TRIAL ON INDICTMENTS ACT.

The High Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under any written law and may pass any sentence authorised by law; except that no criminal case shall be brought under the cognisance of the High Court for trial unless the accused person has been committed for trial to the High Court in accordance with the Magistrates Courts Act.

2. Sentencing powers of the High Court.

(1) The High Court may pass any lawful sentence combining any of the sentences which it is authorised by law to pass.

(2) When a person is convicted at one trial of two or more distinct offences, the High Court may sentence him or her for those offences to the several punishments prescribed for them which the court is competent to impose, those punishments, when consisting of imprisonment, to commence the one after the expiration of the other, in such order as the court may direct, unless the court directs that the punishments shall run concurrently.

(3) For the purposes of appeal, the aggregate of consecutive sentences imposed under this section, in the case of convictions for several offences at one trial, shall be deemed to be a single sentence.

3. Assessors.

(1) Except as provided by any other written law, all trials before the High Court shall be with the aid of assessors, the number of whom shall be two or more as the court thinks fit.

(2) The rules entitled "The Assessors Rules", set out in the Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the several matters mentioned in them.

(3) The Minister may, after consultation with the Chief Justice, by statutory instrument, amend the Assessors Rules, except rules two and nine of those rules.

4. Place and date of sessions of the High Court.

(1) For the exercise of its original criminal jurisdiction, the High Court shall hold sittings at such places and on such days as the Chief Justice or the judge who is to preside may direct.

(2) The chief registrar of the High Court shall ordinarily give notice beforehand of all such sittings.

PART II
WARRANT OF ARREST.

5. Warrant of arrest.

The High Court may issue a warrant of arrest at any time to secure the attendance of the accused person.

6. Form, contents and duration of warrant of arrest.

(1) Every warrant of arrest shall be under the hand of the judge issuing it and shall bear the seal of the High Court.

(2) Every warrant of arrest shall state shortly the offence with which the person against whom it is issued is indicted and shall name or otherwise describe that person, and it shall order the person or persons to whom it is directed to apprehend the person against whom it is issued and bring him or her before the High Court to answer to the indictment mentioned in it and to be further dealt with according to law.

(3) Every warrant of arrest shall remain in force until it is executed or until it is cancelled by the court.

7. Warrants, to whom directed.

(1) A warrant of arrest may be directed to one or more police officers or chiefs named in it or generally to all police officers or chiefs; except that the judge issuing the warrant may, if its immediate execution is necessary and no police officer or chief is immediately available, direct it to any other person, and that person shall execute the warrant.

(2) When a warrant is directed to more officers or persons than one, it may be executed by all or by any one or more of them.

8. Execution of warrant directed to a police officer.

A warrant directed to any police officer may also be executed by any other police officer whose name is endorsed upon the warrant by the officer to whom it is directed or endorsed, and similarly a warrant directed to any chief may be executed by any other chief whose name is endorsed on the warrant by the chief to whom it was directed or endorsed.

9. Notification of substance of warrant.

The police officer or other person executing a warrant of arrest shall notify the substance of the warrant to the person to be arrested and, if so required, shall show him or her the warrant.

10. Person arrested to be brought before the court without delay.

The police officer or other person executing a warrant of arrest shall, without unnecessary delay, bring the person arrested before the High Court.

11. Where warrant of arrest may be executed.

A warrant of arrest may be executed at any place in Uganda.

12. Irregularities in warrant of arrest.

Any irregularity or defect in the substance or form of a warrant of arrest, and any variance between it and the indictment, or between either and the evidence produced on the part of the prosecution at any trial, shall not affect the validity of any proceedings at or subsequent to the hearing of the case.

13. Power of court to order prisoner to be brought before it.

(1) Where any accused person whose presence is required by the High Court is confined in any prison, the court may issue an order to the officer in charge of the prison requiring him or her to bring the prisoner in proper custody, at a time to be named in the order, before the court.

