High court judges in Uganda have accepted to remove their attires while tying cases of children who have been in contact with the law to promote a conducive environment.

This was noted during the workshop organize by the Centre for Justice Studies and Innovations (CJSI) in  Acholi sub region on  Child Friendly Court Procedures, by Ms Sylvia Lodo an assessor  in Amuru district who said that judge’s attires on many occasions intimidate children, the majority of whom might be seeing them for the first time.

“These are children who need conducive environments so that they can express themselves of what could have happened to them, and there should also be some refreshments for them before and after the trial,” she said.

The judicial spokesperson Mr Joshua Kisawuzi however said that “chambers should be used to avoid interruptions that might arise from open court sessions because at times courts get to full capacity and they fear to speak their minds.”

Justice Lamecka Mukasa the head of the Criminal Division in Uganda says that if the children are not comfortable with the attires, judges should be considerate, but warned that overall it might only be possible in isolated cases.

“We do not have a problem with attires in trying children so long as they can pave way for justice to prevail on the victim’s side,” he said.

He added that for isolated cases, children can be accompanied by their relatives or guardians if they are not witnesses in the cases to be resolved.

Justice and Law order Sector on Tuesday launched the first court session for children in  Uganda as one of the interventions to secure justice for at least 150 children who have come into conflict with the law, the session will run for a period of one month.