The Supreme Court of Uganda and the Right to Bail Pending Appeal: Understanding Nakiwuge Racheal Muleke v Uganda (Criminal Reference No.12 Of 2020) (9 September 2021).

It is against that background that the Court held that an offender has a right to bail pending appeal and/or the right to apply for bail pending appeal. Section 15 of the Trial on Indictment Act provides that '(1) Notwithstanding section 14, the court may refuse to grant bail to a person accused of an offence specified in subsection (2) if he or she does not prove to the satisfaction of the court (a) that exceptional circumstances exist justifying his or her release on bail; and (b) that he or she will not abscond when released on bail'. Although Ugandan legislation provides for the jurisdiction of courts to release offenders on bail pending appeal, it does not provide for the right to bail pending appeal.[1] Rule 6(2)(a) of the Judicature (Supreme Court Rules) Directions[2] provides that the Supreme Court may 'in any criminal proceedings, where notice of appeal has been given in accordance with rules 56 and 57 of these Rules, order that the appellant be released on bail or that the execution of any warrant of distress be suspended pending the determination of the appeal'. [Extracted from the article]