Public Relations Mainstreaming in the Administration of Justice: Challenges and

Prospects for the Courts of Judicature in Uganda

By

Kisawuzi Elias Omar

A PhD Synopsis submitted for admission to the degree of PhD.

February 2018

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1.1 Background of the study

The decline of the legitimacy of the judiciary in the face of the public has brought public
relations practice to the forefront. This phenomenon could not have happened as an event but as
a process. That process was historical in the context that the suitability of the adversarial system
of justice, imposed on by British rulers to most of African countries was a subject of intense and
unresolved debate even among colonial rulers (Morris & Read 1972; Lyall 1988). The British
system of justice was inherited as part of the independence package. To what extent the inherited
system of justice administration served independence aspirations and beyond (for both the rulers
and subjects) is now a matter of history. The relevance of that history is significant to the
contemporary situation in that the system created a need to interact with the public as silence is
no longer golden for the judiciary.

The media policy of judiciaries is however inherently fraught with potential conflicts. On one
hand, judiciaries have strong incentives to foster their relations with the media, and recognize the
fact that public confidence is in many ways dependent on quality reporting of the courts. On the
other hand, according to classical judicial ethos, silence in the public sphere outside the
courtroom still appears to be a central tenet of judicial ideology.

Just as in any democratic countries, the media policy of the judiciary in Uganda is inherently
fraught with potential conflicts. On the one hand, judiciaries recognize the fact that public
confidence is in many ways dependent on quality reporting of the courts and thus have strong
incentives to foster their relations with the media. On the other hand, the classical judicial ethos
of silence in the public sphere outside the courtroom still appears to be a central tenet of judicial
ideology. The image of distance, independence and impartiality expected of the courts (Davis
1994, 2011) is ostensibly at odds with judicial discussions of individual cases or points of law in
the media. Therefore, judicial relations with the media are limited and exceptional compared to
the current media behavior of other social institutions.

There appears to be little disagreement among legal scholars that the function of courts has
expanded beyond the primary duty of resolving ordinary disputes. There is a recognition of the
fact that "courts may have to deal with problems involving political and social issues" (Shetreet

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1988: 469). Court decisions on sensitive matters of political and social significance bring into
light the manner in which the interpretation of the law is carried out.

The way in which the general public perceives law and legal institutions in general and the
judiciary in particular is crucial for law to realize its intended aims. This perception has to be
traced to the history of law in third worId countries in general (Nyachae 1992:79; Mingst
1988:140). As correctly noted by Ghai (1981:155, 173), among others, in East Africa and
elsewhere in the third world, public perception of law and legal institutions has been that of fear
and distrust. How this fear and distrust of law and legal institutions came about need to be
reflected upon.

Whether the change from marginality to centrality of public relations will bring about public
trust of law and legal institutions are important matters that need to be thoroughly discussed
beyond professional confines. What we have been witnessing, so far, is that only minor and
cosmetic changes have been introduced. Such changes do not go far enough to empower the
general public in the struggle for the preservation, protection and promotion of their human
rights. Most, if not all, of the reforms have been introduced without broad consultation with the
public.

Since the inheritance of the judiciary from the English colonial masters at independence, its
operations have been conducted in an aura of mystique and guided by the principle of the
independence of the judiciary. This approach, however, could not withstand the needs and
demands of our time. On many occasions in the late 1960s and early 1970s, chief justices urged
judicial officers to identify with the masses (James & Kassam 2003). Like issues of efficiency
and discipline, this call was disregarded and misinterpreted for compromising the cherished
doctrine of judicial neutrality. When crises crept in and things started to go wrong, the judiciary
not only remembered the wisdom of identifying with the people, but also to ok initiatives to
make the people aware of their legal rights. With effect from 1992 several African judiciaries
have been involved in mass education about people’s legal rights and duties. This is done
through radio programs, newspaper columns and weekly meetings with identified audiences.

Judicial initiatives and efforts towards publicity and increased public relations activities in order
to facilitate the portraying of the positive image of the judiciary to the public were given another

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boost in 1993. The Mrosso Commission (1993) recommended, among other things, the
establishment of a public relations unit within the judiciary and the appointment of public
relations officers.

