Uganda: Opposition Proposes Sweeping Reforms to Uganda's Justice, Public Order Laws

What the report says

Uganda’s opposition in the 12th Parliament has set out a broad five-year legislative agenda, according to Nile Post, as republished by AllAfrica. The package covers public assemblies, criminal justice, presidential succession, public spending, refugee management and disaster preparedness, and is tied to proposed changes for FY2026/27 through FY2030/31. The plan was prepared by the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and is framed as an effort to improve constitutionalism, accountability, fiscal discipline and public participation.

Among the most prominent ideas are reforms to public order laws. The opposition wants overlapping rules on assemblies consolidated into a single framework, with clearer definitions and fewer powers that could be used to disperse lawful gatherings. It also argues that public-order rules should better align with constitutional protections for peaceful assembly and demonstration. In the justice sector, the group is pushing to end committal proceedings for capital offences, expand the role of magistrates’ courts in criminal cases, introduce digital case-management measures, and give courts rather than ministers the main role in decisions involving accused people with mental incapacity.

The agenda also calls for stronger parliamentary scrutiny of bills, a formal legal framework for presidential transitions, limits on presidential advisers, and statutory controls on donations and State House spending. Additional proposals would integrate refugee services into local planning and create a more complete disaster-risk management law.

Opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi has said Parliament should scrutinize, not simply approve, executive proposals. The reforms, if pursued, would likely shape debates over civil liberties, case backlogs and oversight of executive power in Uganda’s next parliamentary term.