Uganda Law Council Announces Crack Down on ‘Fake’ Law Schools

The Uganda Law Council has called a move to crack down on Universities producing ‘half-baked’ lawyers after questions related to the quality of legal training in the country persisted.

This follows reports of suggestions from several stakeholders including lawmakers to extend the duration of the bar course at Uganda’s Law Development Centre (LDC) from one to two years to correct the situation.

However, the Uganda Law Society(ULS) says an extension of the programme at LDC on its own, without addressing deeper and underlying issues at law schools and universities in the country, is as good as nothing.

“The problem is not at LDC, the quality of our lawyers has gone down considerably, but the decline has little to do with the training at LDC.” said Simon Peter Kinobe, the ULS president.

He adds that it has a lot to do with the training offered in law schools at different universities across the country before the law graduates apply to join the LDC.

“Our universities are admitting lots of law students when they lack requirements to ensure quality. We have five law schools in the country today. Each of these schools receives over 200 students per year.” said Kinobe.