UN Judge Mugambe jailed in UK for exploiting domestic worker
Lydia Mugambe was named in 2023 as a judge for the United Nations’ International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
A Ugandan judge serving with the United Nations was sentenced to over six years in prison by a British court on Friday for exploiting a young woman as an unpaid domestic worker while he pursued studies at the University of Oxford.
Lydia Mugambe, who has served as a judge on Uganda's High Court since 2013, was named in 2023 as a judge for the United Nations’ International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
This body handles remaining responsibilities from earlier tribunals that investigated war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
However, prosecutors allege that Mugambe, now 50, exploited her influential position in a particularly severe manner by luring a young Ugandan woman to the United Kingdom in 2022 under false pretenses, where she was made to work as an unpaid domestic worker.
Mugambe was prosecuted under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act for collaborating with John Leonard Mugerwa, then serving as Uganda’s deputy high commissioner, to bring a woman into the UK through false information on her visa application.
Additional charges included arranging travel for the purpose of exploitation, coercing the woman into forced labour, and conspiring to intimidate her into withholding testimony.
Though Mugambe denied all allegations and claimed she never exploited the woman, a jury at Oxford Crown Court found her guilty on all four counts in March. Mugerwa did not stand trial.
Judge David Foxton handed Mugambe a prison sentence of six years and four months.
She was found guilty on all four charges in March, despite never having taken advantage of the woman.
Mugerwa was not tried in court.
Presiding Judge David Foxton handed Mugambe a sentence of six years and four months behind bars.
"You’ve shown a complete lack of remorse for your actions," Foxton stated.
"On the contrary, you persist—without any justification—in presenting yourself as the victim."
Lynette Woodrow, the national lead for modern slavery at the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, remarked that despite her credentials as a lawyer, a judge of Uganda’s High Court, and a former judge at the United Nations Criminal Tribunal, Lydia Mugambe chose to disregard the rule of law.
In addition to the conviction, the court directed Justice Mugambe to compensate the victim with £12,600 (Sh60 million).
Attempts to get a comment from Uganda’s High Commission in London were unsuccessful at the time
The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals stated that it would implement all necessary administrative measures to uphold the integrity and ensure the proper and efficient operation of the institution.