Susan Okalany is a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n lawyer and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who sits on the

High Court of Uganda The High Court of Uganda, also Uganda High Court, is the third-highest court, judicial organ in Uganda, behind the Supreme Court of Uganda and the Court of Appeal of Uganda. It has "unlimited original jurisdiction", with powers to try any case o ...

. Before she was appointed to the bench, she was a principal state attorney in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Background and education

Se was born in the

Eastern Region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to: * Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain *Eastern Region, Ghana *Eastern Region (Iceland) *Eastern Region, Nepal *Eastern Region, Nigeria * Eastern Region, Serbia * Eastern Region, Uganda * Eastern Region of ...

of Uganda. She attended local primary and secondary schools. She graduated from the Faculty of Law at

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 largest and oldest public university, 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, in 1992. The following year, she was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice by the Law Development Centre in Kampala, Uganda's capital city.

Career

In 1994, after graduation from the Law Development Centre, Okalany was employed by the American Embassy in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, as a Consular Assistant. From there, she became a researcher at ''Forum for Women in Democracy''. She then was employed by ''Ochieng Wellborn and Company Advocates'', as a legal assistant. When she left there, she joined the State Attorney's office. She served as the resident state attorney in the districts of

Tororo Tororo is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Tororo District. History Tororo was garrisoned by the Uganda Army's Air and Sea Battalion during the Uganda–Tanzania War ( ...

, Iganga,

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, Kakiika Division, Nyakay ...

and Masaka. She was then transferred to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions. While there, she rose through the ranks to become the head of the gender and sexual offences division and also the electoral offences investigations and prosecutions task force. At the time she was appointed to the high court, she was a principal state attorney.

As a prosecutor

Susan Okalany was the lead prosecutor in the Kampala bombings trial. The trial started in September 2011. Two self-confessed conspirators, Mahmoud Mugisha and Edris Nsubuga, pleaded guilty and were convicted. Another prominent case that she prosecuted was the conviction of Jacqueline Uwera Nsenga for the murder of her husband, Juvenal Kananura Nsenga, whom she ran over with a car, when he opened the gate to their home.

As a judge

In 2016 Okalany was appointed a High Court judge and was assigned to the court's Family Division. She was posted to the Mbale circuit of the court's division. While there, she received

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a deat ...

s in a case related to ''Bukedea District Cattle Market'', leading her to request security assistance from the president of Uganda.

Other considerations

In September 2017, Justice Susan Okalany was bestowed with the Award of ''Prosecutor of the Year'', by the

International Association of Prosecutors The International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) is a global non-governmental organisation of prosecutors, established by the United Nations in 1995, Vienna. It has 183 organizational members from 177 countries, and individual members. The IAP ...

. The award was in recognition of her role as lead prosecutor of the 11 July 2010 Kampala bombing terrorists. In June 2020, Susan Okalany was among the four top contenders for the ICC prosecutor job. If elected, she would replace Fatou Bom Bensouda, who as occupied the position since 2012.

References

External links

Specialized teams in the investigation, prosecution and judgement of International Crimes: The Ugandan Experience
As of 3 July 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Okalany Susan 20th-century Ugandan lawyers 21st-century Ugandan judges 1969 births Living people Itesot people Ugandan women judges Makerere University alumni Law Development Centre alumni People from Eastern Region, Uganda Justices of the High Court of Uganda 21st-century women judges