The Need for a Review of Plea Bargaining in Uganda: A Reflection on the Experiences under Common Law and in South Africa

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Author: Robert Doya Nanima
• Date: 16 August 2019
• Pages: 24-44
• Citation: (2017) 4(1) Journal of Comparative Law in Africa 24
• Published date: 16 August 2019

24

THE NEED FOR A REVIEW OF PLEA

BARGAINING IN UGANDA: A REFLECTION ON

THE EXPERIENCES UNDER COMMON LAW

AND IN SOUTH AFRICA

ROBERT DOYA NANIMA*

Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Plea bargaining under common law is not new to Uganda’s criminal justice system.

It is, however, not provided for in any statutes. In addition, it is widely used by the

various institutions in the criminal justice system. Its inadequacy in dealing with

Uganda’s case backlog is evident in the use of various initiatives like “Quick Wins”

and the “Community Service Project”, which reflect the inefficiency of the current

plea-bargaining system, and the lack of adequate participation by the accused in

the process. First, this article evaluates the plea-bargaining regime in Uganda.

Secondly, it uses insights from experiences under common law and in South Africa.

Thirdly, it proposes a working framework that may improve plea bargaining in

Uganda. The terms “plea bargaining” and “plea and sentence agreement” are used

interchangeably to refer to the same concept.

Résumé: L’accord sur le plaidoyer selon la common law n’est pas nouveau dans le

système de justice pénale de l’Ouganda. Il n’est cependant pas prévue par aucune

loi. En outre, il est largement utilisé par les différentes institutions du système de

justice pénale. Son insuffisance dans le traitement de l’arriéré des affaires penales

en Ouganda est évidente dans l’utilisation de diverses initiatives telles que «Quick

Wins» et «Community Service Project», qui présentent un effet lent du système

actuel d’accord sur le plaidoyer et le manque de participation adéquate de l’accusé

dans le processus. Premièrement, cet article évalue le régime d’accord sur le plaidoyer

en Ouganda. Deuxièmement, il utilise des idées tirées d’expériences en common

law et en Afrique du Sud. La troisième étape consiste à proposer un cadre de travail

qui peut améliorer l’accord sur le plaidoyer en Ouganda. Les termes accord sur le

plaidoyer (plea bargaining), de plaidoyer (plea) et accord sur la décision (sentence

agreements) sont utilisés de façon interchangeable pour désigner la même chose.

Keywords: plea bargaining, plea and sentence agreement, criminal justice,

common law

Introduction

This article reflects on the use of informal plea bargaining in Uganda’s

criminal justice system. It seeks to justify that this informal plea bargaining

system is limited in its use and needs reform. With the aid of experiences

from common law in general and South African jurisprudence, the

* LLD candidate, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

(2017) 4(1) Journal of Comparative Law in Africa 24

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THE NEED FOR A REVIEW OF PLEA BARGAINING IN UGANDA: A REFLECTION

ON THE EXPERIENCES UNDER COMMON LAW AND IN SOUTH AFRICA 25

article evaluates plea bargaining in Uganda and recommends a working

framework to improve this aspect of the law. These arguments are informed

by the critical role that plea bargaining plays in the timely conclusion of

criminal cases. This study employs desktop research through an analysis

of legislation, case law and practices regarding plea bargaining in Uganda,

under common law and in South Africa.

Legal scholars do not offer a standard definition of plea bargaining

because the term is best understood in the context in which it is used.1

“Plea bargaining” may be referred to as the practice of renouncing one’s

right to trial in exchange for a reduction in the charge or a sentence.2

This is the original common-law position, which is limited to a plea

of guilty in exchange for a lower sentence. According to Bekker, plea

bargaining may be referred to as an accused’s promise to plead guilty or

waive his or her rights to a trial for the prosecutor’s promise to receive a

particular sentence.3 These two definitions envisage a process that offers

an alternative conclusion to a criminal case through punishment of an

accused and ensuring that the case is disposed of.

Other scholars refer to plea bargaining as an instance where an accused

gives up the right to a fair trial in exchange for favourable treatment from

the state prosecutor.4 This definition shows the core of plea bargaining

to be an exchange between an accused and a prosecutor, but poses two

challenges. First, it does not qualify the concept of “favourable treatment”

and what it would include. Black’s Law Dictionary equates “favourable”

to something “better”.5 It may be taken to be a treatment that is outside

the normal scope of the criminal trial process. This relates to the process

from plea-taking to a logical conclusion of the case. It therefore follows

that treatment such as allowing an accused to become a witness or

dropping charges against an accused may be considered favourable. This

favourable behaviour is dependent on the prosecutor’s discretion to offer

the plea bargain coupled with his or her ability to convince the parties

that the execution of the plea bargain would be the best alternative in

the circumstances. Secondly, the prosecutor exercises the discretion to

conclude the plea bargain. This discretion may be abused by the prosecutor

or interpreted as bias by other parties or stakeholders to the plea bargain.6

1 DD Guidorizzi. 2014. “Should we really ‘ban’ plea bargaining: The core concerns of plea

bargaining critics”. Emory Law Journal, 47:753 at 753.

2 E Steyn. 2007. “Plea-bargaining in South Africa: current concerns and future prospects”.

SALJ, 2:206 at 208.

3 PM Bekker. 2001. “American Plea bargaining in Statutory South Africa”. Comparative and

International Law Journal of South Africa, 34:310, 311–312.

4 RE Scott & JW Stuntz. 1992. “Plea bargaining as a contract”. Yale LJ , 101:1909 at 1921.

5 Black’s Law Dictionary. Available: thelawdictionary.org. (Accessed: 26 January 2017).

6 R Acevedo. 1995. “Is a ban on plea bargaining an ethical abuse of discretion? A Bronx County,

New York case study”. Fordham Law Review, 64:987.

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