UN Judge Lydia Mugambe has been convicted of modern slavery after exploiting vulnerable workers in the UK. Despite overwhelming evidence, she continues to deny the charges, shocking the legal community.
A judge sitting on the United Nations judicial roster has been convicted of modern slavery offences after a jury found she forced a young Ugandan woman to work as her domestic servant without pay, taking advantage of her position of power and influence.
Lydia Mugambe, 49, also a High Court judge in Uganda, was found guilty at Oxford Crown Court of four serious offences relating to the illegal entry, exploitation, and coercion of her victim. She was convicted of:
Conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law
Facilitating travel with a view to exploitation
Forcing someone to work
Conspiring to intimidate a witness
Prosecutors described the case as one of calculated exploitation, in which Mugambe misled and deceived her victim about the nature of her role in the UK, withheld her identity documents, and sought to exert complete control over her life.
The jury was told that the young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, entered the UK under false pretences, with her visa application claiming she was to be employed in a diplomatic household under the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner, John Leonard Mugerwa.
In reality, the court heard, this was part of a dishonest trade-off, where Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the victim’s visa while Mugambe attempted to use her judicial influence to assist Mr Mugerwa in legal proceedings he was facing.
The prosecution alleged that Mugambe had one purpose in bringing the victim to the UK – to serve as her domestic worker without pay. Jurors were told that upon arrival, the victim was immediately put to work as a maid and childminder at Mugambe’s home in Oxfordshire, performing household chores and providing childcare without pay or legal employment status.
Prosecutor Caroline Haughey KC said the victim was deprived of her freedom, had no control over her own immigration documents, and was ultimately trapped in an exploitative situation by someone with significant legal expertise and influence.
The jury heard that Mugambe knowingly took advantage of the victim’s lack of understanding of her legal rights, misleading her into believing that the conditions she endured were normal or acceptable.
The prosecution described her conduct as a deliberate attempt to secure free labour while maintaining a façade of legitimacy. When the victim challenged Mugambe’s control and attempted to assert her independence, she was threatened with deportation.
Evidence presented at trial revealed that on 10 February 2023, Thames Valley Police received a report from a member of the public alleging that the victim was being held as a slave. Officers located the victim at a TK Maxx store in Oxford. The court heard that she had been able to leave the house on limited occasions but had no financial independence or employment rights and was living in a state of isolation and fear.
The jury was further told that Mugambe, when confronted by police, attempted to assert diplomatic immunity. Body-worn camera footage from the arrest was played to the jury, in which she expressed disbelief at being detained under the Modern Slavery Act, telling officers: "I am a judge in my country, I even have immunity. I am not a criminal." When questioned further, Mugambe reaffirmed her belief that she was immune from prosecution, citing her diplomatic passport.
However, Mugambe did not, in fact, have diplomatic immunity, and her claim was immediately dismissed by UK authorities. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, immunity is only granted to accredited diplomats who have been formally recognised by the host country and listed on its official diplomatic register.
While Mugambe held a diplomatic passport issued by Uganda, this alone did not confer immunity under UK law. The court heard that she was neither an accredited diplomat nor listed as a protected individual under the UK Foreign Office’s records. Furthermore, judges, even those serving on international legal bodies, do not automatically receive immunity from criminal prosecution in foreign states unless specifically granted by treaty or agreement.
The prosecution highlighted this contradiction, pointing to the irony that a senior judicial figure on the UN roster should have been fully aware of the legal principles surrounding diplomatic immunity. Ms Haughey KC told the jury: "It is remarkable that someone of Ms Mugambe’s legal standing, a judge appointed to a United Nations judicial role, would attempt to claim an immunity that she knew full well she did not possess."
During the trial, the defence, led by Paul Raudnitz KC, sought to challenge the prosecution’s claims, arguing that the victim had voluntarily agreed to work for Mugambe and had not been subject to coercion or exploitation. Mugambe took the stand in her own defence, denying that she had ever forced the victim to work under the threat of penalty and insisting that she had treated her with love, care, and patience.
Under cross-examination, she was asked whether she had ever intended to exploit the victim upon her arrival in Britain, to which she replied: "I never exploited [her] in Uganda, why would I exploit her in the UK?"
However, the jury rejected Mugambe’s defence, finding her guilty on all but one charge unanimously, with a majority guilty verdict returned on the final count of arranging or facilitating travel with a view to exploitation.
The case highlighted the use of diplomatic channels and judicial influence in the commission of modern slavery offences, with prosecutors describing the conspiracy between Mugambe and the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner as a highly dishonest and premeditated scheme.
The court was told that Mugambe’s personal and professional status had allowed her to act with a sense of impunity, expecting her position to shield her from legal scrutiny.
According to publicly available UN documentation, Mugambe was appointed to the United Nations’ judicial roster in May 2023, three months after police were called to her residence in connection with the allegations.
During closing arguments, Ms Haughey KC told the jury: "Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused the victim, taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK." She went on to state that the victim had been "brought in for the convenience of Mugambe’s life but mistreated", adding that Mugambe had been willing to lie not only to the victim but also to the police in an attempt to evade responsibility.
The victim, in her own testimony, described feeling "lonely" and "stuck", stating that her working hours were severely limited, and that she had no personal agency over her life while living under Mugambe’s control.
Mugambe, who has been convicted on all charges, will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on 2 May.
Well, that’s all for now. But until our next article, please stay tuned, stay informed, but most of all, stay safe, and I’ll seeyou then.
Bénédict Tarot Freeman
Editor-at-Large
VPN CITY-DESK
Comments