The judiciary is an institution, but it is at the same time composed of individual actors. These are
the nuts and bolts without which the institution cannot do anything. These include judges (both
in the High Court and Court of Appeal, magistrates (in the resident magistrates' courts, district
courts, and primary courts). They also include all the supporting staff, the court clerks, process
servers, administrators and accountants, and their assistants and secretaries of course. These are
the actors all of whom together make the judiciary tick. As an institution these actors work
together and portray the image of that institution. The actors, therefore, give the institution an
image of oneness.

The fact that institutions are composed of individual actors makes it necessary to understand that
there are roles and contributions which these individuals play as individuals, and which cannot
necessarily be attributed to the institution in which they belong. These roles and contributions
differentiate the individuals in question from their colleagues and counterparts in the institution.
In studying institutions, both the oneness of the collection of individuals and the differences
between them, have to be properly understood. Such an understanding may help in determining
how and to what extent the actions and decisions of individuals are representative (or otherwise)
of the institution in which they are members.

The practice of public relations in government institutions lack trust from the citizens making it
fail to get the public’s attention. Even though government institutions have been trying to build
their image, the citizens, especially those who have had firsthand experience with the
institutions, do not wish to have anything to do with them. The Kenyan Judiciary has not been
left out in the blame. In the structure of the Kenyan Judiciary, the PR department exists, but it is
not clear why it has not been actively involved in defending the institution in the face of the
public (Judiciary Litigants Charter, 2010). Citizens feel that the Judiciary has kept them in the
dark regarding its operations, yet they (citizens) are the main stakeholders given they are
consumers of justice. The study intends to investigate how PR can help change the image of
Kenyan Judiciary. Simons (1976: 21) defines persuasion as “human communication designed to
influence others by / modifying their beliefs, values, or attitudes”. O’Keefe (1990) argued that

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there are requirements for the sender, the means, and the recipient to consider something
persuasive. Persuasion involves goals that are to be achieved by the sender, and communication
is the means to achieve that goal.

Conceptually, the subject of public relations (PR) is defined as the practice of managing the flow
of information between an organization and its publics. It provides an organization or individual
with exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not
require direct payment. Chartered Institute of Public Relations (2014) defines PR as a planned
and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an
organization and its publics. Here, the publics are divided into six: Customers, staff, investors,
politicians, and regulators; neighbors and business partners. The aim of PR is mainly to persuade
the public, investors, partners, employees and other stakeholders to maintain a certain point of
view about the company, its leadership and products. PR’s common activities include speaking
at conferences, winning industry awards, working with the press, and employee communication.
According to Public Relations Society of America (2012), “Public Relations helps an
organization and its publics adopt mutually to each other.” Its essential functions include
research, planning, communication, dialogue and evaluation. Therefore, PR is a strategic
communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and
their publics.

Bernays and Ivy Lee (2015) defined PR as a management function, which tabulates public
attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interests of an organization, followed by executing
a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.” Others simply define PR as
the practice of managing communication between an organization and its publics. PR disciplines
have specific disciplines, which include financial public relations (providing information mainly
to business reporters), consumer/lifestyle public relations (gaining publicity for a particular
product or service, rather than using advertising), crisis public relations (responding to negative
accusations or information), industry relations (providing information to trade bodies) and
government relations (engaging government departments to influence policymaking).

Grunig and Hunt (1984) defined PR as, “the management of communication between an
organization and its publics. Grunig (1992) held the view that PR practitioners play a central role
of organizational boundary-spanner and perform duties of strategic management. The goal of PR

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is not only in the dissemination of information, but also involves facilitating mutual
understanding and resolving conflicts between an organization and its publics. PR today, is a
complex profession practiced by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and in
different organizations such as businesses, government agencies, professional and trade
associations, schools and universities, hospitals, hotels, and many more. From a corporate
standpoint, PR can help companies in the development of positive images for their businesses.
According to Taylor, Maureen, Kent, Michael et al (2()b5) PR can foster goodwill amongst key
audiences, provide crisis management expertise, and coordinate programs and services for
government and government agencies, as well as the businesses that work with them. Corporate
PR plays an important role as part of the marketing strategy. A media PR is significant in any
profit-making organization (Taylor et al 2005).

