Justice Centres Uganda Partners: Police & Detention Facilities

Police & Detention Facilities

Persons in conflict with the law are some of the most vulnerable in Uganda.

JCU conducts outreaches to them to handle their access to justice needs. In those outreaches, inmates in prison and suspects in police custody or other detention facilities are sensitized about their pre-trial and trial rights.

The outreaches are also used to curb long detentions in police custody, identify suspects eligible for police bond (like petty offenders) and identify forgotten prisoners eligible for representation under our Prison Decongestion Programme. In accordance with the rules and procedures, interim remedies like bail or advocating for non-custodial sentences like community service and fines can be applied.

graph showing the number of all cases JCU successfully handled within it's Prison Decongestion Programme 2016-2020

The Prison Decongestion Programme (PDP) initiative is of growing importance since the State Brief Scheme only caters for capital criminal offences. Therefore, the PDP comes in to aid persons with civil matters and other criminal offences, if they cannot afford a lawyer. JCU’s Prison Decongestion Programme contributed to the acquittal of 6.982 inmates in prisons and people in police custody.

Apart from that the cooperation with Police entails:

    • referrals 
    • joint mediations (at the Police stations and at locus mediations)
    • participation at barazas
    • providing security to JCU staff handling volatile matters