Constitutional Court strikes down Human Rights (Enforcement) Act provisions allowing acquittal without full trial

According to NTV Uganda, a five-judge Constitutional Court panel led by Oscar Kihika ruled that Section 11(2)(a), (b) and (c) of the Human Rights (Enforcement) Act is unconstitutional because it allowed accused persons to be acquitted without a full trial when their non-derogable rights had been violated. The court held that crime victims have a constitutional right to a fair hearing that these provisions denied them. The judgment decided a 2024 petition by three lawyers against the Attorney General; NTV reports that several human rights lawyers and activists did not welcome the ruling.