The PR staff at the judiciary includes judges, solicitor general, attorney general, human rights
group members, and lawyers, among others. PR is important to the Judiciary since it helps it to
balance the self-interest of the organization with the interests of different stakeholders, including
the general public who affect, or are affected by the organization. By employing PR practice
operations; the judiciary could get many people to behave in the ways it wants them to by
creating a good image in the media.

Kortler and Fox (1985:37) assert that a responsive institution has a strong interest in its publics,
programs and services, since people respond to the institution’s image, not necessarily its reality.
In understanding institutional image, an organization’s image is not a clear, concise concept, but
rather a set of individual’s perception about the institution. An educational institution has multi-
faced images that include academic, political, social and perhaps a stylistic dimensions.
According to Sandor & Tripon (2007), judicial reform process has various causes and takes place
in different circumstances, varying from state to state. Some of the influencing factors that
influence reforms in public sectors demand that governments be made more accountable for
what they achieve \ with taxpayers’ money. The lack of trust of the citizenry in the public
administration system is universal. It is encountered in USA and many of the western European
countries where an increasingly pronounced drop in the level of trust of the citizens towards
government institutions is manifesting. In addition, there is often inadequate response of many
countries to crisis situations (sometimes unintentionally).

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1.2 Statement of the problem

The image of any organization out to serve people is important for its growth. Organizations
spend a lot of money restructuring and maintaining image to build and retain public trust. Image
building by organizations cannot only be conducted through the media. A survey conducted by
Boyd in 1986, showed that different people use different sources of information. Related to this
is when the general public had no confidence in the local Judiciary during the several disputed
presidential elections in East Africa. Many people, even those who have never had firsthand
experience in the courts believed that the local courts could not deliver justice to victims. A
measure of the historical decline of the Judiciary culminated in the post-election violence, which
swept aside the Judiciary into a corner of irrelevance. The handling by the Judiciary of the
presidential and parliamentary election petitions after the elections has provided little confidence
that the Judiciary can be trusted to provide a fair and speedy adjudication in cases with high
political content. The presidential petitions are, in the end, dismissed on a technicality, after
significant delays of up to two years. Most of the parliamentary petitions are not finalized by the
time the next elections are held. It is generally believed that judges and magistrates are either but
of touch, or out of sympathy with the concerns of their fellow citizens.

What the Judiciary should learn from this perception is that the more information people are
given about what the judges and magistrates are doing, and why they are doing it, the less likely
they are to believe that there is a gap between their expectations of the judicial system and the
reality. The more accurate and reliable the information the public get about the judges and
magistrates, and about their reasons for decisions, the less likely they are to think that judges and
magistrates do not understand or share their concerns. The Judiciary should, therefore, develop
an effective communication system to be able to narrow or remove the information gap between
it and the public. Yet the PR department in the Judiciary has failed to defend the Judiciary and
tell them why it has been quiet on issues whose decisions are supposed to be made by the courts.
Silence is no longer golden fro the judiciary. The public affairs office is expected to
communicate to the stakeholders and those affected, why some cases take too long to be decided.
Had there been enough confidence in the Judiciary by the publics and other stakeholders, the
ICC cases facing some of our politicians and public figures would have been handled locally. It
is the duty of the PR office to absolve the Judiciary from negative claims of corruption,

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favoritism, ethnicity and indifference from the public that has tarnished its image and made the
public lose trust in it.

1.3 Research questions

1. What is the difference between the desired image of the Ugandan Judiciary and current image?

2. Do PR activities help in improving or building the image of an institution?

3. What could be the best way of practicing PR to enable the public build confidence in the
Judiciary?

4. What role does PR play in the building the image of the Ugandan Judiciary?

5. What are the approaches to public relations in the administration of justice by courts of law?

6. What is the role of public relations in the implementation of judicial reforms in Uganda?

7. What is the impact of public relations the administration of justice by courts of law?

8. What are the challenges facing the practice of public relations in the administration of justice
by Ugandan courts of law?

9. What are the opportunities presented by the practice of public relations in the administration of
justice by Ugandan courts of law?

1.4 General objective

To examine the challenges and prospects in the administration of justice by courts of law in
Uganda.

1.4.1 Specific objectives

1. To examine centrality and marginalization of public relations in administration of justice by

courts of law.

