Commissions of Inquiry Act
Defines "currency point" as the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act.
- Jurisdiction
- Uganda
- Instrument
- Act or statute
- Citation
- Chapter 31
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- Undated source snapshot
- Language
- en
Source attribution: Source: Uganda Legal Information Institute
Statute overview
About this statute
Commissioners have the High Court's powers to summon witnesses, call for documents and examine on oath; they may accept affidavit evidence or use interrogatories in special circumstances; summonses must be signed by a commissioner or the secretary, and the secretary may administer oaths. An inquiry is deemed a judicial proceeding under specified Penal Code Act sections. A commissioner or other person acting under this Act is entitled to the same protection as judicial officers and officers executing warrants and orders under the Judicature Act (or its substitute). Persons summoned to attend a commission of inquiry must obey the summons and may be entitled to expenses; commissioners may disallow expenses. Payment orders for witnesses mirror High Court practice and are paid from the Consolidated Fund. Refusal or obstruction may attract a fine not exceeding seven hundred fifty currency points. Witnesses cannot be compelled to incriminate themselves and have the same privileges as witnesses in the High Court. Persons who are the subject of an inquiry are entitled to be represented by an advocate for the whole inquiry; other persons may be represented with the commission's leave. The President may order the Inspector General of Police to assign officers to attend commissioners and carry out duties such as preserving order, serving summonses and other ministerial tasks.
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Provisions of Commissions of Inquiry Act
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- 1
1. Interpretation
Defines "currency point" as the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act.
Section 1. Interpretation Section In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, "currency point" has the value assigned to it in Schedule 1 to this Act. - 10
10. Power to summon and examine witnesses
Commissioners have the High Court's powers to summon witnesses, call for documents and examine on oath; they may accept affidavit evidence or use interrogatories in special circumstances; summonses must be signed by a commissioner or the secretary, and the secretary may administer oaths. An inquiry is deemed a judicial proceeding under specified Penal Code Act sections.
Section 10. Power to summon and examine witnesses Section 10(1) Commissioners acting under this Act shall have the powers of the High Court to summon witnesses, to call for the production of books, plans and documents and to examine witnesses and parties concerned on oath. Section 10(2) Where the commissioners consider it desirable for the purpose of avoiding expense or delay or for any other special reason, they may receive evidence by affidavit or administer interrogatories and require the person to whom the interrogatories are administered to make a full and true reply to the interrogatories. Section 10(3) Summonses for the attendance of witnesses or other persons or the production of documents may be in the form given in Schedule 3 to this Act, and shall be signed by one of the commissioners or by the secretary, and oaths and affirmations may be administered by the secretary. Section 10(4) An inquiry under this Act shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding for the purposes of sections 81 and 86 of the Penal Code Act. - 11
11. Non-liability of commissioners to suit
A commissioner or other person acting under this Act is entitled to the same protection as judicial officers and officers executing warrants and orders under the Judicature Act (or its substitute).
Section 11. Non-liability of commissioners to suit Section A commissioner or other person acting under this Act shall be entitled to the like protection as that enjoyed by judicial officers and officers executing warrants and orders under the Judicature Act, or other Act for the time being substituted for that Act. - 12
12. Witnesses
Persons summoned to attend a commission of inquiry must obey the summons and may be entitled to expenses; commissioners may disallow expenses. Payment orders for witnesses mirror High Court practice and are paid from the Consolidated Fund. Refusal or obstruction may attract a fine not exceeding seven hundred fifty currency points. Witnesses cannot be compelled to incriminate themselves and have the same privileges as witnesses in the High Court.
