SCHOOL OF LAW 2021

A paper addressing the challenges of providing legal education in

Uganda whilst recommending appropriate actions to deal with

them.

BY TURYAHABWE ALLAN JUNIOR

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Precisely legal education can be defined as, the education of individuals in the principles, practices,

and theory of law. It can be undertaken by those who intend to become legal professionals or those

who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law or business.1

The history of legal education in Uganda can be traced from the early 1950’s. In July 1952, the

Chief Secretary of the Protectorate Government issued a gene, “AFRICAN PUPIL’S-CROWN LAW

CHAMBERS”; which was intended to allow African natives to also get an opportunity to enter the

colonial legal services. The first ever School of law in Uganda was, ‘The Makerere University School

of Law’ which was started in 1968. However, other schools of law were opened up in different parts of

Uganda, and it estimated that there are more than 12 schools of law in Uganda today. The Law

Development Center(LDC) was also established in 1970 by the Law Development Center Act as a

government owned institution of higher learning responsible for “research, law reform, publications,

law reporting and community legal service provider.2”

Uganda has basically two levels; aspiring lawyers/ advocates start.3 As emphasized in the case of

Pius Niwagaba v. Law Development Center4, the court cited the World bank funded report on Legal

Education (1995) by Justice Benjamin Odoki, and the court was of the view that this report recognized

that, the training of a lawyer consists of 3 stages; “The Academic stage, the Professional Stage

which consists of institutional training, and lastly Continuing legal education.” The report further

stated that; “The academic stage should be taken at a university or its equivalent. The professional

stage should consist partly of organized vocational in an institutional setting partly of practice

experience in a professional setting under supervision.”

The regulation of legal education in Uganda is conducted by the National Council for Higher Education

(NCHE) as mandated by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act5 and the Committee

1
https://www.docsity.com/en/history-of-legal-education-and-legal-research/5333434/
2 ibid
3 A draft study report on the harmonisation of law development centre with NCHE pg. 3

4 Pius Nuwagaba Vs Law Development Centre Civil Application No. 18 of 2005 Court of Appeal 5

Act N0. 7 of 2001 as amended in 2003 and 2006

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on Legal Education and Training (CLET) of the Law Council as mandated by the Advocates Act, 1970

and the subsequent amendment of 2002.5

The Uganda Constitution provides for a legal framework under Article 30 that, “all persons have a

right to education6.” Then under subsidiary legislation of Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions

Act; Section 5(d) of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act empowers the National

Council for Higher Education to receive, consider and process applications for the; (a)Establishment

and accreditation of private tertiary institutions, and (b) Accredit academic and professional programs

of these institutions in consultation with professional associations. Thus in the case of Asiimwe Alex

Byaruhanga and others v. Law Development Center and Anor (Misc. Cause No. 267 of 2017),

were one of the issues was, ‘Whether it is the UAOTI Act or the Advocates Act which regulates under

graduate law programs in Universities in Uganda.’ The court held that it is the UAOTI Act which

regulates under graduate law programs in Uganda and not the Advocates Act. The UAOTI Act also

provides for the accreditation of law universities in Uganda through the National Council of Higher

Education.

The greatest challenge in Uganda’s legal education at academic level is failure to educate, inculcate

and indoctrinate the students with a deep sense of legal ethics and with the obligations and

requirements of being a member of legal profession 7 . And this can be handled by developing in

students a deeper sense of professional responsibility for the most discussed problem of the legal

discussion in Uganda is lack of professional morality and ethics. A separate legal education facility in

which the law students live and eat together and in which the leading members of the legal profession

take a continuing active and personal interest would help to develop in the students a sense of

profession and a sense of their very special obligations to maintain and observe the highest ethical

and moral standards9

5 supra
6 Uganda constitution 1995
7 K.E Makubuya, Introduction to Law: The Uganda Case, Makerere University Kampala 9

ibid

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Secondly, non-accreditation of universities to teach law which deliberately go on to teach law illegally.

