Kampala — RETIRED Supreme Court judge Joseph Mulenga has urged judges in the East African Community to write judgments that are easy to understand.

"Since a judgment is a communication, it should be made easy to read and understand. The use of ordinary language goes a long way in helping to achieve this," he said.

Mulenga, who is also a former president of the East African Court of Justice, was delivering a paper on judgment-writing at a workshop for East African judges at Lake Victoria Serena Resort last week.

"In writing a judgment, every judge ought to keep in mind the objectives of making the readers understand as a priority. The most important secret to a clear judgment is clarity of the writer's thoughts and expression in speech or in writing that come from clarity of thought."

Mulenga also emphasised that it was imperative for an appellate judge to thoroughly read and understand the record of proceedings and the grounds of appeal as well as the parties' submissions.

"In complex cases, sketching a draft first helps to clarify one's thoughts. A judgment written prior to clarity of thought tends to be wordy, imprecise, unclear and dull," Mulenga advised.

He said legal jargon and technical language, though tempting, should be avoided in judgment writing.

Meanwhile, Justice Emmanuel O'Kubasu of Kenya's Court of Appeal said a judgment should show why a judge considered some facts more important than others and how the judge applied the law.

He said unless a judge is just, firm, polite, sincere, possesses good moral character and integrity, that judge cannot produce a good judgment.