Richard Buteera

Richard Buteera, also Richard Butera, is a Ugandan lawyer and judge who has served as a member of the Supreme Court of Uganda since September 2017. Immediately prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a Justice of the Uganda Court of Appeal.[1]

Richard Buteera
Born
Uganda
NationalityUgandan
CitizenshipUganda
Alma materMakerere University
(Bachelor of Laws)
Law Development Centre
(Diploma in Legal Practice)
OccupationLawyer, judge
Known forLaw
TitleJustice of the Supreme Court of Uganda

Background and education

Buteera was born in Uganda. After attending local primary and secondary schools, he was admitted to Makerere University, Uganda's oldest and largest public university. He graduated from Makerere with a Bachelor of Laws degree. He followed that with a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, awarded by the Law Development Centre, in Kampala. He was then admitted to the Uganda Bar.[2]

Career

During the early 2010s, he served as the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), in the Uganda Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeal.[3] While there, he advised the then Inspector General of the Uganda Police Force, General Kale Kayihura, that as of April 2013, there was no law in Uganda against drink-walking. “Whereas it is undesirable for people to walk while drunk, but they are not breaking any traffic laws and it is improper for police to arrest them,” Buteera is quoted to have said.[4]

He also pioneered a program to reduce the backlog of cases of suspects on remand in Uganda's prisons, where, as of April 2010, there were 33,000 prisoners in the system that was built to house 13,700 inmates. Of these, 45 percent were convicts and 55 percent were suspects on remand. The program was intended to reduce the remand prisoners in the system.[5]

As a Supreme Court Justice, in January 2020, at a Judicial Officers Conference, he advised the officers to take special care of complainants who are elderly, disabled or with other special needs, including pregnant women and children.[6]

In July 2020, the President of Uganda, named Justice Buteera to be a member of the Judicial Service Commission, a constitutional body mandated to recruit judges and regulate their conduct.[7] He was sworn in on 24 July 2020.[8]

See also

References
  1. Solomon Arinaitwe (8 September 2017). "I am not a cadre judge - Owiny-Dollo". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. The Judiciary Insider Magazine (5 March 2015). "Meet the Judiciary's Senior Administrators" (PDF). Kampala: The Judiciary Insider Magazine. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. Ephraim Kasozi (15 August 2016). "I don't owe Kato Kajubi – Buteera". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  4. Mercy Nalugo (23 April 2013). "There is no law against drink-walking, says DPP". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. Daily Monitor (2 April 2010). "Govt moves to reduce congestion in prisons". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  6. Moses Walubiri (28 January 2020). "Judges asked to prioritize children's cases". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. Kenneth Kazibwe (23 July 2020). "Museveni appoints Justice Butera to the Judicial Service Commission". Kampala: Nile Post Uganda. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  8. SoftPower (24 July 2020). "Justice Richard Buteera Sworn In As New Member Of Judicial Service Commission". Kampala: SoftPower Uganda. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
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