Supreme Court of Uganda: New Chief Justice
Mr. Bart Katureebe retired as chief judge of Uganda after reaching the age limit of 70 and after five years of service. He was appointed Chief Justice in March 2015
Justice Alfonso Owinye Dollo has, June 22 taken over the office of the Chief judge, he will be standing in until the President appoints a new chief judge as mandated by the constitution.
Background and Education
Justice Owinye Dollo was born on 18 January 1956.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws from Makerere University, and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre.
Justice Owinye holds a Master of Arts in conflict resolution, which he obtained from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.
He also has a certificate in advanced conflict mediation skills, obtained from the Center for Conflict Resolution, in Cape Town, South Africa.
In 1988, Owiny-Dollo served as legal counsel in the peace talks between the then rebel outfit, Uganda People’s Democratic Movement (UPDM), and the
government of Uganda. In that capacity, he wrote the peace agreement executed between the government and UPDM, on 3 June 1988, at Pece Stadium, in Gulu.
From 1994 until 1996, he was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1995 Uganda Constitution. He also served as a member of parliament, representing Agago County in the 6th Parliament (1996–2001). During the talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the National Resistance Movement government of Uganda, from 2006 until 2008, Owiny Dollo served as legal counsel to Reik Machar, the Vice President of South Sudan, who mediated the talks.
In 2008, he was appointed to the High Court of Uganda, serving in that capacity until 2015.
In 2015, Owiny-Dollo was promoted to the Court of Appeal of Uganda. However, he couldn’t immediately take up his appointment because he was hearing a terrorism case in the High Court, in which 13 men were accused of killing 76 people in twin bombings in Kampala in 2010. He disposed of that case in May 2016.
In August 2017, the president of Uganda, appointed Owiny-Dollo, as the Deputy Chief Justice and under Ugandan law, the head of Uganda’s Court of Appeal and Uganda’s Constitutional Court
