Lubaale, Emma Charlene (2025) Anonymity in judgments: safeguarding children's rights in Uganda and the Global South. The International Journal of Children's Rights. ISSN 0927-5568 (Print), 1571-8182 (Online) (In Press)

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Abstract

In cases involving children, should the identity of children be anonymised in judgments intended for the public arena? This paper argues that it should as this upholds children’s dignity, privacy and aligns with broader principles of justice and children’s best interest. By analysing a dataset of 45 defilement judgments from Uganda, this paper examines the Ugandan position, analysing the extent to which children’s identities are protected in judgments. The results from this analysis show that publicly accessible information from judgments includes the child's name, age, residential address, parents' names, sexually explicit descriptions of child abuse, names of other family members, and the child’s exposure to HIV. These results lead to the conclusion that Ugandan practice is in systematic contravention of children’s rights as it fails to protect children’s anonymity in child sexual abuse cases. The paper advocates for the reform of Uganda's current practice and provides a nuanced perspective on enhancing judicial reporting to better protect children while maintaining transparency and accountability in the judicial process. It develops guidelines on how this can be achieved and discusses the implications of these guidelines for various stakeholders, including legal practitioners, judges, law enforcement officers, and the media. Although the conclusions and guidelines are based on a dataset of Ugandan judgments, the insights on anonymity address challenges common across many countries in the Global South, underscoring its broader relevance and impact.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	judgments, publication, children, anonymity, Uganda, defilement, Global South.
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General) R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > School of Law & Criminology (LAC)
Last Modified:	30 Jun 2025 09:29
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50749

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