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.

Background and education

Buteera was born in Uganda. After attending local primary and secondary schools, he was admitted to

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

, Uganda's oldest and largest

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

. He graduated from Makerere with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree. He followed that with a postgraduate

Diploma in Legal Practice A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

, awarded by the Law Development Centre, in Kampala. He was then admitted to the Uganda Bar.

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. While there, he advised the then Inspector General of the

Uganda Police Force The Uganda Police Force is the national police force of Uganda. The head of the force is called the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The current IGP is Martin Okoth Ochola. Ochola replaced former IGP, General Kale Kayihura in March 2018. Rec ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Kale Kayihura General Edward Kalekezi Kayihura, commonly known as Kale Kayihura, is a Ugandan lawyer, military General, farmer and former policeman. He was the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Uganda Police Force, the highest rank in that branch of ...

, 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. 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 A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

and 55 percent were suspects on remand. The program was intended to reduce the remand prisoners in the system. 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. In July 2020, the

President of Uganda The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The president leads the executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander-in-chief of the Uganda People's Defence Force. The in ...

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

References

External links

Official Website of Judicial Service Commission

External links

Lawyer accuses Museveni of bribing voters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buteera, Richard Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Ugandan judges Makerere University alumni Law Development Centre alumni Justices of the Supreme Court of Uganda

Background and education

Career

See also

References

External links

External links