School of Law (S.Law) Collections

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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.
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    Assessing the institutional framework for climate change management in Uganda a comparison of kenya and Tanzania
    (Makerere University, 2025) Oyesigye, Horus
    Uganda has established institutional frameworks to counteract the negative impacts of Climate Change, since the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 1992. There have been concerns, however, that the implementation progress is debilitated by a surge of deficiencies ranging from policy to institutional mechanisms. Several institutional actors, for example, are said to remain anonymous, disparate and uncoordinated, causing parallel initiatives that could stifle the effort to address Climate change. This study, presents results of a desk research study conducted to analyse the major institutional mechanisms, as well as, the actors involved in Climate change efforts in Uganda. This dissertation reviews major institutional arrangements, to establish how far they represent suitable mechanisms of dealing with the problem. The discussion highlights on who is doing what, with whom and with what progress – across the spectrum of government, development partners, NGOs, private sector and research institutions. The research establishes that failures of these climate change institutions is due to poor coordination and communication, exacerbated by weak organisational structures, poor inter-agency relations, limited human skills and technical capacity, and failure to enlist the private sector and local governments to support responses to Climate change.
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    The concept of statehood under international law: a case study of the republic of Somaliland
    (Makerere University, 2025) Twongyeirwe, Ivan
    This study is an examination of Somaliland’s contested statehood by existing States under international law. It explores the factors and implications of its non-recognition and analyses the legal, political and diplomatic dimensions for its quest for international legitimacy and sovereignty. Four main research questions were examined, namely i) What are the traditional criteria for statehood under international law?, ii) How does the concept of statehood relate with the theoretical doctrines of recognition?, What ways do the concepts of secession and self-determination impact the legitimacy of statehood claims?, and whether the Republic of Somaliland fulfills the criteria for statehood under international law?. The study submits that the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States provides the widely accepted criteria for statehood, that is the permanent population, defined territory, effective government and capacity to enter into foreign relations with other states and international organizations. The study also submits that neither theory of constitutive and declaratory fully explains state practice, and that this state practice is inconsistent and ambiguous as it is informed by different factors to include national interests. The study also submits that political considerations often override legal principles as exposed in the recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the European Community. This study further submits that the Republic of Somaliland fulfills the criteria for statehood. That the non-recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as a State is influenced politics at the international, regional and domestic level. Reading Somaliland through critical legal theory therefore exposes recognition as contingent.
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    An examination of the effectiveness of the legal protection against land evictions in Uganda: a case study of Lusanja and Bukasa suburbs in Wakiso and Kampala Districts
    (Makerere University, 2025) Kiconco, Florah
    The research undertakes an examination of the effectiveness of the legal protection mechanisms against illegal land evictions in Uganda with a case study of Lusanja and Bukasa suburbs in the Wakiso and Kampala districts. This thesis adopts a mixed research methodology applying both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The research has found that the legal protection mechanisms against land evictions are ineffective in protecting Ugandans against illegal evictions mainly due to a poor implementation of the law and a failure of the enforcement mechanisms for protection against illegal evictions. To a lesser extent, the ineffectiveness of the legal framework is attributable to the weaknesses in the laws themselves. Those who found the legal protection sufficient pointed out several barriers to its implementation including corruption and fraud, political influence and interference, impunity and abuse of process, poor land tenure systems, complex legal processes, limited awareness, overlapping roles of institutions, insufficient funding, lack of formal land ownership documents and social – economic factors therefore rendering the legal protection ineffective. The research recommends strengthening of the implementation mechanisms of the law against evictions, particularly streamlining the role of security agencies in land evictions and registration of all land in Uganda with all interests in land clearly defined and registered as a means of providing security of tenure to Ugandans and protecting them against illegal evictions among others.