Local council courts and the customary property rights of the elderly in Uganda : a case of Kyarumba Subcounty in Kasese District, Uganda

Abstract

This study examined how customary land disputes involving the elderly are resolved with the help of the already existing local council courts. This is because the elderly in Uganda have struggled to access justice due to both the fear and sometimes the reality that the mainstream judicial systems are alien to them and both technically and financially inaccessible. These and several other faults associated with the mainstream courts has meant that the elderly and several other Ugandans view them as unable to provide functional justice. It is the local council courts that are nearest to the elderly and thus with the practical capacity to come to the elderly’s aid when it comes to customary land disputes. This study therefore investigated how customary land disputes as one of the several grass-root justice challenges can be resolved with the utilisation of the local council courts that are already in place. This study adopted the qualitative approach with the use of interviews and systematic literature review methods that enabled him to investigate the research questions in a manner that is explanatory and evaluative. The qualitative approach enabled the researcher to capture several elements of social well-being as it led to the direct discovery of views, values, and attitudes. The study found that the capacity by the local council courts to resolve the elderly’s customary land disputes is influenced by administrative, financial and social parameters. The study found that the members of the local council courts almost work on a voluntary basis with little funding from the government. When it came to substantive justice, it was found that several natural justice challenges are experienced as these courts use rudimentary evidential evaluation methods such as judging from the number of witnesses available to a party. In terms of legal reform needs, it was found that among others, that the law does not empower local council courts to execute their judgments, rendering them impotent. Recommendations such as amending the law to put in place a minimum academic qualification for the members of the local council courts and put in place an elaborate execution mechanism for the decisions reached were made. It was also recommended that the Judiciary should incorporate local council courts into the judicial system and that the Executive should initiate a fairer remuneration policy for the local council court members and put in place a technical paralegal to offer technical support in the day-to-day affairs of every local council court.