| Trustees' Annual Report for the period | Trustees' Annual Report for the period | Trustees' Annual Report for the period | Trustees' Annual Report for the period | Trustees' Annual Report for the period | Trustees' Annual Report for the period | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | Period start date | Period end date | ||||||||||
| 01 | 01 | 2022 | 31 | 12 | 2022 | |||||||
| Section A | Reference | and administration details | ||||||||||
| Charity name Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) Charity's principal address |
||||||||||||
| Evolve – Foundation for International Legal Assistance | ||||||||||||
| Evolve International | ||||||||||||
| 1167888 C/O 1MCB, 5 Chancery Lane London Postcode WC2A 1LG |
||||||||||||
| WC2A 1LG |
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanya Murshed | As above | ||
| 2 | Marianne Alton | As above | ||
| 3 | Mohammed Ismail | As above | ||
| 4 | James Murray-Smith |
As above | ||
| 5 | Bernadette Smith | As above | ||
| 6 | Naomi Barnard | As above | 12 May 2022 onwards |
Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
| Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, | (for example, any custodian trustees) |
|---|---|
| Name | Dates acted if not for whole year |
| Same as above | Same as above |
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser Name Address
EVOLVE - FILA
1
January – December 2022
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
| Section B Structure, governance and management |
Section B Structure, governance and management |
|---|---|
| Description of the charity’s trusts | |
| Type of governing document | Constitution |
| (eg. trust deed, constitution) | |
| How the charity is constituted | Charitable Incorporated Organisation |
| (eg. trust, association, company) | |
| Trustee selection methods | Appointed by resolution |
| (eg. appointed by, elected by) |
Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
-
policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
-
the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
-
relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
| Section C Objectives and activities |
Section C Objectives and activities |
|---|---|
| Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document |
|
| To promote the criminal justice system in Uganda and East Africa by providing assistance, advice, training, education and other forms of support to: 1. Those charged or convicted of a criminal offence, particularly those on death row 2. Members of the legal profession and 3. Individuals/organizations working within the criminal justice sector |
|
| Technical Legal Assistance –Evolve continued to offer technical legal assistance in individual capital appeals and to build capacity in the legal |
EVOLVE - FILA
2
January – December 2022
profession in Uganda by working closely with Ugandan defence advocates to prepare a number of capital appeal cases (details below). File Tracing – Evolve continued to improve access to justice by searching for missing case files in capital cases and cases pending Minister’s Orders. Evolve achieved this by conducting an extensive search of the regional Court registries in Western Uganda (details below). ODPP Online Training Project – Evolve worked in partnership with the Uganda Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (‘ODPP’) to build capacity in the legal profession by designing an online training platform for the training of prosecution advocates in Uganda (details below). Ministers Orders – Evolve continued to work with high level stake holders to find a solution to the predicament of inmates held indefinitely on Minister’s orders having been either declared unfit to plead, or having received an insanity verdict (details below). Supreme Court Registry Reorganisation – in November 2022, Evolve completed the reorganisation of the registry and archives of Uganda’s Supreme Court (a project commenced in 2020), thereby improving access to justice for all those with criminal or civil cases pending before the Supreme Court (details below). The trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about: ● policy on grantmaking; ● policy programme related investment;
- contribution made by volunteers.
Section D
Achievements and performance
EVOLVE - FILA
3
January – December 2022
Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year
TRAINING, EDUCATION & ACCESS TO JUSTICE:
Technical Legal Assistance
Evolve continued to improve access to justice and build capacity in the legal profession by working closely with Ugandan advocates in the preparation of capital appeals cases, and through the preparation of high quality written submissions.
Sessions of the Court of Appeal were held in the districts of Arua, Fort Portal and Kampala in 2022. Evolve assisted in five capital cases heard during these sessions. In one case, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal against conviction and quashed the appellant’s conviction and death sentence. In three cases, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeals against sentence and reduced the capital sentences to determinate sentences of imprisonment (20 years, 25 years and 35 years respectively).
In 2022, delayed judgments were also delivered in three cases in which Evolve provided technical assistance in 2021. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal against sentence in each case, reducing the death sentences previously imposed on the appellants to 20 years, 29 years and 30 years of imprisonment respectively.
We drafted two applications for review for two death row inmates whose death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court. These were lodged in June and December 2022 and are still pending.
File Tracing
In December 2021, Evolve’s Project Coordinators launched a file tracing project and searched for all missing case files in capital cases and cases pending Minister’s Orders in Uganda. This essential file tracing work intersects with Evolve’s projects to offer technical assistance in all current death row cases (see above), and to address the situation of inmates wrongly detained under Minister’s Orders without release dates (see below).
In 2022, Evolve’s Project Coordinators progressed this project by carrying out an extensive file tracing exercise in Western Uganda. This entailed travelling to regional registries in Western Uganda and searching for missing files for condemned inmates and those pending Minister’s Orders. Searches were conducted across six different Court Centres for 18 files. Evolve’s Coordinators located files of three inmates who had been waiting to access the Courts for many years. 11 files were identified as missing, and Court records recorded that the remaining four files had previously been transferred to other Courts.