Section 12. Witnesses Section 12(1) All persons summoned to attend and give evidence, or to produce books, plans or documents at any sitting of any commission of inquiry, shall be bound to obey the summons served upon them as fully in all respects as witnesses are bound to obey a summons issued from the High Court, and shall be entitled to like expenses as if they had been summoned to attend at the High Court on a criminal trial, if the expenses shall be allowed by the commissioners, but the commissioners may disallow the whole or any part of those expenses in any case if they think fit. Section 12(2) Orders for the payment of the witnesses shall be made as nearly as may be as orders are made for the payment of witnesses in the High Court, and shall be paid from the Consolidated Fund. Section 12(3) Every person refusing or omitting, without sufficient cause, to attend at the time and place mentioned in the summons served on him or her, and every person attending, but leaving the commission without the permission of the commissioners, or refusing without sufficient cause to answer, or to answer fully and satisfactorily, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief all questions put to him or her by or with the concurrence of the commissioners, or refusing or omitting without sufficient cause to produce any books, plans or documents in his or her possession or under his or her control, and mentioned or referred to in the summons served on him or her, and every person who at any sitting of the commission wilfully insults any commissioner, or the secretary, or wilfully interrupts the proceedings of the commission, is liable to a fine not exceeding seven hundred fifty currency points; but no person giving evidence before the commission shall be compellable to incriminate himself or herself, and every such person shall, in respect of any evidence given by him or her before the commission, be entitled to all the privileges to which a witness giving evidence before the High Court is entitled in respect of evidence given by him or her before that court. - 13
13. Appearance of advocate
Persons who are the subject of an inquiry are entitled to be represented by an advocate for the whole inquiry; other persons may be represented with the commission's leave.
Section 13. Appearance of advocate Section Any person whose conduct is the subject of inquiry under this Act, or who is in any way implicated or concerned in the matter under inquiry, shall be entitled to be represented by an advocate at the whole of the inquiry, and any other person who may consider it desirable that he or she should be so represented may, by leave of the commission, be represented in the manner aforesaid. - 14
14. Police officers detailed to attend commissioners
The President may order the Inspector General of Police to assign officers to attend commissioners and carry out duties such as preserving order, serving summonses and other ministerial tasks.
Section 14. Police officers detailed to attend commissioners Section The President may direct the Inspector General of Police to detail police officers to attend upon any such commissioners, to preserve order during the proceedings of the commission, to serve summonses on witnesses and to perform such ministerial duties as the commissioners shall direct. - 15
15. Remuneration to commissioners
Commissioners appointed under this Act are not entitled to any remuneration except expenses unless the President specially grants remuneration; the President may direct remuneration or payment of expenses for the secretary and other persons and such directed sums shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.
Section 15. Remuneration to commissioners Section 15(1) Commissioners appointed under this Act shall not be entitled to any remuneration, unless the remuneration shall be specially granted by the President, beyond the actual expenses incurred in holding the inquiry, but the President may direct what remuneration, if any, shall be paid to the secretary, and to any other persons employed in or about any such commission, and may direct payment of any other expenses attendant upon the carrying out of any such commission, or upon any proceedings for any penalty under this Act. Section 15(2) Such sums, so directed to be paid, shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament. - 16
16. Commissions, etc., to be published inGazette
All commissions under this Act, and all alterations and revocations of such commissions, must be published in the Gazette and take effect from the date of publication.
Section 16. Commissions, etc., to be published inGazette Section All commissions under this Act, and all alterations to and revocations of any such commission, shall be published in the Gazette and shall take effect from the date of the publication. - 17
17. Proceedings for penalties
Proceedings for any penalty under this Act may only be commenced by direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Section 17. Proceedings for penalties Section No proceedings shall be commenced for any penalty under this Act except by the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions. - 18
18. Power to amend Schedule 1
The Minister responsible for finance has the power to amend Schedule 1 to this Act by statutory instrument with the approval of Cabinet.
Section 18. Power to amend Schedule 1 Section The Minister responsible for finance may, by statutory instrument, with the approval of Cabinet, amend Schedule 1 to this Act. - 2
2. Power to issue commissions into matters of public nature, etc.
The President has the power to issue commissions appointing commissioners to inquire into public matters, commissions may set inquiry details, and commissioners may exclude persons to preserve order.
