Attorney General, again fails to beat deadline for age limit case response despite extension

The Attorney General has for the second time failed to beat the deadline allowed to him to file a response in the age limit case, the Nile Post has learnt.

In December the Attorney General requested for more time to be able to file reply to the submissions by the Age Limit petitioners following the death of Henry Oluka, the Senior Principle State Attorney who was among the team representing him before the Supreme Court accepted to extend filing time to January 4.

However, in a  January 4 letter, the Solicitor General Francis Atoke on behalf of the Attorney General requested for more time to allow him file a response in the matter.

“Regrettably, it has just been brought to our attention that your letter was received by the Security Registry on December 19, 2018 during the period of the funeral and burial of our colleague and the registry staff inadvertently omitted to forward it to enable us take action and file our submissions in time as per your directions,” says the Solicitor General’s letter to the Supreme Court registrar.

The Solicitor General has subsequently asked that his office be allowed to file a response by Tuesday January 8 contrary to the earlier date of January 4 which has since elapsed.

“We shall accordingly seek the indulgence of the honourable court to validate our belatedly filed submissions at the earliest opportunity and request our colleagues to duly accommodate us.”

The latest development is expected to raise dust especially from the petitioners including lawyer Male Mabirizi who had earlier protested the extension of the time from December 31 to January 4.

A group of three parties including the Uganda Law Society, lawyer Male Mabirizi and 11 MPs led by Winnie Kiiza are challenging the judgment by the Constitutional Court that okayed the removal of presidential age limit from the Constitution.

A panel of seven judges of the Supreme Court will hear the petition in two days between January 15 and 16 and these will include the Chief Justice Bart Katureebe,Paul Mugamba,Stella Amoko Arach, Ruby Apio Aweri, Jotham Tumwesigye, Eldad Mwanguhya and Lillian Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza.

8 issues to be determined

The parties also agreed on eight issues that they would want court to determine during the consolidated age limit appeal.

The Supreme Court will be required to determine whether the Justice of the Constitutional Court misdirected themselves on the application of basic structure doctrine while determining the age limit petition.

The court will also be required to determine whether the Justices of the Constitutional Court erred in law when they said that the entire process of consulting, debating and enactment of the age limit act didn’t contravene provisions of the 1995 constitution and the rules and procedures of parliament.

The parties also agreed that court should determine whether the Justices of the Constitutional Court erred in law when they held that the scuffle and violence in and outside parliament didn’t contravene the 1995 constitution.

They also agreed for the court to determine whether the Justices of the Constitutional Court applied the substantiality test while deciding the age limit petition.

The Supreme Court will also be required to determine whether the Justices of the Constitutional Court misguided themselves when they ruled that passing of the age limit was not inconsistent with the 1995 Constitution.

The court will also determine whether the judges contravened the 1995 Constitution when they ruled that the president elected in 2016 will not leave office after clocking 75 years of age

The parties also agreed that court should determine whether the Justices of the Constitutional Court derogated the applicants’ right to fair hearing, injudiciously exercised their discretion and committed procedural irregularities and if so, to what extent did it affect the final judgment.