EVOLVE - FILA
January – December 2022
4
Evolve identified that there was a chronic shortage of typists which can delay the progress of a case by many months and even years. This is because a case cannot progress until the handwritten notes of the proceedings have been typed up and certified as accurate by the Court. Therefore, where files were located, Evolve’s Project Coordinators obtained permission to type up the handwritten notes of proceedings themselves so that the files could be sent to the Court of Appeal without delay.
Where files could not be located, the Registrars in each registry confirmed this to be the case in writing. In March 2022, Evolve’s volunteer barristers met with the Registrars of the High Court and Court of Appeal in Kampala to discuss the progress of this project and next steps. As of 2023, work is ongoing to find a solution for appellants whose files have been permanently lost or misplaced by the Courts so that they are not kept waiting indefinitely to exercise their rights of appeal.
ODPP Online Training Project
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (‘ODPP’) sought Evolve’s technical assistance with the design and delivery of a virtual online training platform for prosecution advocates in Uganda. The purpose of this project was to build capacity in the legal profession by equipping every prosecutor in Uganda with the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to carry out their professional duties and obligations to the highest of standards. In furtherance of this objective, Evolve designed an online course platform, syllabus, course content and resources for training use.
Evolve deployed two specialists in March 2022 to progress Evolve’s work on this project. Meetings were held with ODPP heads of department in a round table exercise to refine a syllabus and a Memorandum of Understanding was subsequently signed between Evolve and the ODPP.
Between July and December 2022, Evolve created a Moodle platform and populated the site with legal and practical resources. The platform included two core training courses for new prosecutors covering advocacy skills and legal knowledge. These courses (which can be delivered simultaneously) cover core competencies such as ethics and criminal procedure, as well as advocacy in criminal proceedings (applications, witness examination, opening and closing speeches and sentencing submissions). Critically, both courses can be delivered remotely, allowing for centralized training to be cascaded down to prosecutors throughout the country for the first time without the expense of physical attendance. The platform also features permanent reference resources which prosecutors can access on demand in court.
EVOLVE - FILA
January – December 2022
5
A successful four-day pilot course was delivered by Evolve in January 2023 with a select group of senior Uganda prosecutors, who themselves were also trained to deliver the course after handover.
The project is a significant step towards raising the quality and consistency of prosecutors in Uganda, thus promoting the rule of law and access to justice. This project was funded by A4ID’s ROLE UK programme.
Minister’s Orders
Evolve continues to advocate for the resolution of a small number of mental health cases in which prisoners, originally remanded on fitness to plead, or insanity verdict bases have been held indefinitely in prison, despite in many cases having recovered soon after initial remand.
In March 2022, Evolve’s volunteer barristers met with high level stakeholders as well as a psychiatrist responsible for the preparation of mental health assessments. All parties agreed to collaborate with Evolve in order to progress the cases of individuals pending Ministers Orders, many of whom have been languishing in prison for well over a decade. All parties agreed to share information about Ministers Orders cases in order to efficiently progress the cases. In the course of the file tracing project (described above) Evolve’s Coordinators located a number of files in Minister’s Orders cases.
Evolve continues to work in partnership with a number of stakeholders to ensure that the relevant files are located and that Minister’s Orders cases are prepared and listed for hearing as a matter of priority.
ADVISORY WORK AND REFORM
Supreme Court Registry
In July 2020, Evolve commenced the reorganisation of the registry and archives of the Supreme Court of Uganda. Evolve was invited by the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Uganda to organise the Supreme Court registry to prevent file loss, and increase efficiency in the appellate process. The registries were in an almost unusable state prior to intervention with no method of file organisation or retrieval.
This project was completed in November 2022. During the course of the project (July 2020 – November 2022), Evolve’s team of volunteers fully reorganised both the civil and criminal registries and archives. They used the digital database created by Evolve in 2020 to log all Supreme Court cases. Over the course of the project volunteers viewed, vetted, boxed and shelved over 1300 case files, and logged them in the database.
EVOLVE - FILA
6
January – December 2022
The third and final stage of the project commenced upon procurement of new shelves by the Supreme Court. This phase was managed and overseen by Evolve’s Project Coordinators who ensured completion and handover of the reorganised archive and registry to the administration of the Supreme Court. The focus of the final phase of the project was on sustainability. Evolve aimed to achieve this by training officials tasked with the management of case files in the registry and archives. The staff were trained on how to operate the file system and maintain the archive and registry. The training was completed shortly before the Supreme Court moved its premises from Kololo to Nakasero; and the staff handled the organisation of the files for transfer and set up at the new premises.
