The Plaintiffs v. Attorney General and Uganda Veterans Development Ltd: A Critique

Abstract

This article provides a critique of the High Court of Uganda ' sDecision in the Plaintiffs v Attorney General and Uganda VeteransDevelopment Ltd. It argues that the Court ' s dismissal of theplaintiffs ' case was the result of the Court ' s failure to analysethe legal relationship between trafficking, slavery and forcedlabour from both Ugandan and international lawperspectives. This failure resulted from the Court ' s inabilityto discern the legal difference between the "nature of work"and "conditions of work" and partly in the "withholding ofinformation" by the 2nd defendant. Had the Court appreciatedthis difference, it would have affirmed that as a part of themeans element, fraud and deception operated to completelynegate the plaintiffs ' initial consent. This Article provides thelegal analysis of these issues in the hope that similar legalshortcomings will not be repeated again in the future.Key Words: Conditions of Work €“ Enslavement - Forced Labour - Nature of Work- State Responsibility - Trafficking in Persons, Uganda.