School of Law (S.Law) Collections

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 225
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    The effect of covid-19 regulations on the right to life in Uganda: a case study of the Public Health (control of COVID-19) Rules, 2020
    (Makerere University, 2025) Kashaija, Robert
    The COVID-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented public health crisis, prompting governments worldwide to implement stringent measures to contain its spread. In Uganda, the government enacted the Public Health (Control of COVID-19) Rules, 2020, which significantly impacted the right to life and other fundamental human rights. This study examines the impact of COVID-19 regulations on the right to life in Uganda, assessing whether these measures maintained human dignity and achieved public health goals. The research employs a doctrinal legal approach, analyzing statutory instruments, judicial opinions, and scholarly works on COVID-19 and human rights jurisprudence. It explores the legal framework governing public health emergencies in Uganda, the implementation of the COVID-19 Rules, and their implications for the right to life, right to health, and other interconnected rights. Employing a doctrinal legal approach, the research reveals that Uganda's legal framework lacks comprehensive legislation to address public health emergencies, posing challenges to effective disease management and human rights protection. The study highlights the intrinsic connection between public health and human rights, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that prioritizes life, dignity, and well-being. Key findings include: (1) inadequate legal framework for public health emergencies; (2) disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations; and (3) necessity of community engagement and human rights considerations in public health responses. The study concludes with recommendations for policymakers, emphasizing the importance of: (1) establishing emergency Response Funds; (2) strengthening Social Protection Systems; (3) Improving access to Healthcare; (4)ensuring community involvement and human rights prioritization; and (5) guaranteeing continuous responses to public health crises, among others.
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    An examination of Uganda’s compliance with the United Nations framework convention on climate change and the Paris Agreement on climate change: a case study of the forest sector
    (Makerere University, 2025) Kiwanuka, Muhammad Ssenoga
    This study examined Uganda’s compliance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement through the lens of the forest sector. The main objective was to determine the extent to which Uganda’s legal framework institutions and monitoring systems achieved outcomes that were consistent with its climate commitments. The central research question asked whether Uganda’s laws practice and measurement systems delivered verifiable reductions in forest emissions and credible protection and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. The methodology relied on doctrinal analysis of international and domestic instruments and a focused evaluation of mandates and measurement reporting and verification arrangements that affected forests. The findings showed that compliance was only partial because cross-sector coordination at the land agriculture and forestry interface remained weak and because current monitoring did not fully capture degradation and leakage. The analysis further revealed that implementation relied heavily on administrative discretion with few binding and time bound benchmarks and that local governments faced persistent capacity and financing gaps that blunted enforcement and community participation. The dissertation recommended amendments that embedded forest carbon metrics and primacy rules across land use statutes adopted transparency regulations that assigned clear data duties and deadlines with meaningful consequences guaranteed minimum service standards and predictable funding for district implementation and scaled community centred incentives such as fair benefit sharing and restoration bonds. These measures would have converted formal alignment into outcomes that were verifiable durable and consistent with Uganda’s nationally determined contribution.
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    Examining the legal and regulatory framework as an approach to climatic change mitigation in Uganda
    (Makerere University, 2025) Nalumu, Eliverson
    Uganda, ranked 12th most vulnerable to climate change globally, faces severe impacts including decreased rainfall, prolonged wet and dry seasons, and rising temperatures. The country experiences frequent floods, droughts, and landslides, affecting over 200,000 people annually and threatening to displace 12 million by 2050. Despite existing laws and policies, implementation gaps persist. This study evaluated the effectiveness of Uganda’s legal and regulatory framework in mitigating climate change, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. The study aimed at informing policy adjustments and effective climate action, enhancing resilience and mitigating climate change impacts. It sought to contribute to the effectiveness of the legal framework on climate action, generate information on mitigation strategies, and analyse the effects of the legal framework in alleviating climate change challenges. It is the conclusion of this study that; adaptation cannot succeed without attempting to mitigate climate change effects, which can severely impact an affected country. The global approach to climate change mitigation presents various facets aligning with effective address, including equity concerns regarding income, poverty, and sex. This study further concluded that Uganda’s laws regulating climate change mitigation remain complex in scope and application. Uganda’s commitment has not been adequately reflected in the national budget, relying heavily on donations. Drawing on lessons from South Africa, India and the United Kingdom, the study recommended the amendment of climate change related laws to avoid ambiguity in the implementation. While a Climate Finance Unit has been set up in the Ministry of Finance, the study further recommended a department or an Authority instead of a unit in the Ministry dedicated to issues of climate finance would be a more sustainable solution.
