20 June 2005 :

Uganda's constitutional court struck down the imposition of mandatory death sentences but rejected an appeal by death-row inmates to completely outlaw capital punishment. In a narrow three-to-two decision, a five-judge panel at the country's second-highest court said laws that mandated the death penalty as punishment for certain serious crimes were unconstitutional and must be rewritten. The slim majority said various provisions on mandatory death sentencing were inconsistent with the constitution and interfered with the discretion of judges in dispensing justice.
"Courts are compelled to pass the death sentence because the law orders them to do so (but) not all the offenses can be the same," Justice Galdino Okello said in the majority opinion ordering parliament to amend current legislation.
"It is the duty of the judiciary to impose any sentence after due process," said Justice Amos Twinomujuni in a separate concurring opinion.
All five justices, however, rejected the inmates' argument that the death penalty was unconstitutional "because it is given by the laws as punishment after due process," Okello said in the opinion.
Human rights lawyers representing the appellants said they were disappointed that the death penalty had not entirely been outlawed but expressed great satisfaction at the rejection of its mandatory application.
"Death row prisoners can now seek redress in court to re-consider their cases, which was not possible before," Livingstone Ssewanyana, of the Uganda Human Rights Initiative, said.
A senior government official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, also welcomed the ruling and said he did not believe Kampala should appeal to seek the reinstitution of mandatory death sentences.
"The ruling was very good, it moves Uganda toward international standards where death sentences are no longer administered," the official said.
More than 400 death row inmates brought their unprecedented appeal to the constitutional court -- Uganda's second highest court -- in January, arguing that capital punishment amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment which was prohibited by the constitution.
The penalty is carried out by hanging in Uganda and the 417 prisoners also said that those sentenced to death often had to wait in torment for unreasonable lengths of time before execution.
The justices did agree with the inmates that the implementation of death sentences should not be delayed as they have been in the past, in some cases up to 20 years.
"The sentence should only be delayed by two years to allow the executive to exercise its prerogative of mercy or the inmate to seek redress from the court," Okello said.