Lawyers told to offer free services

The days of the image of a lawyer being the guy cruising the latest high-end vehicle, donning designer apparels and residing in expensive neighbourhoods in a country where majority of people wallow in poverty and indignity is outdated, Uganda Law Society (ULS) president, Francis Gimara has said.

Gimara who was recently elected ULS president says, lawyers should embrace the culture of occasionally offering pro bono (free) services to indigent people unable to meet the cost of hiring lawyers.

"What is the relevancy of being prosperous as lawyers when majority of our people cannot access justice? The system is quite dysfunctional, expensive and chocking with case backlog," Gimara told School of Law Students of Makerere University.

As of last year, statistics from the Judiciary indicates that the case backlog could be standing at more than 160,000 cases. Some cases are as old as 20 years.

Gimara, together with associate prof. Christopher Mbazira in tow was at Makerere University to launch the third edition of the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) newsletter and also open offices of the Network of Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL).

PILAC is aimed at building a cadre of lawyers with specialist public interest law training, ardent interest in human rights lawyering and a willingness to provide critical legal support to especially vulnerable and marginalized groups in society, both nationally and internationally.

Citing data from the latest census, Gimara said its unwise for lawyers to lead cloistered lives, indifferent to the plight of the poor in their society.

"You should transcend your comfort zones as an individual and consider the plight of those around you if you're to remain relevant," Gimara said, describing lawyers as change agents.

Although offering of pro bono services is deemed an altruistic act by many lawyers, the Advocates Act which regulates the legal profession in Uganda does not explicitly provide that all layers accredited to practice by the Law Council handle a specific number of pro bono cases.

The result is that many indigent people battling charges that can face capital punishment rely on lawyers paid for by the state (state briefs).

However, many of these lawyers on state brief are accused of going through the motions to represent their clients because they are not paid as their counterparts representing well-to-do clients.  

According to Article 28 of the constitution, everyone accused of a capital offense is entitled to legal representation at state expense.