(2) The officer so in charge, on receipt of the order, shall act in accordance with the order and shall provide for the safe custody of the prisoner during his or her absence from the prison for the purpose aforesaid.

14. Release on bail.

(1) The High Court may at any stage in the proceedings release the accused person on bail, that is to say, on taking from him or her a recognisance consisting of a bond, with or without sureties, for such an amount as is reasonable in the circumstances of the case, to appear before the court on such a date and at such a time as is named in the bond.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), in any case where a person has been released on bail, the court may, if it is of the opinion that for any reason the amount of the bail should be increased—

(a) issue a warrant for the arrest of the person released on bail directing that he or she should be brought before it to execute a new bond for an increased amount; and

(b) commit the person to prison if he or she fails to execute a new bond for an increased amount.

15. Refusal to grant bail.

(1) Notwithstanding section 14, the court may refuse to grant bail to a person accused of an offence specified in subsection (2) if he or she does not prove to the satisfaction of the court—

(a) that exceptional circumstances exist justifying his or her release on bail; and

(b) that he or she will not abscond when released on bail.

(2) An offence referred to in subsection (1) is—

(a) an offence triable only by the High Court;

(b) the offence of terrorism and any other offence punishable by more than 10 years imprisonment under the Anti-Terrorism Act;

(ba) the offence of cattle rustling contrary to section 266 of the Penal Code Act;

(d) ...

(e) rape, contrary to section 123 of the Penal Code Act;

(ea) aggravated defilement contrary to section 129(3) and (4) of the Penal Code Act;

(f) embezzlement, contrary to section 268 of the Penal Code Act;

(g) causing financial loss, contrary to section 269 of the Penal Code Act;

(h) corruption, contrary to section two of the Prevention of Corruption Act;

(i) bribery of a member of a public body, contrary to section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act; and

(j) any other offence in respect of which a magistrates's court has no jurisdiction to grant bail.

(3) In this section, "exceptional circumstances" means any of the following—

(a) grave illness certified by a medical officer of the prison or other institution or place where the accused is detained as being incapable of adequate medical treatment while the accused is in custody;

(b) a certificate of no objection signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions; or

(4) In considering whether or not the accused is likely to abscond, the court may take into account the following factors—

(a) whether the accused has a fixed abode within the jurisdiction of the court or is ordinarily resident outside Uganda;

(b) whether the accused has sound securities within the jurisdiction to undertake that the accused shall comply with the conditions of his or her bail;

(c) whether the accused has on a previous occasion when released on bail failed to comply with the conditions of his or her bail; and

(d) whether there are other charges pending against the accused.

16. Restriction on period of pretrial remand.

If an accused person has been remanded in custody before the commencement of his or her trial—

(a) in respect of any offence punishable by death, for a continuous period exceeding 480 days; or

(b) in respect of any other offence, for a continuous period exceeding 240 days,

the judge before whom he or she first appears after the expiration of the relevant period shall release him or her on bail on his or her own recognisance, notwithstanding that he or she is accused of an offence referred to in section 15(1), unless—

(d) the judge is satisfied that it is for the protection of the public that he or she should not be released from custody.

17. Power to order sufficient bail.

If, through mistake, fraud or otherwise, insufficient sureties have been accepted, or if they afterwards become insufficient, the High Court may issue a warrant of arrest directing that the person released on bail be brought before it and may order him or her to find sufficient sureties, and on his or her failing so to do may commit him or her to prison.

18. Discharge of sureties.

(1) All or any of the sureties for the appearance and attendance of a person released on bail may at any time apply to the High Court to discharge the bond either wholly or so far as it relates to the applicant or applicants.

(2) On such application being made, the court shall issue a warrant of arrest directing that the person released be brought before it.

(3) On the appearance of that person pursuant to the warrant, or on his or her voluntary surrender, the court shall direct the bond to be discharged either wholly or so far as it relates to the applicant or applicants, and shall call upon that person to find other sufficient sureties, and if he or she fails to do so may commit him or her to prison.

