Unwanted Witness Privacy Moot Court Competition season two is back with the theme ‘Balancing Privacy Rights and National Security’.

Come the 21st and 22nd of September this year at Makerere Law School, the Yusuf Lule Hall will be bustling and filled with eager law students, legal scholars, and privacy advocates witnessing legal battles in the heart of the legal world, where precedent and justice will collide on a battleground for digital privacy.

Renowned Jurists, tech industry experts, and privacy advocates will preside as judges, evaluating the arguments of aspiring lawyers who dare to challenge the status quo of the current Privacy and Data protection law.

University law students (participants) from 15 universities across the country are to engage in rigorous legal combat, grappling with issues such as data protection, surveillance, internet freedom, and the boundaries of privacy in the digital age in the quest to satisfy the panel of judges.

Speaking at Hotel Africana on Wednesday during the Pre-Moot Conference which was a precursor of the coming two-day combat battle, Ms Dorothy Mukasa the Executive Director of Unwanted Witness alluded that moot competitions such as this, act as incubators that prepare legal professionals that are going to argue and represent Ugandans when it comes to privacy issues.

“The annual Unwanted Witness Privacy Moot Court Competition commenced last year, this is the second edition. The Privacy Moot Court Competition is a platform that provides space for budding legal professionals from different universities in Uganda to appreciate and understand Privacy as a fundamental right but also learn new things because since privacy is a fundamental right, there are so many issues that are going come up, there we are preparing a bunch of legal professionals who will defend Ugandans,” she said.

She added that the competition is also meant to groom young legal professionals as ambassadors who are going to fight and defend the right to privacy in Uganda. According to her in Uganda and Africa at large Privacy has become a novel issue therefore there is a need to have people, especially legal professionals who understand and can adjudicate matters of privacy in the judicial system.

“That’s why we are working with schools of law in different universities across the country and we have plans to expand to East Africa because we know privacy has no boundaries and technology today is borderless because the violations happening in Uganda can happen in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda but also the service providers the companies that we use cut across, so people in different jurisdictions should be able to defend themselves wherever it happens,” she explained.

The Head of Department, Commercial Law Makerere University Dr Anthony Kakooza who delivered the keynote address also noted that the privacy of personal data is now a very crucial topic and every Ugandan must be aware of the repercussions.

“Article 27 of the 1995 constitution provides for the rights of privacy but the government can exercise any powers to intervene in one’s privacy especially when it comes to matters of national security, however, the utilization of personal data in fronting national security marginalizes the principles of private data. Therefore, prioritizing consent in personal data handling is crucial, especially in tech advancements,” he said.

Meanwhile, the inaugural Unwanted Witness Privacy Moot Court Competition is now a beacon of hope in Uganda’s ever-evolving digital landscape, where the fight for privacy rages on.

15 Universities which include; Bishop Stuart University -Mbarara. Cavendish University Uganda, Gulu University, International University of East Africa (IUEA), Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) – Female Campus, Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) Kampala – Campus, Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) Main – Campus, Nkumba University, King Ceasor University, Makerere University (MUK), Kampala International University (KIU), Uganda Christian University (UCU) – Kampala Campus, Uganda Christian University (UCU) – Mukono Campus, Uganda Martyrs University and Uganda Pentecostal University (UPU) have already rolled put their best representatives that are ready to battle to their fullest.

However, the fate of the winners will lie specifically in the way they will represent their arguments meticulously before the panel of judges and these include; Hon Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire (Justice of Court of Appeal of Uganda), Hon Justice Prof Lilian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza (Judge Supreme Court of Uganda) and Hon Justice Kawuma Luswata (Judge of Court of Appeal of Uganda)

The Privacy Moot Court competition is scheduled to take place from September 21st to 22nd, 2023, at Makerere University Law School, addressing the theme, “Balancing Privacy Rights and National Security: Navigating the Impact of Surveillance Laws on Individual Freedoms.