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    An examination of the effectiveness of the East African Court of Justice in the adjudication of civil and political rights cases
    (Makerere University, 2025) Ndayishimiye, Aimé Fidèle
    Countless human rights violations have been recorded in most of the East African Community Partner States. Due to lack of judicial independence, most of national courts have been failing to properly redress such violations, thus leaving potential room for impunity. As a result, since 2005, victims of such human rights violations have been seeking remedies before the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), a Regional Economic Community (REC) Court which has been increasingly used by litigants to raise human rights-related claims. However, the Court itself does not have a clear human rights jurisdiction. This study argues that jurisdictional limitations set in the EAC Treaty coupled with both political and operational challenges undermine the effectiveness of the EACJ in the adjudication of human rights matters. It thus sets out to examine the judicial effectiveness of the EACJ in its exercise of jurisdiction over civil and political rights cases; critically analyses the challenges confronting the EACJ and thus assesses their impact on the Court’s effectiveness in the protection of human rights in the East African region. By so doing, a particular attention is given to the Court’s lack of express human rights jurisdiction, the delayed adoption of a protocol for the extension of jurisdiction on human rights, the lack of enforcement mechanism for the Court’s decisions and to assertions of State sovereignty as well the EACJ daily operational challenges epitomised by the lack sufficient funding, lack of administrative and financial autonomy, the ad-hoc operational basis of the Court, and their overall impact on the effectiveness of the EACJ in the enforcement of human rights, with a focus on civil and political rights. After critically examining structural and institutional deficiencies and the creative approach adopted by the EACJ in determining human rights related matters, the study finds that although the Court does not have an explicit human rights mandate, it have been able to articulate and assert a human rights related jurisdiction, and thus enforce human rights standards, in such a limited and fragile jurisdiction. Yet, the EAC Partner States’ sovereignty, being the major cause of constraints, its scope and applicability need to be redefined in alignment with the regional integration arrangement context. Finally, by drawing on the experience of more established regional courts in other parts of the world, the study distils some practical lessons; and proposes legal, normative and institutional reforms to boost effectiveness of the EACJ in the realisation of human rights and thus deepening regional economic and political integration of the East African Community
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    An analysis of the powers of Uganda Revenue Authority in relation to taxpayers’ rights to property and privacy in Uganda
    (Makerere Unviersity, 2025) Kambona, Oscar
    Despite numerous reforms, domestic revenue mobilisation in Uganda is still below its potential. While the ratio of tax revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has improved from 11.7 percent in 1999/2000 to approximately 14.3 percent in 2023/24, it is still below the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) average of approximately 18-20 percent. Despite the slow revenue growth, there is rising public expenditure coupled with limited budget support from other sources like aid and grants. To address this deficit, there have been calls for increased revenue mobilisation through enhanced tax collection. This occurs in many ways which generally can be categorised as either voluntary or involuntary. The bulk of tax collection occurs voluntarily and without much thought or incident. This study does not focus on voluntary, routine collection of taxes but rather on the enforcement mechanisms used by the government when the routine collection has failed. The study assesses the connection between tax enforcement and rights to property and privacy and specifically how human rights-compliant are the enforcement measures. The focus is on the powers granted to the URA to enforce compliance with tax payments. The study employs qualitative methods to establish the nature and extent of infringement of taxpayer’s rights to property and privacy during the tax enforcement process. The study argues that the legal and institutional framework regarding tax enforcement infringes the taxpayers’ rights to property and privacy, and this affects taxpayer compliance. The study highlights that despite the infringement, there are certain safeguards towards the realisation of the rights. The study contends that in structuring a workable tax collection process, the government should build a system that recognizes taxpayers’ rights. A departure from this position leads to low tax morale affecting the domestic revenue mobilisation process. Ultimately, the study emphasises the need for a full realisation of the taxpayers’ rights on the part of the URA and of the inseparable nexus between human rights and tax compliance. The study recommends the establishment of a tax ombudsman in Uganda with powers to investigate taxpayers’ complaints with the aim of ensuring that the rights of taxpayers’ are respected in the tax collection process.