19. Death of surety.

Where a surety to a bond dies before the bond is forfeited, his or her estate shall be discharged from all liability in respect of the bond, but the party who gave the bond may be required to find a new surety.

20. Persons bound by recognisance absconding may be committed.

If it is made to appear to the High Court, by information on oath, that any person bound by recognisance is about to leave Uganda, the court may cause him or her to be arrested and may commit him or her to prison until the trial, unless the court shall see fit to admit him or her to bail upon further recognisance.

21. Forfeiture of recognisance.

(1) Whenever it is proved to the satisfaction of the High Court that a recognisance has been forfeited, the court shall record the grounds of that proof and may call upon any person bound by the recognisance to pay the penalty thereof or to show cause why it should not be paid.

(2) If sufficient cause is not shown and the penalty is not paid, the court may proceed to recover the penalty by issuing a warrant for the attachment and sale of the moveable property belonging to that person, or his or her estate if he or she is dead.

(3) Such warrant may be executed at any place within Uganda, and it shall authorise the attachment and sale of the movable property belonging to such person.

(4) If the penalty is not paid and cannot be recovered by such attachment and sale, the person so bound is liable, by order of the court, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.

(5) The court may, at its discretion, remit any portion of the penalty mentioned and enforce payment in part only.

(6) When a person who has furnished security is convicted of an offence the commission of which constitutes a breach of the conditions of his or her recognisance, a certified copy of the judgment of the court by which he or she was convicted of that offence may be used as evidence in proceedings under this section against his or her surety or sureties; and if the certified copy is so used, the court shall presume that the offence was committed by him or her unless the contrary is proved.

PART III
INDICTMENTS.

22. Contents of indictment.

Every indictment shall contain, and shall be sufficient if it contains, a statement of the specific offence or offences with which the accused person is charged, together with such particulars as may be necessary for giving reasonable information as to the nature of the offence charged.

23. Joinder of counts.

(1) Any offences, whether felonies or misdemeanours, may be charged together in the same indictment if the offences charged are founded on the same facts or form or are a part of a series of offences of the same or a similar character.

(2) Where more than one offence is charged in an indictment, a description of each offence so charged shall be set out in a separate paragraph of the indictment called a count.

24. Joinder of persons.

The following persons may be joined in one indictment and may be tried together—

(a) persons accused of the same offence committed in the course of the same transaction;

(b) persons accused of an offence and persons accused of abetment or of an attempt to commit that offence;

(c) persons accused of more offences than one of the same kind (that is to say, offences punishable with the same amount of punishment under the same section of the Penal Code Act or of any other written law) committed by them jointly within a period of 12 months;

(d) persons accused of different offences committed in the course of the same transaction;

(e) persons accused of any offence under Chapters XXV to XXIX inclusive of the Penal Code Act and persons accused of receiving or retaining property, possession of which is alleged to have been transferred by any such offence committed by the first-named persons, or of abetment of or attempting to commit either of the last-named offences;

(f) persons accused of any offence relating to counterfeit coin under Chapter XXXV of the Penal Code Act, and persons accused of any other offence under that chapter relating to the same coin, or of abetment of, or attempting to commit, any such offence.

25. Rules for the framing of indictments.

The following provisions shall apply to all indictments and, notwithstanding any rule of law or practice, an indictment shall, subject to this Act, not be open to objection in respect of its form or contents if it is framed in accordance with this Act—

(a) a count of an indictment shall commence with a statement of the offence charged, called the statement of offence;

(b) the statement of offence shall describe the offence shortly in ordinary language, avoiding as far as possible the use of technical terms and without necessarily stating all the essential elements of the offence, and it shall contain a reference to the section of the enactment creating the offence;

(c) after the statement of the offence, particulars of that offence shall be set out in ordinary language, in which the use of technical terms shall not be necessary; but where any written law limits the particulars of an offence which are required to be given in an indictment, nothing in this paragraph shall require any more particulars to be given than those so required;

(d) where an indictment contains more than one count, the counts shall be numbered consecutively;

