The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has rejected Chief Justice Dr Flavian Zeija’s recent caution to citizens against what he described as harassment of judicial officers on social media.
In a statement released on Friday, the ULS executive, headed by exiled president Isaac K. Ssemakadde, S.C., said judges, like all public officials in a democratic society, are not immune from public criticism regarding the performance of their duties, whether on social media or elsewhere.
“Freedom of expression, as guaranteed under Article 29 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda and reinforced by Uganda’s international obligations—including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—protects robust, even offensive, public discourse about institutions of state power. This includes the Judiciary,” the statement reads.
ULS argued that public officers, particularly those exercising immense authority over citizens’ liberties, lives and property, must tolerate a higher threshold of scrutiny and unflattering commentary than private individuals.
The law society warned that judicial officers who resort to threats of intolerance or legal action against such expression risk undermining legitimate critique and eroding public trust, rather than safeguarding the dignity of the Judiciary.
ULS further accused members of the Judiciary of allegedly relying on colonial-era laws, as well as recently enacted legislation such as the Computer Misuse Act and the Data Protection and Privacy Act, to silence dissent directed at the courts.
The society urged the Judiciary to desist from what it described as surveillance of online speech, image curation or punitive measures against critics, warning that such actions threaten the very legitimacy the Judiciary seeks to uphold by transforming it from an arbiter of justice into a participant in power politics.
“The Judiciary must remain an institution of the people and above the political fray. It derives its authority not from coercion or enforced reverence, but from impartiality, competence, timeliness, transparency and incorruptibility,” the statement adds.
ULS also called on Dr Zeija to abandon his recent vow to take action against online critics of the Judiciary, arguing that such a stance risks reviving memories of Emeritus Chief Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo, whom the society alleges exhibited thin-skinned reactions, intemperate responses and, at times, questionable competence in managing judicial reforms and public perception during his tenure.
“Should the Judiciary persist in treating critics as enemies rather than stakeholders, the public may increasingly treat judges as politicians. That outcome would serve neither the bench nor the nation, and the results—further erosion of respect, heightened cynicism and diminished institutional authority—would be deeply unwelcome,” the ULS officials said.
During the opening of the New Law Year in Kampala last week, Chief Justice Zeija warned against online harassment of judicial officers, stressing the need to protect judges and magistrates from intimidation as they carry out their duties.
He further cautioned that the Judiciary would take legal action against individuals who harass judicial officers online.