Accreditation is defined under Section 2 of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act to mean,

“Public acceptance and confirmation evidenced by the grant of a charter that a university meets

requirements and standards of academic excellence set by National Council.” 8 The process for

accrediting Universities is provided for under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions (Institution

Standards) Regulations (2005).

In the case of Asiimwe Alex Byaruhanga and others v. LDC and Anor, Lady Justice Wolayo

stated at page 14 that, “The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions (Institutional Standards)

Regulations, gives the procedure for accrediting a university. They prescribe the standards and

requirements 9 that must be complied with by institutions under the Act. One of the issues was,

‘Whether Gulu and Cavendish Universities were authorized to teach law.’ The court held that, the law

programs offered by Gulu University and Cavendish University were accredited by the NCHE and

approved by the Committee on legal education and therefore these universities are authorized to teach

law in Uganda10. Therefore, this can be resolved by regular notification of accredited legal institutions.

Since legal education is a developing area, regular notification through the media will be a worthy start.

In Pius Nuwagaba v. LDC, Justice Okum Wengi stated that, what is important is that the Law Council

must be consulted during the process of accrediting a university to teach law.” Also in Asiimwe Alex

and others v. LDC, it was stated that, “…the National Council of Higher Education and the Committee

on Legal Education are obliged by law to work together before accreditation of a university to teach

law.”

8 The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act section 2

9 These include library buildings and services, curriculum and programs, physical facilities, among others. It is after an institution meets these
standards that it is issued with a license or Charter to operate. The charter becomes evidence that the institution meets standards set by
NCHE.” Any university which is not accredited by the National Council of Higher Education(NCHE), and approved by the Committee on Legal

Education cannot teach law in Uganda.

10 Asiimwe Byaruhanga & 12 Ors v Law Council & 3 Ors (Miscellaneous Cause-2017/269) [2017] UGHCCD 136 (26 October 2017)

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Conflict between law council and NCHE with accreditation of law schools, section 3(a) of Advocates

Act is silent on the role of the Law Council in under graduate law programs for It provides that, “the

law council shall exercise general supervision and control over professional legal education.” Under

Section 39(b) of the Advocates Act, the Law Council is given powers to approve courses of study

and to provide for the conduct of qualifying examinations for any of the purposes of the Act. As a

solution, there is no conflict if both bodies carry out inspection. There should be continuous monitoring

and evaluation of universities by both NCHE and Law Council to ensure compliance with the standards

expected of a university conducting the law programme. Law Council should be facilitated in terms of

staffing and funding to better its mandate through regular inspection of universities as well as checking

on other things such as the qualifications of teaching staff in order to ensure that they go through

continuous legal education, pedagogy trainings and updated libraries among others so as to keep

updated with the evolving trends in legal education.

At professional level, there is a challenge of lack of quick reference materials which has continuously

led to delay in disposal of cases and hence case backlog11. This can be addressed partnerships of

Uganda Judicial bodies with Law Development Centre so as to arrive at improving accessibility of

justice and legal education for not only legal practitioners but also judicial officers through annual

publications such as the Uganda Criminal Justice Bench Book 2017.

The expenses of maintaining universities resulting from high level of competition between law schools

as many universities today which teach law compete about who teaches the program best than the

other and this is as well as the Law Development Centre has led to admissions beyond the capacity

of these institutions, thereby endangering quality of the product. A solution to this is hinted on by

Pamela Kalyegira in her book ‘Liberalization of Legal Education in Uganda’ published by Law Africa

states that; “although the Advocates Act did not specifically spell out the role of Law Council in all

legal education in Uganda, the consensus was that it had a final say for both under graduate and

11 The Uganda criminal Justice bench book 1st Edition, 2017

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professional legal education.”12 Law Development Center Act; Section 3(1)(a) provides that, “the

center shall have functions of organizing and conducting courses of acquisition of legal knowledge,

professional skills and experience by person intending to practice as attorneys. Therefore, Law

development Centre should actively provide remedies on how to improve of legal education amongst

the different universities.