(e) where an enactment constituting an offence states the offence to be the doing or the omission to do any one of any different acts in the alternative, or the doing or the omission to do any act in any one of any different capacities, or with any one of different intentions, or states any part of the offence in the alternative, the acts, omissions, capacities or intentions, or other matters stated in the alternative in the enactment, may be stated in the alternative in the count charging the offence;

(f) it shall not be necessary, in any count charging an offence constituted by an enactment, to negative any exception or exemption from, or qualification to, the operation of the enactment creating the offence;

(g) the description of property in an indictment shall be in ordinary language and such as to indicate with reasonable clearness the property referred to; and if the property is so described, it shall not be necessary, except when required for the purpose of describing an offence depending on any special ownership of property or special value of property, to name the person to whom the property belongs or the value of the property;

(h) where property is vested in more than one person, and the owners of the property are referred to in an indictment, it shall be sufficient to describe the property as owned by one of those persons by name with the others; and if the persons owning the property are a body of persons with a collective name, such as a joint stock company or "inhabitants", "trustees", "commissioners" or "club" or other such name, it shall be sufficient to use the collective name without naming any individual;

(i) property belonging to or provided for the use of any public establishment, service or department may be described as the property of the Government;

(j) coin, bank notes and currency notes may be described as money; and any allegation as to money, so far as regards the description of the property, shall be sustained by proof of any amount of coin or of any bank or currency note (although the particular species of coin of which the amount was composed, or the particular nature of the bank or currency note, shall not be provided), and, in case of stealing and defrauding by false pretences, by proof that the accused person dishonestly appropriated or obtained any coin or any bank or currency note, or any portion of the value of any coin or bank or currency note, although the coin or bank or currency note may have been delivered to him or her in order that some part of its value should be returned to the party delivering it or to any other person and that part shall have been returned accordingly;

(k) when a person is indicted for any offence under sections 268, 269, 270 and 271 of the Penal Code Act, it shall be sufficient to specify the gross amount of property in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed and the dates between which the offence is alleged to have been committed without specifying particular items or exact dates;

(l) the description or designation in an indictment of the accused person, or of any other person to whom reference is made in the indictment, shall be such as is reasonably sufficient to identify him or her, without necessarily stating his or her correct name, or his or her abode, style, degree or occupation; and if, owing to the name of the person not being known, or for any other reason, it is impracticable to give such a description or designation, the description or designation shall be given as is reasonably practicable in the circumstances, or the person may be described as "a person unknown";

(m) where it is necessary to refer to any document or instrument in an indictment, it shall be sufficient to describe it by any name or designation by which it is usually known, or by the purport of the document or instrument, without setting out any copy of it;

(n) subject to any other provisions of this section, it shall be sufficient to describe any place, time, thing, matter, act or omission whatsoever to which it is necessary to refer in any indictment in ordinary language in such a manner as to indicate with reasonable clearness the place, time, thing, matter, act or omission referred to;

(o) it shall not be necessary in stating any intent to defraud, deceive or injure, to state an intent to defraud, deceive or injure any particular person, where the enactment creating the offence does not make an intent to defraud, deceive or injure a particular person an essential ingredient of the offence;

(p) where a previous conviction of an offence is averred in an indictment, it shall be averred at the end of the indictment by means of a statement that the accused person has been previously convicted of that offence at a certain time and place without stating the particulars of the offence;

(q) figures and abbreviations may be used for expressing anything which is commonly expressed by figures and abbreviations.

26. Indictment to be in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

All indictments shall be in the name of and, subject to section 135, signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

27. Form of indictment.

(1) Every indictment shall bear the date of the day when it is signed and, with such modifications as shall be necessary to adapt it to the circumstances of each case, may commence in the following form—

"In the High Court of Uganda at ............................................................... the .................................day of ..........................., 20 ................, at the sessions holden at ............................................................... on the ....................................... day of .........................., 20 ................, the court is informed by the Director of Public Prosecutio

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