Ugandan High Court judge and UN tribunal appointee Justice Lydia Mugambe has been sentenced to six years and four months in prison by a UK court after being found guilty of modern slavery-related charges.
Mugambe, 50, who was appointed in 2023 to the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, was convicted for forcing a young Ugandan woman to work without pay while she pursued postgraduate studies at Oxford University.
According to Oxford Crown Court, Mugambe conspired with then-Uganda Deputy High Commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to fraudulently secure the victim’s visa in 2022, luring her into Britain under false pretenses and making her work as an unpaid maid.
The court found Mugambe guilty on four charges:
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Facilitating travel with the intent of exploitation
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Forcing someone into labour
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Conspiring to mislead immigration authorities
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Attempting to intimidate the victim into silence
Lydia Mugambe
Despite pleading not guilty and claiming she was the victim, Judge David Foxton didn’t hold back during sentencing:
“You have shown absolutely no remorse… Instead, you continue, wholly unjustifiably, to depict yourself as the victim.”
The court also ordered Mugambe to pay £12,600 (approx. UGX 60 million) in compensation to the victim.
Lynette Woodrow, UK’s national lead on modern slavery, added:
“As a qualified lawyer, a Ugandan High Court judge, and a UN tribunal judge, Mugambe understood the rule of law and chose to ignore it.”
The case has triggered outrage, particularly given Mugambe’s elevated legal status and her role in adjudicating war crimes and human rights abuses at the international level.
Lydia Mugambe, 49, a #Ugandan🇺🇬 and United Nations judge has been jailed in Britain for more than six years on Friday for forcing a young Ugandan woman to work as a maid without pay while the judge studied at the University of Oxford, @UniofOxford.
Mugambe conspired with John… pic.twitter.com/NALOOyKDsf
— Kennedy Wandera (@KennedyWandera_) May 2, 2025
