Uganda’s judiciary has rejected a directive from the country’s lawyers’ association to stop using colonial-era courtroom titles and traditions.
The Uganda Law Society instructed its members to abandon honorifics like “My Lord” to decolonize the justice system.
Society president Isaac Ssemakadde stated that physical bows and archaic titles force citizens into postures of deep humiliation.
Lawyers were instead urged to stand upright as free citizens and use plain forms of address like “Mr. Judge.”
In response, judiciary spokesperson James Ereemye declared that the independent courts would continue to demand traditional courtroom decorum.
Ereemye dismissed the policy shift as an unauthorized move by a section of young people ignoring proper administrative forums.
This clash revives a broader continental debate regarding the relevance of British legal customs in modern African nations.