KAMPALA — Uganda’s Supreme Court judge officer Lillian Tibatemwa has crossed to Seychelles— joining a panel of three other justices in the country’s Supreme Court.
Ms. Tibatemwa, one of the most senior judges and a law professor at Makerere University has previously served on the Ugandan Court of Appeal as well, before she was promoted to the country’s most senior court.
According to local media, with the swearing-in of Ms Tibatemwa, the Seychelles’ Court of Appeal now has a full bench —the President of the Court of Appeal and four Justices of Appeal.
The new judge, who is Ugandan, said academic experience helps ground her work.
“One of the things I realised is that academic work, scholarly work or legal scholarship, is actually an advantage to a person because we are talking about discussing principles of law, especially when you are serving in the highest court, the court which has the last say in dispute resolution,” said Tibatemwa.
Tibatemwa holds a PhD in law from the University of Copenhagen and was the first African woman to graduate with a PhD in law.
She joined the judiciary in Uganda in July 2013 as Justice of the Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court.
She is also a highly experienced and widely researched legal scholar in judicial and legal matters.
Before joining the judiciary of Uganda, where she has been serving as the Justice of the Supreme Court, Tibatemwa was a professor of law at the Makerere University.
“My contribution to Seychelles is rooted in the experience I’ve already had in courts in Uganda. The Court of Appeal is the highest court; it is at the apex of the judicial hierarchy in Seychelles and that is very similar to the court where I sit because the Supreme Court as it is called in Uganda is at the apex of the judicial hierarchy in Uganda,” she said.
She added that “we now live in a global world, whatever good you find on jurisdiction should really be allowed to permeate into another jurisdiction so I am excited that I am going to serve on the court which is a little different from where I come from but that in itself for me is the exciting part.”
“It is not business as usual. I must learn something new and take it back over to Uganda,” said Tibatemwa.
Seychelles’ President Danny Faure appointed Justice Tibatemwa on recommendations made by the Constitutional Appointments Authority pursuant with Article 123 of the Constitution of the island nation
