ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

A judge of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, who had been studying in the UK for a PhD in law at the time, was found guilty at Oxford Crown Court on 13 March 2025 of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness, after forcing a woman to work as her domestic ‘slave’.

The judge had arranged for the victim, who had previously worked for Mugambe’s family in Uganda, to be brought to the UK from Uganda by conspiring with Uganda’s then deputy high commissioner, John Mugerwa.

Mugambe prevented the woman from holding down steady employment and forced her to provide free childcare. Mugambe also stopped the victim from working her evening job as she was instructed not to leave Mugambe’s children unsupervised; if the police were to find the children home alone, the woman would be ‘locked up’.

The prosecutor alleged that the victim was ‘beholden’ to Mugambe, in that she was deprived of her freedom to control her ID documents and to choose her own work.

On 2 May 2025, Oxford Crown Court imposed a prison sentence of six years and four months and an indefinite restraining order, preventing Mugambe from contacting the victim directly or indirectly.  Mugambe was also ordered to pay the victim £12,160 in compensation.

The University of Oxford is also commencing a disciplinary process, which can result in the removal of students who have been convicted of serious criminal offences.

In addition, the Crown Prosecution Service authorised the police to charge Mr Mugerwa with conspiracy, however he would have been covered at the relevant time by diplomatic immunity, which the Ugandan Government has not waived.