Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, yesterday in the plenary, presented a question to the house whether or not to adopt the recommendation by the Committee on Legal and Parliament Affairs to scrap the Law Development Center (LDC) pre entry examinations (exams). By a majority of the Members of Parliament, it was decided that the exams to join LDC should be removed.
“We debated these issues and found that the policy (for the pre-entry) is neither serving the purpose nor helping the already graduate lawyers who want to access the bar.” Said Jacob Oboth Oboth. He also presented an argument that the “quality of lawyers is not determined by the pre-entry but at the center.”
The committee also mentioned that the idea to scrap the results was presented to LDC authorities and there was no objection.
Some of the reasons to have the exams was to decongest the center after hundreds of students were interested in the bar course. It was also argued that because a branch at Mbarara District is for be created in the next financial year that starts in June this year, some students could be sent there.
“This question of pre-entry to LDC was a bit tricky. We came to a conclusion that a class of 1000 is a rally,” said Kahinda Otaffire, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
Those in the house suggested that opposed to the recommendation opined that a pass mark should be lowered. Currently, the pass mark to join the center is 50%. They also warn that it can compromise the quality of the legal practice.
Implications for this decision.
It is still not clear who makes the final decision to scrap the exams, but many concerned members of the public are of the opinion that the decision has to come from LDC itself and not parliament, implying that the decision by parliament is not final.
This has created a number of legal concerns one being that the pre entry was established by the Committee of Legal Education of Law Council deriving authority from a statutory instrument, The Advocates (Professional Requirements for Admission to Post – Graduate Bar Course ) (Amendment) Notice 2010. A power that was granted to it by the parliament.
If the parliament entrusted Law Council to determine who qualifies to join LDC and how, who then has the authority to change those determinations? Clearly if the parliament can do as it wishes, it should not have given that power to another body in the first place because it undermines authority.
Also, the decision for removing the pre entry has to be embedded in law implying that, the law council has to amend the above law to abolish the pre entry which amendment parliament cannot do.
What next?
Before pre entries were introduced in 2010, those who qualified for LDC were determined based on university grades.
Subjecting that standard to the recent graduates will mean they LDC will have to set a minimum CGPA for who can apply. This will condemn scores of students who do not meet the minimum standard to never becoming advocates. Yet the alternative, once one fails the pre entry at LDC, the students can wait for the following year and still sit the exam until they pass and one day see their dreams come true and have a practicing certificate.
It is unimaginable for one to repeat four years in law school just because one wants to get the minimum CGPA to qualify.
