satisfied for any reason that the finding should be set aside, shall quash the sentence passed on her and instead of it pass on her a sentence of imprisonment for life.

Section Warrant in case of sentence of imprisonment Section A warrant under the hand of the judge by whom any person is sentenced to imprisonment, ordering that the sentence shall be carried out in any prison within Uganda, shall be issued by the judge, and shall be full authority to the officer in charge of that prison and to all other persons for carrying into effect the sentence described in the warrant, not being a sentence of death. Subject to the express provisions of this or any other law to the contrary, every sentence shall be deemed to commence from and to include the whole of the day of the date on which it was pronounced. Where on appeal an appellate court makes an order which has the effect of requiring a person to commence or resume a sentence of imprisonment, any time during which that person has been at liberty, whether on bail or otherwise, after the sentence was first passed upon him or her shall not count as part of the sentence, which shall be deemed to commence or, if that person has already served part of the sentence to be resumed, on the day on which that person is first received into prison after the making of the order.

Section Prisons in which sentences of imprisonment may be served Section Subject to subsection (2) , every sentence of imprisonment passed by the High Court shall be served in a prison administered by the Government or by the administration of a district. Where the court sentences a person to imprisonment for a period not exceeding fourteen days whether awarded as a substantive sentence or in default of payment of money, the court may, as it thinks fit, order the sentence to be served in any suitable place.

Section Mitigation of penalties Section Any person liable to imprisonment for life or any other person may be sentenced for any shorter term. Any person liable to imprisonment may be sentenced to pay a fine in addition to or instead of imprisonment.

Section Fines Section Where a fine is imposed by the High Court under the provisions of any law, in fixing the amount of the fine, the court shall take into consideration, among other things, the means of the offender so far as they are known to the court, and in the absence of express provisions relating to the fine in any such law, the following provisions shall apply— in the case of an offence punishable with imprisonment as well as a fine in which the offender is sentenced to a fine with or without imprisonment, and in every case of an offence punishable with a fine only in which the offender is sentenced to a fine, the court passing sentence may, in its discretion— where no sum is expressed to which the fine may extend, the amount of the fine which may be imposed is unlimited, but shall not be excessive; in the case of an offence punishable with a fine or imprisonment, the imposition of a fine or a period of imprisonment shall be a matter for the discretion of the court; direct by its sentence that in default of payment of the fine the offender shall suffer imprisonment for a certain period, which imprisonment shall be in addition to any other imprisonment to which he or she m...

Section Power to allow time to pay fine Section Notwithstanding anything contained in section 109 , the High Court, on imposing a fine under any law— When a court imposes a fine on any person and sentences him or her to imprisonment in default of payment of the fine, the court may, if the person fails to pay the fine immediately, and— Where the court— sentences to imprisonment for want of or in lieu of distress any person against whom an order for the payment of money has been made, the court may— shall, subject to subsection (2) , allow the offender at least thirty days within which to pay the fine or the first instalment of the fine; and may, in its discretion, defer passing sentence of imprisonment in default of payment of the fine until the default shall occur. he or she appears to the court to have sufficient means to pay the fine immediately; when being asked by the court whether he or she wishes to have time to pay, he or she does not ask for time; he or she fails to satisfy the court that he or she has a fixed abode; or there is some special circumstance (relating to the gravity of the offence or the character of the offender) appearing to the court to justify immediate com...

Section Warrant for levy of fine, etc. Section When the High Court orders money to be paid by an accused person or by the prosecutor for fine, penalty, compensation, costs, expenses or otherwise, the money may be levied on the movable and immovable property of the person ordered to pay the same by distress and sale under warrant. If he or she shows sufficient movable property to satisfy the order, his or her immovable property shall not be sold. Such person may pay or tender to the officer having the execution of the warrant the sum mentioned in the warrant, together with the amount of the expenses of the distress up to the time of payment or tender, and thereupon the officer shall cease to execute the warrant. A warrant under this section may be executed in any place within Uganda, and it shall authorise the distress and sale of any property belonging to the person ordered to pay.

Section Commitment Section If the officer having the execution of a warrant of distress reports that he or she could find no property or not sufficient property on which to levy the money mentioned in the warrant with expenses, the court may issue such process as may be necessary for the appearance of the person against whom the order for payment was made and sentence him or her to imprisonment according to section 109(d) .

