Judiciary Backs Magistrates Courts Amendment Bill, Seeks Higher Jurisdiction Limits to Cut High Court Backlog

Kampala– The Judiciary has supported the Magistrates Courts Amendment Bill, 2026, arguing that increasing the civil jurisdiction of Chief Magistrates and Magistrates would significantly reduce the case backlog currently burdening the High Court.

In a written presentation to Parliament’s Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Acting Chief Registrar Lamunu Pamella Ocaya said the proposed changes could see 34,481 cases transferred from the High Court to Magistrates’ Courts.

According to Judiciary statistics as of December 2025, the High Court, including its divisions and circuits, had a total of 70,186 pending cases, of which 21,317 were backlog cases, representing 30.37 percent.

Ocaya told the committee that nearly half of the pending cases before the High Court are eligible for transfer if the jurisdiction of Magistrates’ Courts is expanded.

“The High Court (both Divisions and Circuits) recorded a total of 70,186 pending cases, with a backlog of 21,317 cases (30.37%). Of these cases, 34,481 cases (49.13%) are eligible for transfer to Magistrates’ Courts, including 11,040 backlog cases (51.79%), which would reduce the overall caseload to 35,705 pending cases and 10,277 backlog cases,” Lamunu said.

She explained that High Court Circuits carry the biggest share of cases that can be shifted, with 29,769 cases, representing 71.22 percent, including 9,578 backlog cases or 73.22 percent. High Court Divisions, on the other hand, account for 4,712 transferable cases, representing 16.60 percent, including 1,462 backlog cases or 17.75 percent.

The discussion followed the tabling of the Magistrates Courts Amendment Bill, 2026, by Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao on February 27, 2026. The bill seeks to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of magistrates’ courts, enhance their powers to impose higher fines, abolish the office of Magistrate Grade II, and provide for the designation of magisterial areas.

Under Clause 10 of the bill, government proposes to amend Section 206 of the Magistrates Courts Act by raising the pecuniary jurisdiction of Magistrates from the current Shs20 million to Shs50 million, and that of Chief Magistrates from Shs50 million to Shs100 million.

However, while backing the proposed review, the Judiciary asked Parliament to go further and raise the limits even higher.

Ocaya proposed that the jurisdiction of Chief Magistrates be increased from the proposed Shs100 million to 10,000 currency points, equivalent to Shs200 million, while that of Magistrates be raised from the proposed Shs50 million to 5,000 currency points, equivalent to Shs100 million.

“In Clause 10 of the Bill, I propose that paragraphs (a) and (b) be substituted with the following — Section 206 of the Principal Act is amended: in subsection (1)(a), by substituting for the words ‘fifty million shillings’ the words ‘ten thousand currency points’ (Shs200 million),” Lamunu proposed.

She added that the amendment would also substitute paragraph (b) to provide that “a magistrate shall have jurisdiction where the value of the subject matter does not exceed five thousand currency points (Shs100 million).”

Ocaya said the proposed upward revision is necessary to respond to inflation and ease pressure on the High Court.

“To address inflation and reduce case backlog in High Court by ensuring that Magistrates Courts handle cases of a considerable value,” she said.

The Judiciary also proposed that the power to revise pecuniary jurisdiction in future be delegated to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs through statutory instruments, instead of requiring Parliament to amend the law each time.

“To empower the Minister of Justice, by Statutory Instrument, to vary the pecuniary jurisdiction where it becomes necessary. This will also reduce on the lengthy legislative process,” Ocaya said.

According to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the pecuniary jurisdiction of Magistrates’ Courts was last revised in 2007, setting the limits for Chief Magistrates at Shs50 million and Magistrates Grade I at Shs20 million.

In the bill’s justification, Minister Mao said the current thresholds no longer reflect the value of money and have contributed to congestion in the High Court.

“Due to inflation and changes in value of money, the capping of the value of the subject matter is very low for the Magistrates Courts and as a result, cases that should be handled at the magisterial level end up in the High Court thereby causing backlog at the High Court,” Mao said.

If passed with the proposed amendments, the bill is expected to ease case congestion, speed up disposal of civil matters, and strengthen the role of Magistrates’ Courts in the administration of justice.