30/08/2019
LAW COUNCIL
PRESS RELEASE
THE BAR COURSE PRE -ENTRY EXAMINATIONS 2019
The Law Council by virtue of the Advocates (Amendment) Act, No. 27 of 2002, through the medium of the Committee on Legal Education and Training, exercises general supervision and control over professional legal education including continuing legal education for persons qualified to practice law in Uganda.
One of the functions of the Committee by virtue of Section 6C (1) (c) of the Advocates (Amendment) Act,2002, is to prescribe the professional requirements for admission to the Post- Graduate Bar Course and qualifications necessary for eligibility for enrolment as an advocate.
In exercise of the above powers, the Committee on Legal Education and Training issued the Advocates (Professional Requirements for Admission to Post-Graduate Bar Course) (Amendment) Notice, No.12 of 2010.
The above Notice introduced pre -entry examinations. The examinations have been conducted under the supervision of Law Council for the last 8 years.
However, due to lack of funds to administer the examination and the earlier decision by the Council to phase out pre- entry examinations, but in an orderly manner and in the interest of the aspirants and the profession at large, the Council agreed that the examinations would not be held in 2019.
Therefore, at the 188th meeting of the Law Council held on 14th August,2019 in the Law Council Boardroom, 7th Floor, Georgian House, George Street, Kampala, the Council having been duly constituted, resolved as follows:
1 That the Bar Course pre-entry examinations prescribed under paragraph 3 of the Advocates (Professional Requirements for Admission to Post-Graduate Bar Course) (Amendment) Notice, No.12 of 2010 be suspended and is hereby suspended.
2 That the admission to the Bar course modalities shall be as follows:
a) Total student Intake 2019/2020- 1680
b) The following categories of aspirants for admission to the course are eligible and shall be admitted on a priority basis for the 2019 intake:
I. All the fresh graduates of 2019 whose names were listed and submitted to the Law Council by their respective Universities, or, have otherwise been found eligible by the Law Council before the closure of the 2019 admissions.
II. Applicants who passed pre-entry in the previous years, i.e., 2016-2019, but had not joined LDC.
III. Applicants who were admitted to LDC, but failed and intend to repeat the failed subjects.
3. The backlog category, that is, aspirants who had failed to gain entry to the Bar course through the pre-entry examination. These shall be admitted by random selection to fill the remaining vacancies. Those who shall not gain immediate entry through the random system shall be eligible for priority entry in the years 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Dated at Kampala this, 20th day of August, 2019.
Hon. Justice F.M.S Egonda-Ntende
CHAIRPERSON, LAW COUNCIL
