The Ugandan constitution states a person arrested shall be brought to court not later than 48 hours from the time of her/his arrest. The period runs from the arrest of the person, and if no charges are brought against the person arrested at the end of that period the person shall be then released.
The magistrate before whom the accused person first appears after the expiration of the custody period shall release that person on bail:
- if the accused person has been remanded in custody before trial commences for a continuous period exceeding:
- 480 days in case of an offence punishable by death;
- 240 days in case of any other offence;
- unless:
- the accused person has been committed to the High Court for trial before the expiration of that period;
- the magistrate considers – for the protection of the public – the accused person should not be released from custody.
Custody with a warrant of arrest
The officer to whom the warrant is directed shall release the person from custody:
- if the person arrested executes a bond with sufficient sureties for her/his attendance before the court and at the time specified in the bond, and;
- if the warrant of arrest – for an offence not punishable by death – issued against that person mentioned that possibility.
The endorsement on the warrant issued by a magistrate court shall state:
- the number of sureties;
- the amount in which they and the person for whose arrest the warrant is issued are to be respectively bound;
- the time at which such person is to attend before the court.
Custody without a warrant of arrest
A person arrested without a warrant shall be brought before a magistrate’s court within 48 hours, except when that person need to be questioned in a different area of her/his arrest then it is within seven days .
If the person arrested is not suspected of murder, rape, treason or an offence of serious nature, and:
- it is not possible to bring the person arrested before the Court within 24 hours, then the police officer can release the person arrested from custody with a bond;
- it appears to the police officer in charge of the case that it is not possible to end the investigation within 24 hours then the police officer can release the person arrested from custody with a bond;
- it appears to the police officer in charge of the case there are not enough proofs against the person in custody, she/he can withdraw the charges against the person arrested and release her/him at once.
Legislation:
- Section 23 subsection 4 of the Constitution
- Section 17 of the Criminal procedure code act
- Section 57 of the Magistrates courts act
- Section 76 of the Magistrates courts act
- Section 25 of the Police act
For more informations:
- Avocats Sans Frontières, The Problem of Pre-Trial Detention Lengthy in Uganda, (2013), p. 12