Fraud and forgery within the legal education system. Many students and those in the legal profession

attempt to forge academic documents and this is a great danger to the development of legal education

supported in Justice Kalinda v. AG 13and this is attributed to the inability to access the necessary

legal materials to help legal scholars and law students to carryout legal education smoothly. For

example, some law schools lack the relevant law books and law reports.14There has also been a

concern on the mushrooming of private universities which offer law degrees. There has been talk of

low standards of teaching and preparation of law graduates. Therefore, as a solution Law Council

which has control over professional legal education not undergraduate legal education ideally should

intervene at the time when graduates who wish to join the bar course have applied for admission

because it has control over the standards of looking into the contents of the degree, how it is taught,

who teaches it and the tools used since the degree is the foundation upon which the standards are

developed15.

The instabilities within some law universities in Uganda is also a problem to the development of legal

education. students or lecturers strikes sometimes lead to a stand-off in the process of delivering

services for legal education plus high fees charged by some law institutions make some students not

be able to sustain such expenses and as a result, some drop out. This can be handled through flexibility

and modification of tuition policies to arrive at an alignment with student demands so as to make legal

education possible and affordable.

12 Pamela Tibihikkira-Kalyegira, Liberalization of Legal Education In Uganda; Policy Considerations, (Law Africa, 2010)
13
HCT-00-CVCS-0148-2018
14 Uganda legal and judicial sector study report 2009, pg 106

15 A draft study report on the harmonisation of law development centre with NCHE pg 26

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The nature of examination assessment. The real benefit from any curriculum can be produced only if

the knowledge is tested in an objective scenario. The examination system in law schools must be

stringent and eliminate malpractices. The nature of questions must be analytical in such a way that it

makes the students produce the application of law rather than the reproduction of law and cases that

are already in textbooks. students of law should be encouraged to enrich their knowledge in

economics, political science, sociology and if possible psychology. Knowledge of all allied social

sciences in necessary to understand the whole complex of social structures, values, institutions and

processes. Assessment of law lecturers in different universities by the Law Council together with NCHE

as well as emphasizing that teaching must focus on building up the skills of analysis, language, drafting

and argument in law students

Lack of a practical approach towards law in some law schools in Uganda16. The syllabus of most of

the colleges are based on theory and hence the students find it dis-interesting and boring. One cannot

expect the students to excel in later stages when they have been taught this way that meagerly

stimulate their interest. This can be handled through partnership with fellow universities within and

outside of Africa. By this, students may attend exchange programs, and obtain exposure of new legal

knowledge and also encouragement of moot court competitions to enable students learn the mode of

practice of law in courts of law

Conclusively, Law Council as the overall body regulating legal practitioners and training schools

should be facilitated in terms of staffing and funding to better its mandate through regular inspection

of universities as well as to check on other things such as the qualifications of teaching staff in order

to ensure that they go through continuous legal education, pedagogy trainings and updated libraries

among others so as to keep updated with the evolving trends in legal education of Uganda.

16 K.E Makubuya, Introduction to Law: The Uganda Case, Makerere University Kampala

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References
A draft study report on the harmonisation of law development centre with NCHE pg. 3. Advocates

Act 1970.

Asiimwe Byaruhanga & 12 Ors v Law Council & 3 Ors (Miscellaneous Cause-2017/269) [2017] UGHCCD
136 (26 October 2017).

Makubuya, K.E. Introduction to Law: The Uganda Case, Makerere University Kampala.

Pamela Tibihikkira-Kalyegira. 2010. Liberalization of Legal Education In Uganda; Policy Considerations .

Law Africa.

Pius Nuwagaba Vs Law Development Centre Civil Application . 2005. No. 18 (Court of Appeal).

The Uganda criminal Justice bench book , 1st Edition. The Law Development Centre (LDC) With support
from Judiciary, JLOS and Danida. 2017

The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act.

Uganda constitution 1995.

Uganda legal and judicial sector study report.2009

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