Departments Law Council
Law Council
What is the Law Council?
The Law Council is a body established by the Advocates Act [Cap 267] as amended by the (Advocates Amendment) Act 27 of 2002, and is charged with the over all regulatory authority for the entire legal profession in Ugandan.
The Law Council is a department in the Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs. It is chaired by the Justice of the Supreme Court, and is composed of ten (10) members drawn from different sections of the legal profession save for one member who is a non-lawyer. The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary to the Law Council who is assisted by eight (8) state attorneys borrowed from different directorates and departments. The Secretariat does administrative work as well as prosecution before the Disciplinary Committee.
The Council has two standing committees namely; the Disciplinary Committee and the Committee on Legal Education and Training.
Functions of the Law Council:
• To exercise general supervision and control over professional legal education in Uganda;
• To approve courses of study and to provide for the conduct of qualifying examinations for any of the purposes of the Advocates Act;
• To advise and make recommendations to the Government on matters relating to the profession of advocates;
• To exercise, through the medium of the Disciplinary Committee, disciplinary control over advocates;
• To exercise general supervision and control over the provision of legal aid and advice to indigent persons;
• To exercise any power or perform any duty authorized or required by this or any other written law.
• To exercise through the medium of the Committee on Legal Education and Training, general supervision and control over professional legal education in Uganda including continuing legal education of persons qualified to practice law in Uganda.
• To charge fees in the performance of its functions
(i) The Disciplinary Committee:
The Disciplinary Committee is charged with the mandate to discipline errant members of the legal profession.
The Committee meets every Friday in the Ministry of Justice Boardroom to hear disciplinary cases.
The number of complaints registered with the Law Council has been steadily increasing over the last sixteen years as shown below.
YEAR
NUMBER OF CASES
REGISTERED
1995 38
1996 41
1997 64
1998 66
1999 88
2000 107
2001 120
2002 146
2003 190
2004 189
2005 174
2006 157
2007 175
2008 159
2009 182
2010 (Jan-Date) 103
TOTAL 1,999
(a)Procedure of lodging a complaint
A complaint can be lodged by the Law Council itself or any person.
The procedure for lodging a complaint is as follows:
- present four (4) copies of the complaint to the Law Secretariat with all the necessary exhibits (if any) for perusal and advise,
- pay a prescribed fee of Ug. Shs: 2,000= upon assessment in the bank,
- ensure the that complaint is registered and given a number,
- check on the progress of the complaint after one month.
(ii) Committee on Legal Education and Training
(a) Mandate
This committee is mandated to:
1. Prescribe standards and courses for training and
recognition of Paralegals
and their functions.
2. Prescribe the professional requirements for admission to the Post Graduate Bar Course and qualifications necessary for eligibility for enrolment as an advocate. A case in point is the recent amendment to the Advocates (Professional Requirements for Admission to Post Graduate Bar Course) (Amendment) Notice, 2010, which has introduced the pre-entry examination for the Bar Course to ensure quality of the students.
3. Conduct Continuing Legal Education for qualified legal practitioners.
4. Serve as a medium in exercising general supervision and control over profession legal education in Uganda.
5. Prescribe standards and courses for training and recognition of Paralegals and their functions.
(b) Procedure of applying for a certificate of eligibility for enrolment
- the applicant is required to submit an application supported with duly commissioned and registered affidavit and statutory declaration, plus two (2) recommendations from two advocates of at least 3 years standing.
- the upon assessment the applicant is required to pay a
prescribed fee of Ug. Shs: 45,000= in the bank.
- A notice is issued to the applicant to be placed in the gazette.
- a copy of the gazette issue must be obtained by the applicant and put on file.
- The vetting process is done as and when the Council sit.
Other activities of the Council include:
- Inspection of chambers,
- Inspection of degree law programmes,
- Inspection of legal aid service provider.
For more information contact:
THE SECRETARIAT
LAW COUNCIL
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS,
QUEEN’S CHAMBERS
PLOT 1 PARLIAMENT AVENUE
+256-414-255-384