Ex-judge proposes degree condition for law course
Ssekandi says for any student to be enrolled for a law degree, they should have studied and graduated with any other degree from a recognised university.
Justice Francis Ssekandi addressing graduands during LDC’s 52nd graduation ceremony at Law development Centre in Kampala on December 19, 2024. (Photos by Juliet Kasirye)
NewVision Reporter
@NewVision
Admission to law school should be upgraded to only students with a first degree, former Law Development Centre (LDC) director and retired judge Francis Ssekandi has suggested.
Ssekandi says for any student to be enrolled for a law degree, they should have studied and graduated with any other degree from a recognised university.
This he says will solve the overcrowding challenge, which is affecting the quality of lawyers being produced.
Ssekandi, who served as the LDC director between 1971-1974, suggested while presiding over the 52nd LDC graduation at the main campus in Kampala last week. A total of 1,534 students from Kampala, Mbarara and Lira campuses graduated.
Currently, admission to law schools is open to both Senior Six graduates and those with first degrees, provided they have two principal passes with a pass in general paper at A’level.
However, at Makerere University one must sit for pre-entry exams and only those who pass are admitted. Ssekandi is, however, opposed to this practice.
In view of the disparity in standards of education offered by universities, Ssekandi said it is imperative that admission to the Bar Course (postgraduate diploma in legal practice), a nine-month course that lawyers must pass before being enrolled as advocates should be limited to students with a higher degree such as a second class.
Those with a pass degree in law should not be admitted at LDC, according to him.
Ssekandi said teaching law should be limited to a few universities and granting licenses to such institutions should be based on specific criteria.
“For example, the law school licensed to teach law should possess sufficient material requirements such as a well-stocked law library as well as a highly qualified faculty of academic staff,” Ssekandi suggested.
Currently, there are over 14 universities licensed to teach law in Uganda. They include Makerere, Islamic University in Uganda, Uganda Christian University, Nkumba, Kampala International, Uganda Martyrs, Cavendish and Gulu University.
While some members of the legal fraternity including Uganda Law Society (ULS) president Isaac Ssemakadde want teaching of the bar course liberalised and make LDC a regulator like the Uganda National Examination Board, Ssekandi opposes this.
The law don is of the view that LDC should be retained as the sole institution statutorily permitted to grant the post-graduate diploma in legal practice.
“Lawyers admitted to practice law should have equal opportunities for practical training, which cannot be assured if contracted out to other public or private institutions,” Ssekandi argued.
Ssekandi said the extension of the law degree to four years and the introduction of pre-admission examinations do not appear to have solved the problem of growing numbers wishing to join Law School at Makerere.
Justice Francis Ssekandi hands over a gift to Faith Naiga (centre), second best Diploma in Law student as Dr Pamela Tibihikirra Kalyegira, LDC director looks on during LDC’s 52nd graduation ceremony at Law development Centre in Kampala on December 19, 2024. 
“One way of addressing this need might be to offer law as one of the general subjects in the humanities or business schools. Those who qualify can eventually be designated as paralegals to perform routine legal functions but are not licensed to practice law,” he said.
To improve the quality of lawyers in the country, Ssekandi said there are good reasons to require lawyers seeking a career in private practice to go through a period of internship with senior counsels before being allowed to practice on their own.
On a positive note, Ssekandi said he was pleased to learn that the tradition of admitting graduates of the LDC diploma in law to university for a law degree, which started with Makerere, has continued and has also been adopted by other Universities.
What others say
Commenting on the suggestion, ex-ULS president Francis Gimara said Ssekandi’s opinion is solid, having been one of the key people in setting up LDC.
However, Gimara said having a second degree is not enough to address the challenges of legal education in the country.
“My view is that liberalisation of legal education was undertaken without adequate preparations and the young ones are struggling for lack of a sound framework. The crisis needs to be resolved. While Justice Ssekandi’s opinion is welcome, we need to ensure that quality is important. In the past, for you to be admitted at a law school, there were some mandatory preparatory subjects you had to do, which is not the case today,” he said.
Prof Frederick Jjuuko, a renowned law don, disagreed with Justice Ssekandi’s suggestion, saying a serious study needs to be undertaken before anybody can come to a conclusion over the matter.
“The suggestion seems to suggest that there are too many lawyers. We cannot casually treat such serious matters; studies have to be done. The population of Uganda has grown tremendously, and we are talking of having magistrates at every sub-county level,” he said.
Jjuuko said restricting admission to law school to only those with first degrees is an American approach, which you cannot find in most parts of the world.
“Given that studying law in Uganda is four years, it can be handled by students from high school if they are taught well,” Juuko said.
Juuko said the idea of restricting is an elitist notion that is not relevant.
“Today, you have lawyers in civil society helping others. The vast area in which law is relevant is beyond the elitist. Lawyers are not for litigation only and it is not appropriate to restrict the numbers but focus should be on the quality of the products,” he said.
Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuzi said legal education is facing several challenges including a decline in ethical standards.
“As we can all bear witness, the scrutiny of the bar and the bench has increased thereby placing the future of the legal profession in a quagmire. The legal profession is built on the foundation of justice and equity, requiring high ethical standards and recommitment to integrity from its practitioners,” Kafuzi said.
On the increased number of applicants and admission at LDC, Kafuzi said it is placing a significant strain on the student-teacher ratio, resulting in ineffective imparting of knowledge and skills.
“The number of applicants and graduates is unmanageable. We are dealing with over 1,000 students and it is alarming, and business cannot continue as usual,” Kafuzi said.
Kafuzi bemoaned the lack of writing and research skills from the graduates, saying this has affected their ability to offer sound legal advice to their clients.
LDC director Dr Pamela Tibihikirra Kalyegira said legal education and training in Uganda is at crossroads because there is a very high interest in studying law, which has led to several challenges related to the capacity of law schools to train lawyers.
Kalyegira said neither the law schools nor LDC can guarantee the quality of their graduates.
“It is against this background, that the Attorney General instructed me to work alongside the Law Council to cause a national discussion on the future of legal education and training in Uganda. I am happy to report that in November (2024), the Law Council organised a national stakeholders’ workshop at which these current challenges were discussed. The Law Council, working in conjunction with the Attorney General, will at the appointed time make pronouncements on this matter,” Kalyegira said.
Practice in other countries
In Ghana, students applying to join the Faculty of Law School must have a first degree. Law faculties do not require specific subjects, but most applicants choose to specialise in political science, history or English.
In Nigeria, admission to the Nigeria Law Institute, which conducts training equivalent to that conducted by LDC, is limited to holders of a second-class (lower) law degree.
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