Hon Justice Gaswaga is a national of the Republic of Uganda. He was elected Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in July 2024, for a six-year term.
The Honorable Justice Gaswaga is a Judge of the High Court of the Republic of Uganda where he has headed Circuits and Divisions including the Executions and Baliliffs, and the Commercial Divisions for the last eleven (11) years. He is also attached to the International Crimes Division (ICD) of Uganda which deals with international crimes.
Justice Gaswaga was one of the four Judges that concluded the case of Uganda Vs Thomas Kwoyelo (a former abductee, and later, Lord’s Resistance Army [LRA] top Commander), charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. This was the first case of its kind on the African continent to be conducted under the complementarity principle of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Justice Gaswaga is also a Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada and an international Resource Person in many areas of law. He is an inspirational speaker and offers career guidance to law students and young professionals internationally.
Justice Gaswaga holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law (LLB, Hons), Dar-Es-Salaam University, Tanzania, a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, LDC Uganda, a Master’s Degree (LLM) with Distinction in Human Rights Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa and Master’s Degree (LLM) in International Criminal Law, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Ohio, USA. His Lordship also holds a string of Diplomas and Certificates from Institutions in Africa, India and Europe.
Justice Gaswaga was appointed the first Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Republic of Seychelles (2016 to 2021) and by the end of his tenure, (as per the Corruption perception index of Transparency International, 2021) Seychelles was the least corrupt Nation in Africa and ranking No.43 in the world
Justice Gaswaga also served as an expatriate Judge of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Seychelles where he headed the Criminal Division and handled the most serious crimes including murder, terrorism, human and drug trafficking, and money laundering.
He also had the rare opportunity of spearheading the adjudication of modern-day maritime piracy cases committed on the high seas off the coast of Somalia where he applied the universal jurisdiction principle to contribute to the orderly and lawful resolution of this novel problem thereby generating exceptional jurisprudence that is widely referred to.
At the time, due to the breakdown of the state of Somalia, piracy had become the most challenging issue in international criminal law and security, and had significantly affected the safety of international maritime traffic and trade in the Indian Ocean. He has since published articles on the subject and also assisted in capacity building and effecting relevant law reforms in numerous jurisdictions.
His Lordship was the ‘Distinguished Jurist in Residence’ at CWRU School of Law, USA (2012-2013) and a ‘Visiting Professional’ at the International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague, Netherlands. Prior to this, Justice Gaswaga was a Senior Magistrate in Seychelles, a practicing Advocate and Magistrate in Uganda and the first General Secretary of the East African Magistrates and Judges’ Association (EAMJA).
Justice Gaswaga spends some of his free time empowering young professionals and also loves reading and travellin
