Life imprisonment in Uganda

Abstract

In Uganda, legislation does not define ‘life imprisonment’. However, the 2006 Prisons Act provides that, for the purpose of remission, life imprisonment means 20 years’ imprisonment. In 2011, the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country, held that life imprisonment should mean imprisonment for the remainder of an offender’s natural life. However, since then there have been cases from the Court of Appeal, the second highest court in Uganda, questioning the Supreme Court’s ruling. In a common law country where legal precedent is revered, this is unheard of. In this paper the author argues that although the Court of Appeal may not be impressed with the Supreme Court’s judgement, the principle of legal precedent obliges it to follow that judgement. The author submits that the sentence of life imprisonment remains imprisonment for the remainder of the offender’s life as interpreted by the Supreme Court and that the legislature may have to intervene to amend the law to expressly state what life imprisonment means.