2. To determine the extent the PR department in the Judiciary is improving its image among the
publics.

2. To determine the significance of PR in restructuring and maintaining the image of Judiciary.

3. To establish the extent to which PR activities in the Judiciary persuades the general public to
believe justice for all.

4. To examine the approaches to public relations in the administration of justice by courts of law.

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5. To assess the role of public relations in the implementation of judicial reforms in Uganda.

6. To determine the impact of public relations the administration of justice by courts of law.

7. To examine the challenges facing the practice of public relations in the administration of
justice by Ugandan courts of law.

8. To assess the opportunities presented by the practice of public relations in the administration
of justice by Ugandan courts of law?

1.5 Scope of the study

The study will be carried out in selected courts in Uganda mostly affected by negative publicity.
The study will investigate the challenges and prospects of PR in relation to administration of
justice by courts of law. The policy matters will also be examined as they prevail in the present-
day Uganda, characterized by skyrocketing demand for justice in Uganda. A period from pre-
colonial Uganda to the present day will be considered to examine the genesis and dynamism of
PR issues in the administration of justice.

1.6 Significance of the study

It is hoped the study will be of use in the following ways and the following stakeholders:

i. Judiciary and its Courts of Law since it will endeavor to establish the relevance and
sustainability of methods and approaches to PR in Uganda in the administration of justice
by courts of law.

ii. The lawyers, judges, clerks and other stakeholders will be directly concerned with
meeting the approaches and methods to PR in Uganda in the administration of justice by
courts of law.

iii. Fellow researchers in the field of public relations will benefit from this study, especially
approaches and methods to PR in Uganda in the administration of justice by courts of
law, as they are concerned with the PR approaches and methods and how they enhance
administration of justice by courts of law.

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1.7 Justification of the study

In any country, for meaningful development to be realized, the three arms of the government
(Judiciary, Legislature and Parliament) must be in a position to perform their duties
independently. Justice and accountability have a direct relationship. Independence is properly
conceived as relating primarily to judicial-governmental relations (and secondarily to judicial
relations with other powerful elites), judicial accountability is better understood as referring, as it
does in the case of the rest of government, to institutional accounting to political and civil
society. To achieve independence, the Judiciary needs to develop its legitimacy in order to build
a power base of support.

The best way to improve overall standard of administration of justice would be by getting all the
actors engaging in constructive dialogue in a structured manner. When the public gains
confidence in the local Judiciary, we could also experience an economic boost since local and
foreign investors will be assured of getting justice whenever they face legal complications in the
course of their operations locally. When corrupt activities are minimal, people will be able invest
more, and resources will be fully utilized to boost economic growth. / The study, therefore,
aimed to insulate the Judiciary from 'undue influence by other actors and restore its legitimacy
and, most importantly, public trust. The study is then to help in creating understanding, support
and influencing the general public and other stakeholders in supporting the judicial system.

By creating this mutual understanding between the public and the consumers of justice, the staff
of judiciary will be in a position to understand expectations of their clients (the public and other
stakeholders) and compare with the current performance, thereby improving service delivery to
the public. If the Judiciary wins public confidence, there is likelihood of donors contributing a lot
to the institution by funding some programs, equipment and even exchange programs, which are
likely to benefit the staff.

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Literature Review

Theoretical framework

Public relations theories Four models of public relations have been identified in the literature
(Grunig and Hunt 1984, Seletzky and Lehman-Wilzig 2010), based on the intersection of two
dimensions: the extent to which the flow of information is in one direction (from the institution
to the receiver) or in both directions, and whether various manipulations are used in transmitting
the positive image of the organization. The intersection of these dimensions results in four
models: the press agentry model; the public information model; the two-way asymmetrical
model; and the two-way symmetrical model. Courts are generally classified as organizations
using the public information model, which emphasizes maintaining and enhancing the image of
an organization simply by circulating relevant and meaningful information among the target
audience/public.

Public relations theories have generally attempted to conceptualize the organizational pre-
conditions needed for successful relations between organizations and the media, and the different
tools needed in the PR practitioners' skill set in order to advance substantial and positive media
coverage (Reber and Cameron 2003). In what has been termed "excellence theory", Grunig et al.
(2002) suggest that the extent to which senior officials in the organization recognize the
importance of the public relations function can affect the allocation of resources and the ultimate
effectiveness of the communication strategies.

