Lady Justice Julia Sebutinde made a judgement at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that outraged most people, not only in Uganda but in many parts of the world in a case brought by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention. The International Court of Justice is under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, and adjudicates on matters between nations. For example, DRC brought a case that Uganda had looted and plundered Congo during its incursions, resulting in Uganda being ordered to pay $325,000,000 in compensation. There are fifteen judges, from various parts of the world, elected by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, who preside over the court. Justice Sebutinde was appointed in 2012 and reappointed for a second term in 2021. She is an experienced judge, having been a judge of the High Court of Uganda followed by a stint at the Special Court for Sierra Leonne from 2005 where she tried Charles Taylor.
She is no stranger to controversy, having carried out three public inquiries in Uganda, including one into corruption in the URA which was later challenged by the URA Inspector General and nullified. At the end of the trial of Charles Taylor his defense attorney was late in submission of the final summary, so Justice Sebutinde threw it out. The barrister then stormed out of the court and was later called for a disciplinary hearing. However, Justice Sebutinde refused to attend, and the hearing had to be dropped. Both the behavior of the attorney and that of the Judge were criticized by peers in the legal fraternity as setting a bad precedent.
Justince Sebutinde was also a judge in the case brought by Mauritius against the UK regarding the Chagos Islands in 2019. At the time of the de-colonisation of Mauritius Britain held on to the archipelago of the Chagos Islands and forcibly displaced the population of 2,000 people in order to establish a military base. The eminent Anglo-French Lawyer Phillipe Sands has written a book about this historic case called ‘The Last Colony’, in which he quotes Julia Sebutinde’s judgement which went against Britain.
Throughout her career Julia has never shown a need for approval and has stuck by her legal opinion, even if it is at odds with everyone else – as in this case in the ICJ in which she has disagreed with all the other judges. This genocide case has aroused the strongest of opinions worldwide since the scenes of destruction and human suffering are on our screens daily as we watch Israel pounding Gaza to rubble and killing tens of thousands of civilians, including women and children, who have nowhere to escape. In the eyes of the world, she is perceived as taking Israel’s side rather than using the opportunity to stop the slaughter.
The majority decision of the Court did not give a judgement on whether Israel is guilty of genocide, only that there is a case to answer, so they imposed provisional measures to ensure that acts of genocide are not continuing. Each judge does not necessarily reflect the views of their own government, but it was seen as significant that the American judge agreed with all the measures, thus sending a signal that American’s patience is wearing thin. Julia, on the other hand, did not reflect the position of the Ugandan government, but she was still seen as having betrayed Africa, particularly since the case was brought by another African country.
Her opinion was that the conflict is political and therefore needs a political settlement and should not fall under the Genocide Convention since acts of war are covered by International Humanitarian Law. Thus, in her opinion, the case is wrong from the outset and does not warrant the imposition of any provisional measures to prevent genocide.
Apparently, this case could take years to reach a definitive judgement on whether genocide has actually been committed, so there is not likely to be an answer soon. But for Justice Sebutinde this case is not about supporting one side or the other no matter how emotive the issue, it is about giving a legal opinion. She is simply doing her job as a judge, detached from the furore going on around her – but it must be a lonely position.
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