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Kiryowa Kiwanuka, the Attorney General, says that there is no need to create a sports tribunal in order to resolve sports disputes in the country.
He mentions that such cases are possible to be handled by the Court of Arbitration.
This was said by him while appearing before the Committee on Education and Sports on Wednesday 25 January 2023.
The committee is meeting with diverse stakeholders to harmonize provisions within the Physical Activity and Sports Bill 2022 and the National Sports Bill 2021.
According to the National Sports Bill, 2021, a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Hon. Moses Magogo (NRM, Budiope East County), clause 42 provides for the appointment of a tribunal to determine sports disputes.
These disputes include those that arise between the National Council of Sports (NCS) and a National Sports Organization, a National Sports Organization and its members, and national Sports Organizations.
The Attorney General pointed out that the creation of a special sports tribunal would reduce resources for justice administration.
“Government is looking forward to having different Courts of Appeal in different regions of the country with enough judges, so that we decentralize dispensation of justice. Creating tribunals will limit our efforts,” Kiryowa Kiwanuka said.
He said that the creation and administration of tribunals would increase government’s costs relative to the number of cases it would receive.
“How many disputes do you have currently in sports? You are going to add on another cost yet the experts can come in, deal with the dispute and go away under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,” the Attorney General added.
Kiryowa Kiwanuka said that the Minister for Sports should request clearance from Cabinet to create a Sports Disputes Tribunal. This is due to the government policy of preventing the establishment of new agencies, boards, and corporations.
The Uganda Law Society, led by Bernard Oundo, justified the creation of a sports tribunal, pointing out that it creates specialization in the legal field, which in turn leads to efficiency.
“Sports has unique international legislations that need to be looked at. In London, we have seen a Construction Disputes Tribunal and Energy Disputes Tribunal notwithstanding that they have a permanent Court of Arbitration,” Oundo said.
Hon. John Twesigye observed that the Private Member’s Bill seeks to have a Sports Disputes Tribunal created so as to efficiently handle sports disputes and check on case backlog.
“They are saying that a tribunal will handle issues quickly and allow a sports person to move on with their sports activities. As a committee, we could not rule on how the process can be done, but we shall interrogate it further,” Twesigye said.
Distributed by APO Group, on behalf of Parliament of Uganda
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Source: african.business
