Feature
Ugandan Law Students Allege ‘’Illegal Clog’’ In System By Todd Schultz Law students in Uganda are expressing their anger with the Law Development Centre’s (LDC) monopoly on the Bar Course.
The Uganda Law Students Society is charging that the LDC has held a monopoly on the service for 40 years, and their admission of 600 students per year is not enough to accommodate the current annual average of 1,000 students that are qualified to take the course. The students put together a petition which they presented to Speaker Ssekandi of the High Court in Uganda. The document states, ‘’As up to 10 years ago the number of applicants were limited to not more than 60 each year and by then, the majority (40) were produced by faculty of law at Makerere University and the rest from Dar es salaam, Nairobi, Zambia universities and a few others from the common law countries.’’ The students expressed their concerns over the mental health of students who, after spending millions on university fees, were put out on the streets. They claim that some of these students were depressed to the point of suicide.
In prior years the LDC admitted the majority of students. However, beginning this year, the Centre brought in pre-entry exams. Only 300 of the more than 700 students who took the exams were able to pass. However, the Uganda Law Student Society’s petition claims that the tests were an unfair addition to the course of study for law students. “It is an illegal clog to the advancement of the applicants’ right to education and a profession of choice,’’ said the petition. We therefore pray that Parliament amends the law to allow for the liberalization of Post Graduate Bar Course and permit other institutions, whether public or private, with the requisite capacities to run the course.’’ Speaker Ssekandi responded to the petition, saying, “There is need to maintain the standards. But I will study your petition and send it to relevant committees.’’
They also claimed that the alleged monopoly breaches the Constitution, the Advocates Act and the Law Development Centre Act.
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