Zoch and Molleda (2006) have created a theoretical framework for successful media relations,
based on paradigms well-known to media scholars: the concept of information subsidies, framing
theory, and the agenda building paradigm. These theories that have been used to explain the
production of news from the media perspective, are now being used by these public-relations
scholars to explain the process of intervening in the management of news from the media-
relations practitioner's perspective. According to this model, there are three elements to public
relations practices geared to the media: (1) the process of framing (Entman 1993), that is to say,
highlighting or withholding specific information about a subject or issue so that the
organizational frame will be adopted by the media; (2) generating prepackaged information
("information subsidies") to promote the organizations' view points on issues; (3) distributing the

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information to media channels, so that public- relations practitioners participate in the process of
building the media agenda. These elements are part of a proactive approach to relations with the
media, taking into account a wide range of relational, organizational and contextual factors. This
paper will analyze Israeli judges' views of the relations between the media and the Israeli
Judiciary, in light of these components.

From the foregoing discussions, it is apparent that the Judiciary could do with some strategies to
improve its image especially its relationship with the media and its people’s skill. This study is
thus guided by agenda setting, big bang, two-step flow' and legitimacy theories.

Agenda setting theory

The Agenda Setting theory developed by Dr Max McCombs and Dr Donald Shaw, suggests that
the media is good at telling us what to think about. If there is a hurricane in the US, for example,
and the media tells us about it, we all feel affected even though it does not affect our lives
directly. The media will have set the agenda by the choices the gatekeepers (editors) have made.
This theory describes the “ability (of news media) to influence the salience of topics on the
public agenda” (McCombs, 2002). It, thus, means that if a news item is covered frequently and
prominently, the audience will regard the issue as important.

Big Bang theory

Rajshekhar et al (1994) also argue that apart from social sponsorship, there is the mass media,
which is one of the most effective ways of communicating image. Argenti (1994) and
Hooghiemstra, (2000) see the mass media as the main means of communicating with a
company’s publics. Big Bang’s theory (a communication theory that purports that the media,
especially radio and television has tremendous effect on its audience) of communication proves
that media, especially TV and radio, have massive audience. It has become naturally the most
accessible way of getting to all the stakeholders of the company at the same time. The need to
create and maintain a good image before the stakeholders has grown.

Hoogiemstra (2000) argues that to properly communicate this image, there must be use of proper
language to echo the positive work being done by the firm. Because the Big Bang theory has
been tested and has proven that the media still has a lot of impact on the public, the use of the

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media and annual reports by firms are the best means to communicate their personality. When a
company fails to tell the stakeholders what benefit their existence is to the environment, this lack
of communication may give the impression of passiveness and thus a bad image for companies
that may be working hard for the environment. ’'

McDonald (1991) argues that very few companies have actually conducted any research to find
out the impact of a good image on its sales, but most companies are still holding to the opinion
that their survival in the market depends on what the stakeholders perceive of them. Companies
are working hard to maintain a good image in the minds of their stakeholders in order to keep
their customers, attract and keep shareholders, attract outstanding employees, gain competitive
advantage, look beneficial in the immediate environment in which they find themselves, gain
government approval and favors.

According to Preece et al (1995), mission statements and social sponsorship are the main means
used by firms to promote their image or reputation. Besides these factors, there must be the use
of 30 proper communication. Communicating company’s activities is the only means of bonding
with the stakeholders and getting them to see the company, as management would like them to.
Failure to communicate may spell speculation, leave the public with no knowledge of what to
expect of the offers made by the company, and may gradually lead to its failure. Grey & Balmer
(1998) presents the media as the greatest threat to all works done by a company to get a positive
picture. According to them, companies need to work hand in glove with the media in order to
communicate their activities and gain the media’s approval. While other actions like good
product quality could communicate a good name on its own, companies need to communicate
their social sponsorship activities, their financial statements, and their plans of action in order to
get favorable ratings from the stakeholders.

Two-step Flow theory

The Two-step Flow theory builds on the reality that it is not always possible to get your message
to your intended audience since a filtering process facilitates communication, whereby we have
an opinion leader who filters the message down to their followers. People will look up to the
opinion leaders for information, but the question is, where do the opinion leaders get their
information, and how do they form their opinions?

