The outgoing Chairperson of the Law Development Centre (LDC) Management Committee, Justice Christopher Izama Madrama, has defended the institution’s strict academic standards, saying they are essential to protecting the integrity of Uganda’s legal profession.
Speaking at the LDC’s 53rd graduation ceremony, where 1,563 students graduated with the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Justice Madrama said the institution must not lower its standards in response to public pressure. He said LDC must remain “a crucible of excellence” and warned that relaxing the Bar Course examination system would undermine public confidence in the legal profession.
According to Justice Madrama, the public depends on LDC to certify that graduates are competent to handle matters involving people’s liberty, property and business affairs.
His remarks come amid growing dissatisfaction among Bar Course students over the institution’s assessment and progression rules. Students under the LDC Fairness Coalition recently notified police of plans to stage a peaceful protest, calling for reforms to the Bar Course assessment system.
The coalition argues that students who pass most of the examinable subjects can still be discontinued from the programme and required to repeat the entire course rather than retake only the subjects they failed.
The group says it represents more than 800 students from the 2024/2025 Bar Course cohort and has repeatedly petitioned the institution without receiving a satisfactory response. Justice Madrama, however, insisted that LDC must enforce its examination policies objectively and without compromise.
He also defended the reintroduction of the pre-entry examination for admission to the Bar Course, saying it provides a uniform standard for assessing candidates from the country’s more than 17 universities offering law degrees. Meanwhile, LDC Director Dr. Pamela Tibihikirra Kalyegira said the institution is under increasing pressure, with more than 3,000 students currently enrolled across its two annual intakes-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