Section Payment in full after commitment Section A person committed for non-payment may pay the sum mentioned in the warrant, with the amount of expenses authorised in the warrant, if any, to the person in whose custody he or she is, and that person shall thereupon discharge him or her if he or she is in custody for no other matter.

Section Part payment after commitment Section If any person committed to prison for non-payment shall pay any sum in part satisfaction of the sum adjudged to be paid, the period of his or her imprisonment shall be reduced by a number of days bearing as nearly as possible the same proportion to the total number of days for which that person is committed, as the sum so paid bears to the sum for which he or she is liable. The officer in charge of a prison in which a person is confined who is desirous of taking advantage of subsection (1) shall, on application being made to him or her by the prisoner, at once take him or her before a court, and the court shall certify the amount by which the period of imprisonment originally awarded is reduced by that payment in part satisfaction, and shall make such order as is required in the circumstances.

Section Sentence of imprisonment in lieu of distress Section When it appears to the court that distress and sale of property would be ruinous to the person ordered to pay the money or his or her family or, by his or her confession or otherwise, that he or she has no property on which the distress may be levied or for other sufficient reason, the court may if it thinks fit, instead of or after issuing a warrant of distress, issue such process as may be necessary for his or her appearance and sentence him or her to imprisonment according to section 109(d) .

Section Objections to attachment Section A person claiming to be entitled to or to have a legal or equitable interest in the whole or part of any property attached in execution of a warrant issued under section 111 may, at any time prior to the receipt by the court of the proceeds of sale of that property, give notice in writing to the court of his or her objection to the attachment of that property; the notice shall set out shortly the nature of the claim which the person (hereinafter in this section called the “objector”) makes to the whole or part of the property attached, and shall certify the value of the property claimed by him or her; such value shall be deposed to on affidavit, which shall be filed with the notice. Upon receipt of a valid notice given under subsection (1) , the court shall, by an order in writing addressed to the officer having the execution of the warrant, direct a stay of the execution proceedings. Upon the issue of an order under subsection (2) , the court shall, by notice in writing, direct the objector to appear before it and establish his or her claim upon a date to be specified in the notice. A notice shall be served upon the person whose property wa...

Section Who may issue a warrant Section Every warrant for the execution of any sentence may be issued either by the judge who passed the sentence or by his or her successor in office.

Section Discharge of an offender without punishment Section Where, in any trial before the High Court, the court thinks that the indictment against the accused person is proved but is of opinion that, having regard to the character, antecedents, age, health or mental condition of the accused, or to the trivial nature of the offence, or to the extenuating circumstances in which the offence was committed, it is inexpedient to inflict any punishment, the court may— without proceeding to conviction, make an order dismissing the charge; or convict the accused person and caution him or her. When an order is made by a court under this section dismissing a charge, that order shall be deemed to be a conviction for the purposes of sections 124(1) , 125 and 129 .

Section Security for coming up for judgment Section Where a person is convicted by the High Court, the court may, instead of passing sentence, discharge the offender upon his or her entering into a recognisance, with or without sureties, in such sum as the court may think fit or conditioned that— he or she shall appear and receive judgment when called upon so to do within a period of twelve months from the date of the discharge; and during that period he or she shall keep the peace and be of good behaviour. If at any time the High Court is satisfied that the offender has failed to observe any of the conditions of his or her recognisance, it may issue a warrant for his or her arrest. An offender when apprehended on any such warrant shall be brought immediately before the court, and the court may either remand him or her in custody until the case is heard or admit him or her to bail with a sufficient surety conditioned for his or her appearing for sentence, and the court may, after hearing the case, pass sentence.

Section Sentences fixed by law Section Sections 108 , 118 and 119 shall have no effect in cases where the accused person has been convicted of an offence for which the penalty is fixed by law.

Section Sentences cumulative unless otherwise ordered Section Where a person after conviction for an offence is convicted of another offence, either before sentence is passed upon him or her under the first conviction or before the expiration of that sentence, any sentence of imprisonment which is passed upon him or her under the subsequent conviction shall be executed after the expiration of the former sentence, unless the court directs that it shall be executed concurrently with the former sentence or of any part of it, but it shall not be lawful for the court to direct that a sentence of imprisonment in default of payment of a fine shall be executed concurrently with a former sentence under section 109(c)(i) or any part of it. Where a person is convicted of more than one offence at the same time and is sentenced to pay a fine in respect of more than one of those offences, then the court may order that all or any of such fines may be non-cumulative.