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If organizations have to seek positive opinion from the publics, they must identify opinion
leaders and then reach them through the media. This theory helps us understand how media
influences our decisions and refines our ability to predict the effects of messages from media on
the behavior of audiences. If companies work hard to protect their image, they keep a positive
picture in the minds of their publics at the mention of the company’s name.

Since the stakeholders of each company are diverse, they usually have to work hard to satisfy the
demands of all the publics like the government, shareholders, consumers, and immediate
environment. Grey & Balmer (1998) reveals that due to the reputation held by the financial
services likes banks in the UK; the parliament has consistently passed legislations to suit them
since they are identified with their efforts towards building societies.

According to Nakra, 2000, the growing liberalization of the world markets and the presence of
new technology have brought an influx of information to the public. Within this confusion, it is
necessary for the companies to stand out distinct and appeal to the customers in ways that will
make them notice the industry through their uniqueness in communication, which will bring
attachment to their brand. Grey & Balmer (1998) posit that even the names of the companies is
enough to communicate its goals and may even determine the rate of sales and how competitive
a firm can get in the market. Some organizations go to the extent of changing their initial names
and adopting new ones to disassociate them with the former management.

A case study of the UK firm, the Woolworth Group that after facing a bad image due to scandals
caused by its retail stores, changed its name to Kingfisher in order to communicate the large size
of its operations and to distance itself from the previous poor image. The new name alongside
a’change in the communication strategy that included putting the new brand name Kingfisher on
all communications with investors, the city and financial media while still operating its retail
stores under various brand names, helped to increase the sales and get it a winning image before
the public. Leadership assessment has both personal and professional dimensions.

The process of building leadership image, however, rests on prior expectations about t(ie leader.
As others have pointed out, the process of leadership image building is also captive to the course
of events (Kerell, 1978; Kinder, 1981; Mueller, 1970) and the disposition of political resources
(Lang & Lang, 1983). In building images of leadership, elected officials, the media, and the

14
public put more weight on some aspects of •mage building than on others. Because these three
constituencies go about the process of leadership image-building in different ways, it is not
surprising that the resulting images diverge. The play of images helps to explain the success or
failure of institutions.

Legitimacy theory

Hoogiemstra (2000) looks at the image of a company through the legitimacy theory. According
to this theory, the survival of a company is dependent on the extent to which the company
operates within the bounds of the society. This means that companies that do not seem to affect
their immediate publics in a positive manner may be set to leave the market sooner than later.
Norms of society are gradually changing; companies need to depend on corporate reporting
(communication of its activities) to prove that they are changing with the changing environment.
Corporate reporting, in this case, will have to be geared towards self-laudatory, which will show
the stakeholders what the firm is doing for the environment like reducing pollution, maintaining
quality, sponsoring events close to the hearts of the people.

The role of Public Relations

According to Reddi (2000), Public Relations plays a critical role in building the reputation of a
company based on its vision, mission, goals and performance. Charted Institute of Public
Relations, London defines PR as being about reputation, the result of you do, what you say and
what others say about you. The practice of PR is the discipline that is concerned with reputation
of organization with the aim of caring, understanding and support Reddi (2000). Litigants
Charter (2010), the vision of Kenyan Judiciary has been to “be the best in Africa, setting the
highest standards in the delivery of quality justice and leading development of jurisprudence”. Its
mission statement has been to “provide an independent accessible, responsive forum for the just
resolution of disputes in order to preserve the rule of law and to protect all rights and liberties
guaranteed by the constitution of Kenya”.

The charter further says that staff will give accurate, consistent and up to date information about,
for instance, hearing dates of cases, and other procedural issues and provide reasonable decision.
Ironically, Judiciary transformation framework (19th October 2011 :pg5), there has been
excessive bureaucracy and silo mentality amongst organizational units and court system; backlog

15
of interventions; multiplicity of Judiciary reform reports with as many recommendations and
conflicting implementation approaches; implementation activities saddled, which many
committees without line management accountability for results; blatant disregard for
performance and financial audits; artificial work load occasioned by unfilled approved vacant
positions; remuneration imbalances due to ad hoc salary grading and compensation structures
where for example, magistrates are poorly remunerated relative to other court officers; weak
institutional and staff performance management systems; absence of steering and accountability
mechanism for coherent and sequenced reform interventions; inadequate implementation
capacity of recommended institutional reforms by the various task forces.

