Office of Public Prosecutions

About

The Directorate is an autonomous institution not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority.

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About DPP

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is an autonomous institution not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority. The exercise of ODPP’s authority and mandate should have regard to public interest, the interest of the administration of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.

The ODPP is part of the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) whose mission is to ensure that all people in Uganda live in a safe and just society. JLOS is one of the sectors created by the Sector Wide Approach (SWAP), which was initiated by the Government in 1998 to guide planning and budgeting and foster more coherence and coordination among sectoral-related Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in their pursuit of national development.

Historical Development of ODPP

In the first post -independence Uganda Constitution of 1962, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (as it was then) was created as an independent government body.

However, the 1967 amendment to the Uganda Constitution subjected the DPP to the direction and control of the Attorney General in all cases. From this period, the DPP functioned as a department within the Ministry of Justice.

This position continued until the promulgation of the 1995 Constitution. Under Article 120 of the 1995 Constitution, the autonomy of the office was restored to ensure that in the performance of his/her duties, the ODPP is immune from any forms of interference.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is appointed by the President who acts on the advice of the Public Service Commission with approval of Parliament.

The recurrent and development funding of the office is charged on the Consolidated Fund and it has, since the adoption of the SWAP operated within the JLOS framework.

To date, the office continues to increase its geographical coverage of the country by opening up new offices, and deploying requisite human resources.

However, its non-wage recurrent and development budgets have not been substantially increased to match the expanded needs of the institutions and the demand for ODPP’s services across the country.

The Institutional Alignment of ODPP

The ODPP is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions who is the Chief Executive. The Director is assisted by two Deputies; one in charge of Prosecutions and Quality Assurance while the other is in charge of Management Support Services.

Under the new structure currently under implementation there are four Directorates, each to be headed by a Deputy DPP and eleven Departments.

There are sixteen Regional Offices responsible for the supervision and monitoring of Field offices manned by Resident State Attorneys (RSAs) and Resident State Prosecutors (RSPs).

The objective of the Regional and field offices is to take prosecutorial services closer to the people – the users of ODPP services.

Mission

“To handle and prosecute criminal cases in a just, effective and efficient manner”.