Sarah Langa Siu, the Chief Registrar, has on September 8, 2023, hosted a Media Breakfast meeting at the Judiciary Headquarters to sensitize the public about court fees.

Langa stated that, the court fees are prescribed and mandatory non-refundable sums of money that is payable at filing stage of any civil case like a plaint in High Court is at UGX 3,000, Filing a memorandum of appeal in the Court at UGX 4,800 and Filing a petition for review in the High Court goes for UGX 4,800.

“The legal regime governing payment of the court fees is court rule S.1, 13-1 with schedule there of prescribing the amount of fees payable for any court activity, “Langa stated.

She stated that, every cost is available at the court information desk, as well as court fee schedules, which allow court users to confirm the exact amount they are required to pay, depending on the nature of the case.

Langa also said that, court fees are a form of collection on Non-tax revenue adding to the government fees but go to the consolidated fund and not to court accounts.

Langa also sanitized the public on how the fees are paid, adding that all court fees are paid in an approved bank as directed by the cashier. And upon payment, a receipt is issued to the payee by the cashier, endorsed with the stamp and the copy of the payslip placed on the court file.

She clarified that, there are documents that are administrative in nature, and they do not attract payment of fees.

In relation to criminal matters, the fees payable are generally minimal which relates to filling of appeal forms in the High Court at UGX 1,500. An appeal against a conviction in the Court of Appeal is UGX 4,800, while Filing a petition for review of a conviction in the High Court is UGX 4,800, among other cases.

The specific amounts of court fees that are payable for different types of cases in Uganda are prescribed by the Judiciary Act, Statutory Instrument 13-1.