Contribution of records management in the administration of justice in Uganda: Case study DPP, Police Department and Magistrates Court- Hoima district

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to assess the contribution of Records management in the administration of justice in Uganda. The study was guided by the following objectives: to establish factors affecting the effective management of legal records, to identify problems associated with records and information management in judiciary institutions and to establish the types of records, their creation, distributions, maintenance and disposition. The study was carried on using a detailed literature review thereby analyzing what various authors have written about the topic. This was done by looking into different books. Data was collected using a self administered questionnaire, and interviews. The study was conducted using 100 respondents who included 30 internal users, 40 records staff selected from the above departments, 20 respondents from the general public and 10 respondents were selected as key informants. The results from the findings indicated that majority of the respondents were females in the institutions and were in the age group between 31 - 50yearswho were married. The results indicated that efficient & enhanced services to the intended users and bureaucracy in accessing the legal record are factors that affect record management, lack of proper storage facilities; corruption and fraud in the record management system are among the major challenges facing record management. Most records are managed both electronically and manual and that record management plays a great role in careful handling and running of an organization. Finally, a number of recommendations were suggested such as the organizations need to have an overall improvement in the human capacity through trainings and workshop to equip them with skills and that organizational leaders need to invest strategically in the developing.