The Judiciary of Uganda has backed government plans to expand the powers of magistrates’ courts, saying the move could massively reduce the growing backlog of cases at the High Court. Appearing before the Parliament of Uganda Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Acting Chief Registrar Lamunu Pamella Ocaya revealed that nearly 34,481 cases currently pending before […]
The Judiciary of Uganda has backed government plans to expand the powers of magistrates’ courts, saying the move could massively reduce the growing backlog of cases at the High Court.
Appearing before the Parliament of Uganda Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Acting Chief Registrar Lamunu Pamella Ocaya revealed that nearly 34,481 cases currently pending before the High Court could be transferred to Magistrates’ Courts if the proposed amendments are passed.
According to Judiciary statistics presented to Parliament, the High Court had 70,186 pending cases as of December 2025, including 21,317 backlog cases representing 30.37 percent of the total caseload.
Lamunu explained that almost half of these cases that account for 49.13 percent qualify for transfer to magistrates’ courts, including 11,040 backlog cases.
If the transfers are implemented, the High Court caseload would drop to 35,705 pending cases and 10,277 backlog cases, easing pressure on judges.
The proposal is contained in the Magistrates Courts Amendment Bill, 2026 which was tabled in Parliament by Norbert Mao.
Government wants to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of Magistrates from Shs20 million to Shs50 million, while Chief Magistrates would handle cases worth up to Shs100 million.
In Clause 10 of The Magistrates Courts Amendment Bill, 2026, Government is seeking to amend Section 206 of the Principal Act, by increasing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Magistrates from the current UGX20Million to (UGX50 Million), while pecuniary jurisdiction for Chief Magistrates is proposed to increase to UGX100Million from the current UGX50Million.
However, the Judiciary says the proposed figures are still too low.
Lamunu proposed that the jurisdiction of Chief Magistrates be increased to Shs200 million, while Magistrates should handle civil disputes worth up to Shs100 million.
She said the changes are necessary to reflect inflation and ensure that more civil cases are handled at lower courts rather than being pushed to the High Court.
“Due to inflation and changes in the value of money, the current limits are too low and cases that should be handled at the magistrates’ courts end up in the High Court, thereby causing backlog,” Lamunu explained.
She also suggested that the power to revise the financial limits should be given to the Justice Minister through statutory instruments rather than requiring Parliament to amend the law every time.