| Section E Financial review |
Section E Financial review |
Section E Financial review |
|---|---|---|
| Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves Details of any funds materially in deficit Further financial review details You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about: ● the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising); ● how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity; ● investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted. |
||
| The charity does not currently have a policy on reserves. | ||
| (Optional information) | ||
Section F Other optional information
EVOLVE - FILA
January – December 2022
7
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees Signature(s) Marianne Alton Full name(s) Tanya Hasan Murshed Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Chair/Deputy Chair Date 23 October 2023
EVOLVE - FILA
8
January – December 2022
| Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance |
Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance |
Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance |
Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance |
1167888 | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts and payments accounts | ||||||
| Month | 2022 | |||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
Individual Donation ROLE Funding |
- 11,095- |
- -- |
- 11,095- |
- -- |
||
| - 31,721- |
- -- |
- 31,721- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| Sub total(Gross income) | - 11,095- |
- 31,721- |
- -- |
- 42,816- |
- -- |
|
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||
| Sub total- -- Total receipts - 11,095- A3 Payments Hotel Travel and Subsistence - 226- - Bank charges - 91- Volunteer allowances - 34- Printing and Stationery - 51- Phone & Internet - 345- Consultancy fees & expenses - 66- Capital Expenditure - 2,417- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
|
| - 11,095- |
- 31,721- |
- -- |
- 42,816- |
- -- |
||
| - 226- |
- | - 4,975- |
- -- |
- 5,201- |
- -- |
|
| - 91- |
- 501- |
- -- |
- 592- |
- -- |
||
| - 34- |
- 44- |
- -- |
- 78- |
- -- |
||
| - 51- |
- 39- |
- -- |
- 90- |
- -- |
||
| - 345- |
- 32- |
- -- |
- 377- |
- -- |
||
| - 66- |
- 30,373- |
- -- |
- 30,440- |
- -- |
||
| - 2,417- |
- -- |
- 2,417- |
- -- |
|||
Prison fees for documents |
- 13- |
- 13- |
- -- |
|||
| Erroneous payment | - 23- |
- 23- |
- -- |
|||
| Sub total - 3,266- A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
- 3,266- |
- 35,963- |
- -- |
- 39,229- |
- -- |
|
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
||||||
| Sub total - -- Total payments - 3,266- Net of receipts/(payments) - 7,830- A5 Transfers between funds - -- A6 Cash funds last year end - -- Cash funds this year end - 7,830- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||
| - 3,266- |
- 35,963- |
- -- |
- 39,229- |
- -- |
||
| - 7,830- |
- 4,242- |
- -- |
- 3,587- |
- -- |
||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||
| - 7,830- |
- 4,242- |
- -- |
- 3,587- |
- -- |
||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | ||||||
| Categories B1 Cash funds |
Details | Unrestricted funds to nearest £ |
Restricted funds to nearest £ |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||
| Cash in hand | - 150- |
- -- |
- -- |
|||
| Cash at Bank | - 39,323- |
- -- |
- -- |
|||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| B2 Other monetary assets | Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account (s)) Details |
- 39,473- |
- -- |
- -- |
||
| Agreement Error | Agreement Error | OK | ||||
| Unrestricted funds to nearest £ |
Restricted funds to nearest £ |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
||||
| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Restricted funds | Endowment | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | ||||||||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | |||||||||||||
| B1 | Cash funds | Cash in hand | - | 150- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||
| Cash at Bank | - | 39,323- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||||||
| Total cash funds | - | 39,473- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account (s)) |
Agreement Error | Agreement Error | OK | ||||||||||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Endowment | |||||||||||||
| funds | funds | ||||||||||||||
| Details | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||||||
| B2 | Other monetary assets | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
24/10/2023
1
| Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance | Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance | Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance | Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance | Evolve - Foundation for International Legal Assistance | 1167888 | 1167888 | 1167888 | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | 2022 | ||||||||
| B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
- -- |
- -- |
- -- |
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| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
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| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
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| - -- |
- -- |
- -- |
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| Details | Current value (optional) |
||||||||
| - -- |
|||||||||
| - -- |
|||||||||
| - -- |
|||||||||
| - -- |
|||||||||
| - -- |
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| Details | Current value (optional) |
||||||||
| Asus Laptop | - -- |
||||||||
| Huawei Matebook D1 | 4 - 14 Inch Laptop | - -- |
|||||||
| Huawei Matebook D1 | 4 - 14 Inch Laptop | - -- |
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| - -- |
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| - -- |
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| - -- |
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| - -- |
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| - -- |
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| - -- |
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| Details | When due (optional) |
||||||||
| Date of approval | |||||||||
| Tanya M | urshed | 24 Oct 2023 | |||||||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
24/10/2023
2
Dear members of EVOLVE,
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
-
Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section130 of the Act; or
-
The accounts do not accord with those records; or
-
The accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
-
where the charity is a small company charity, it is exempt from audit in accordance with section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 • where accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis under section 133 of the Charities Act 2011, that the charity trustees have elected to prepare accounts under this sub-section
-
if the charity has subsidiaries, the group income is below the threshold for the preparation of group accounts (section 138 of the Charities Act 2011). The current threshold is specified in The Charities Act 2011 (Group Accounts) Regulations 2015
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Name: Etleva Hysa
Signed:
Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies (if any): Member of Association of Accounting Technician(MAAT)
Address: 2 Beecholm Mews, EN8 0DH, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
Date: 24/10/2023