PLEA BARGAINING.

This is the process by which the prosecution and the defendant (accused) reach an agreement whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty (agrees to have committed the crime) in return for some sort of concession like reduction of sentence, withdrawal of some charges, reduction of a charge from a more serious charge to a lesser charge and leniency in sentencing.

Plea bargaining has helped to reduce on the problem of case back log in Uganda, in that most defendants choose this option and in turn save time, costs and resources which could have been wasted in the completion of the case.

Plea bargaining must be voluntary, the accused should not be forced to take the agreement.