IUIU students petition Attorney General
Apr 08, 2007
LAW students at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) have petitioned the Attorney General over delayed accreditation of the university to the Law Development Centre (LDC).
By Arthur Baguma
LAW students at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) have petitioned the Attorney General over delayed accreditation of the university to the Law Development Centre (LDC).
The students want the Attorney General in his capacity as administrative head of the bar, to act on the delayed accreditation.
The university established by a statute in 1990 applied two years ago to be accredited.
“In particular, we seek your office’s indulgence to act so that the committee is duly constituted to discharge its statutory duties without undue delay,†the students wrote in a letter signed by Bulamu Mayanja, the chairperson of the community’s Law Students Association. Earlier media reports quoted Prof. Fredrick.
Ssempebwa, the chairperson of the committee on legal and education training, charged with the accreditation, saying the issue should have been concluded by January but the committee failed to raise quorum then.
Ssempebwa also said that recently there was another complication –– the council’s term of office had expired, but that this would be sorted out to enable the committee meet over the issue.
He said the council had no problem with accrediting IUIU since they had complied with the proposals the council asked them to fulfil. The students claim that LDC has run adverts inviting applications from students in recognised universities to apply for the bar course by July, 31 2007.
This is the lot they are supposed to join, but cannot because of the pending accreditation. “To our dismay, we are not eligible to apply for the said Bar course, because of the delayed accreditation of the university.
The law council has a number of times failed to convene a meeting due to lack of quorum,†the petition further states. In December 2005, the Law Council visited the university and advised them to take certain measures before the accreditation could be done.
Among the issues raised was lack of senior staff in the faculty of law, the need to increase on the number of books and more staff in the faculty of law.
The committee further noted, it had misgivings about the admission schemes at the university.
On July 20, 2006, the university wrote to the council’s committee on legal education and training, explaining the measures it had taken in implementing the requirements.
The continued delay to accredit the law programme at IUIU has caused frustration and anxiety among law students now in their final semester.
LAW students at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) have petitioned the Attorney General over delayed accreditation of the university to the Law Development Centre (LDC).
The students want the Attorney General in his capacity as administrative head of the bar, to act on the delayed accreditation.
The university established by a statute in 1990 applied two years ago to be accredited.
“In particular, we seek your office’s indulgence to act so that the committee is duly constituted to discharge its statutory duties without undue delay,†the students wrote in a letter signed by Bulamu Mayanja, the chairperson of the community’s Law Students Association. Earlier media reports quoted Prof. Fredrick.
Ssempebwa, the chairperson of the committee on legal and education training, charged with the accreditation, saying the issue should have been concluded by January but the committee failed to raise quorum then.
Ssempebwa also said that recently there was another complication –– the council’s term of office had expired, but that this would be sorted out to enable the committee meet over the issue.
He said the council had no problem with accrediting IUIU since they had complied with the proposals the council asked them to fulfil. The students claim that LDC has run adverts inviting applications from students in recognised universities to apply for the bar course by July, 31 2007.
This is the lot they are supposed to join, but cannot because of the pending accreditation. “To our dismay, we are not eligible to apply for the said Bar course, because of the delayed accreditation of the university.
The law council has a number of times failed to convene a meeting due to lack of quorum,†the petition further states. In December 2005, the Law Council visited the university and advised them to take certain measures before the accreditation could be done.
Among the issues raised was lack of senior staff in the faculty of law, the need to increase on the number of books and more staff in the faculty of law.
The committee further noted, it had misgivings about the admission schemes at the university.
On July 20, 2006, the university wrote to the council’s committee on legal education and training, explaining the measures it had taken in implementing the requirements.
The continued delay to accredit the law programme at IUIU has caused frustration and anxiety among law students now in their final semester.