Uganda Project

Project Overview

PILPG is providing pro bono legal assistance to the Government of Uganda to support the implementation of the Juba Peace Accords. Specifically, PILPG is advising the Government of Uganda on a number of transitional justice issues, including the design and implementation of domestic mechanisms to support war crimes prosecution, truth-telling and reconciliation, as well as traditional justice practices. PILPG opened its field office in Kampala, Uganda in October of 2008.

War Crimes Prosecution and other Transitional Justice Mechanisms

PILPG is providing technical and legal assistance on key transitional justice issues the Government of Uganda is currently addressing, including helping to establish new institutions to implement mechanisms for accountability and reconciliation. Specifically, PILPG is providing legal and technical advice on the establishment of a War Crimes Division within the High Court that meets the International Criminal Court’s complementarity regime, the creation of a National Reconciliation Forum, and the incorporation of traditional justice mechanisms into the formal justice sector.

PILPG holds legislative drafting workshops to assist government officials and policymakers with improving the effectiveness of legislation to support the creation of national transitional justice mechanisms. PILPG is also partnering with the Government of Uganda and other regional actors to hold a series of workshops and roundtables intended to familiarize local leaders and civil society actors with key pieces of pending national legislation in order to promote transparency and ensure an inclusive transitional justice framework is established.

PILPG’s Uganda project is supported by the United States Agency for International Development, and the United States Institute of Peace.

Patricia Taft serves as PILPG’s Chief of Party in Kampala, Uganda.