Legal coverage in the press

The growing media interest in the courts derives from parallel changes in the judiciary and in the
commercial media. The activism of Supreme Courts in many modern democracies has led to the
judicialization of all aspects of social life (Malleson 1999; Galnoor 2004). This trend has
enhanced the centrality and power of the legal sphere (Hirschl 2004) and has often resulted in
controversial Supreme Court decisions, all of which increased its attractiveness to the media.
Amid greater demands for transparency and media access to governing institutions on the one
hand (Malleson 1999, Gies 2008), and the expansion of the cable and broadcast media, with
increasing competition from the internet on the other, journalists have come under intense
pressure to deliver dramatic, personalized stories.

The law, and particularly criminal trials, serve these needs of the media, which expose, try, judge
and sentence defendants in the "court of public opinion" (Greer and McLaughlin 2012). The
nature of these "media trials" range from the shaming and hounding of celebrities on trial to pre-
judging the outcomes of legal proceedings against "unknowns". Litigation public relations firms
have become increasingly important actors during trials, providing communication support
services and "carefully constructed messages aimed at various target audiences - the media, the
courtroom decision makers - to affect the views of people across the country and, in certain
situations, the outcome of the trial" (Gibson and Padilla 1999, p. 216). These characteristics and
processes have been identified in the Israeli media and legal spheres as well.

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Institutional and individual judicial media strategies

As Davis (2011, p. 16) has noted, justices all over the world have various motives for developing
and implementing public relations strategies (see Markel 1999). In addition to encouraging what
they view as more accurate depictions of legal events and enhancing public confidence in the
judiciary, justices seek to retain institutional and individual power, to influence policy debates,
and to further their own professional careers (Davis 2011). Thus, both formal and informal
mechanisms have developed today to further the relationship between judiciaries and the media.
For example, nearly every constitutional court maintains a website through which visitors can
search full text copies of resolved cases and obtain information about pending actions (Staton
2004).

In addition, these sites typically feature judicial biographies, administrative reports and historical
reviews of the judiciary's constitutional jurisdiction. Staton (2004) has found that 71% of the
constitutional courts in Europe and the Americas produce press releases announcing key
jurisprudential resolutions. Media summaries of judicial decisions that translate legal jargon into
common language are also available (Gies 2005). In some jurisdictions, retired judges are
employed as press judges2 who provide explanations and answer questions about current rulings
in high-profile cases (Gies 2005; Schulz 2010; Jeuland and Sotiropoulou 2012).

Although most judicial codes of conduct prohibit judges from providing ex-parte commentary
about ongoing cases, and despite the preference for allowing decisions to speak for themselves
(Rotunda 2001), American judges have sometimes provided explanations of their decisions to
the public through the media after cases are resolved (McLaughlin 2004). Moreover, there are
other ways in which individual judges make themselves available to the media. For example, in
the U.S., judges have provided interviews to the press, promoted their books on television,
allowed the press to cover their public and professional lectures, participated in academic
conferences together with media professionals, and conducted informational briefings and off-
the- record meetings with reporters (Dreschel 1987, Robben 2004, McLaughlin 2004, Davis
2011). Press conferences are generally limited to confirmation or retirement occasions, and these
are usually organized and managed by the Information Services department of the courts.

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Methodology

Research design

A cross-sectional research design will be used to gather information about the current land
policies as well as to verify the attitudes of the farmers on land ownership systems policies. The
study will engage both qualitative and quantitative techniques of data collection and analysis.
Survey results will be generated to a large population within known limits or error. A survey also
enhances accuracy in measurement by quantification, replication and control over observer
effects. The cross-sectional survey method is preferred because it provides information collected
at the same time from various categories of subjects. A survey is amendable to rapid statistical
analysis.

Study Population

The study will comprise district administrators on land matters, as well as members of land
Boards and farmers from selected rural areas. This target population is envisaged to have
knowledge of the judicial process and administration of justice in Uganda. The subjects will be
deliberately selected because the data needed is specific to the subject of relevance and
sustainability of policies on PR.