Section 2. Power to issue commissions into matters of public nature, etc. Section 2(1) The President may issue a commission appointing one or more commissioners and authorising those commissioners, or any quorum of them mentioned in the commission, to inquire into the conduct of any officer in the public service of Uganda, the conduct of any chief, the conduct or management of any department of the public service or of any public or local institution, or into any matter in which an inquiry would be for the public welfare. Section 2(2) Each such commission shall specify the subject of inquiry and may, if there is more than one commissioner, direct which commissioner shall be chairperson, and direct where and when the inquiry shall be made, and the report of the inquiry rendered, and prescribe how the commission shall be executed, and may direct whether the inquiry shall or shall not be held in public. Section 2(3) In the absence of a direction to the contrary, the inquiry shall be held in public, but the commissioners shall, nevertheless, be entitled to exclude any particular person for the preservation of order, for the due conduct of the inquiry or for any other reason. - 3
3. Power to appoint fresh commissioners and to alter and revoke commissions
If a commissioner is unable, unwilling to act or dies, the President may appoint another; commissions issued under the Act may be altered or revoked by the President.
Section 3. Power to appoint fresh commissioners and to alter and revoke commissions Section If any commissioner is or becomes unable or unwilling to act or dies, the President may appoint another commissioner in his or her place; and any commission issued under this Act may be altered by any subsequent commission issued by the President, or may be revoked. - 4
4. Commissions not affected by change of President
No commission issued under this Act shall lapse by reason of, or be otherwise affected by, the death, absence or removal of the President issuing the commission.
Section 4. Commissions not affected by change of President Section No commission issued under this Act shall lapse by reason of, or be otherwise affected by, the death, absence or removal of the President issuing the commission. - 5
5. Oath of office by commissioners
Commissioners must make and subscribe an oath or affirmation in the form in Schedule 2, may take it before the President or a person the President appoints, and must deposit it with the Minister.
Section 5. Oath of office by commissioners Section Each commissioner appointed under this Act shall make and subscribe an oath or affirmation in the form in Schedule 2 to this Act, which oath or affirmation may be taken before the President, or before such person as the President may appoint, and shall be deposited by the commissioner with the Minister. - 6
6. Power to appoint secretary; secretary’s duties
The President may appoint a secretary who must attend commission sittings, record proceedings, keep papers, summon and minute witnesses, and perform duties prescribed by the commissioners.
Section 6. Power to appoint secretary; secretary’s duties Section The President may appoint a secretary to attend the sittings of the commission, to record its proceedings, to keep its papers, summon and minute the testimony of witnesses and generally to perform such duties connected with the inquiry as the commissioners shall prescribe. - 7
7. Duties of commissioners
The commissioners must, after taking the required oath or affirmation, conduct a full, impartial inquiry per the commission's directions and report the results in writing to the President; when required they must also furnish a full statement of proceedings and reasons.
Section 7. Duties of commissioners Section The commissioners shall, after taking the oath or making the affirmation as provided in section 5 , make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the matter specified in the commission; conduct the inquiry in accordance with the direction, if any, in the commission; in due course, report to the President, in writing, the result of the inquiry; and also, when required, furnish to the President a full statement of the proceedings of the commission and of the reasons leading to the conclusions arrived at or reported. - 8
8. Division of opinion of commissioners
If the commissioners are equally divided on a question during proceedings, the chairperson of the commission has a second (casting) vote.
Section 8. Division of opinion of commissioners Section If the commissioners are, in any case, equally divided on any question that arises during the proceedings of the commission, the chairperson of the commission shall have a second or casting vote. - 9
9. Commissioners’ power for regulating proceedings
Commissioners acting under this Act may make rules for guiding and running proceedings and set sittings, and may adjourn sittings, subject to their commission.
Section 9. Commissioners’ power for regulating proceedings Section Commissioners acting under this Act may make such rules for their own guidance, and the conduct and management of proceedings before them, and the hours and times and places for their sittings, not inconsistent with their commission, as they may from time to time think fit, and may from time to time adjourn for such time and to such place as they may think fit, subject only to the terms of their commission.
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