Campus Bee has a received a copy of a draft amendment bill, The Law Development Centre (LDC) Amendment Bill, 2016, that is rumoured to lead to the scrapping of the LDC pre – entry examinations. However, it is also rumoured that there is a draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill that is yet to be tabled too.
The debate about whether the pre – entry examinations should be scrapped off or not has been a subject of heated discussions over the last several months, with different meetings convened with stakeholders among others, the administration of LDC, Law Council, and the Parliament to discuss the fate of the internationally dreaded examinations.
The Advocates Amendment Bill.
According to a story run by the New Vision last week, it was reported that an amendment to the Advocates Act is seeking to explicitly stop law council from requiring qualified lawyers to sit a special exam as a prerequisite to pursue the bar course.
The Bee has not seen a copy of this Bill to ascertain its contents and perhaps give hope to the weary lawyers, especially those who finished law school and have never had the courage to sit the pre – entry.
The LDC Amendment Bill
However, what the Bee has seen is the draft LDC Amendment Bill. It does not say much or anything about the pre – entry, however, it inserts a new section 32B, under clause 30 which seeks to give power to the minister to make regulations. Such a provision had not existed before.
“The Minister may make regulations to better carrying out the provisions of this Act”, reads the clause.
Whether the minister can actually pass a statutory instrument/Secondary legislation to scrap the pre – entry is debatable. The pre – entry examinations were introduced by a statutory instrument under the Advocates Act, and not the LDC Act that is being sought to be amended.
Law Council is the body authorized to make statutory instruments under the Advocates Act and it was the one that passed the regulations creating the pre – entry examinations in 2009.
Unless the rumoured bill is confirmed and Parliament specifically amends the Advocates Act to abolish the exams, sadly for many, they still stand.