Study Sample

Purposeful selection of the sample unit will be made. A large sample size of 750 respondents
will be used so that it is representative of the target population. This has been determined, taking
into account the particular number of the key stakeholders of the land reforms.
Sampling Techniques

Judgment and purposive sampling will also be employed, where the researcher will be selecting
the most useful sample population to answer the questions that he needs for his research. Using
his public knowledge of administration of justice, beliefs and other considerations, the researcher
will select the sample to meet the most intellectual standards of the investigations. The
researcher will, therefore, separate the samples into different groups and then randomly select
one of these groups for research. This will allow for the use of a large sample size in order to
reduce the risk that there is sampling bias and will allow the researcher to better analyze outliers.

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The participants will be asked if they know anyone who may have some kind of helpful insight
or information that may help the researcher. If they do, then the researcher will put in contact
with those persons.

Study instruments

Data for this study will be collected using the following instruments:

i. Interview Schedule for personal interviews will be structured, semi-structured or unstructured

interviews, to allow participants to speak freely as they generate useful information. The
unstructured interview will offer the researcher advantage to uncover previously unforeseen
information and also to go beyond numbers and focus causes, impacts and characteristics. The
researcher will use interview schedules and interview guides to administer the instrument ably.

ii. Observation Guide

This instrument will be most appropriate at the early stages of research and will be used to
explore possible avenues for further study. Observation guides will be used to properly
appropriate the in data.

iii. Questionnaires

These will be sets of questions, carefully formatted designed to collect data from various
respondents. This questionnaire will aim at eliciting their responses concerning the relevance and
sustainability of land reforms. The draft questionnaires will be given to some questionnaire
experts for modification before administering them to the target population.

Validity and reliability

Validity of an instrument refers to the extent to which the interpretations of the results of a test
using that tool are warranted, depending on the particular use the test is intended to serve.
Reliability, on the other hand, evaluates the stability of measures, internal consistency of the
measurement instruments, and reliability of scores generated by a particular instrument. After the
instruments are constructed, their reliability and validity will be tested using content validity.
This will be done in pre-tests and pilot studies. Reliability will then be tested using Cronbach’s

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Alpha Coefficient. Cronbach’s alpha is a function of the average inter-correlations of items and
the number of items in the scale, as used for summated scales.

Procedure of data collection

Once the relevant organs of the University approve the research proposal, an introduction letter
will be obtained, to present to the target institutions and other relevant respondents, to seek
permission for carrying out research there. Research assistants will be contracted to administer
the questionnaires under the supervision of the principal researcher. The research assistants will
be utilized for the sake of minimizing the researcher’s bias specifically regarding data, besides
direct observation which will be carried out by the researcher. In addition, the researcher will
personally visit places that have official documents/records. Appointments to meet and interview
the key informants will be sought and honored.

Data analysis

Statistical techniques that aid in systematic and orderly presentation of data: charts, tables and
graphs will be used. All the data collected using the various instruments will then be coded for
analysis. The researcher, after recording the responses will categorize and tally them into each
category under themes in order to draw relevant conclusions there from.

Both primary and secondary data will be systematically analyzed by following the themes of
major variables. Filled questionnaires will be coded and the variables interpreted. Quantitative
data will be analyzed using Spearman’s Product Moment Correlation analysis and reported in
terms of tabulated frequencies and percentages while qualitative data will be analyzed using
thematic and descriptive methods. Meaning and interpretation will be rendered to quantitative
data as it helps identify overlaps and contradictions.

Ethical considerations

Ethical aspects of this study will be effectively addressed as proposed by Kimmel (2007) in the
following manner:

First, informed consents of participants will be obtained before involving them in the study.
Secondly, members of the sample groups will not be subjected to coercion in any ways as they

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provide the responses concerning funding. Similarly, the privacy of the research participants will
be ensured so that no personal private data is collected from the respondents. The researcher, in
conducting the study will ensure voluntary participation of every respondent.

Consent of the informants will be sought before engaging them in oral interviews and
questionnaire. Secondly, the information obtained will be treated with utmost confidentiality,
only meant for compiling the dissertation. The informants will also be debriefed about the aims
and objectives of the study prior to the primary data collection process, so that they appreciate
the intentions of the study.

Notably, in this study, works that belong to the various authors are, and will continue to be
acknowledged as they are cited, using the American Psychological Association (APA) system in
an appropriate format, and no deception in reporting will be held in the final work.

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