School of Law Annual Report 2025

At the heart of our mandate is teaching and learning, and throughout 2025 the School remained committed to delivering transformative legal education. Our undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programmes continued to attract highly competitive applicants, reflecting sustained confidence in the quality of legal education offered at the School. During the year, we successfully conducted teaching and examinations across all programmes, strengthened experiential learning through field attachments, mooting competitions, and clinical legal education, and hosted several academic engagements including doctoral colloquia and international collaborations. Our students also excelled in national and international competitions, demonstrating the strength of our academic training and mentorship.

The School also made significant strides in research and publications, which remain central to our mission as a research-led institution. Members of faculty produced important scholarly contributions in leading journals, books and policy publications covering a wide range of fields including human rights, environmental law, constitutional law, taxation, and disability rights. In addition, our research centres secured several grants to support impactful research and community programmes, further strengthening the School’s reputation as a hub for legal scholarship that informs policy and advances justice.

Beyond the classroom and academic scholarship, the School continued to play a vital role in community outreach and engagement. Through initiatives such as the Administrative Law Short-Course for Public Officers, the Public Interest Law Clinic, the Refugee Law Project, the Business Law Clinic and other outreach programmes, our staff and students provided legal aid, capacity building and other legal-related services to communities across Uganda. These initiatives underscore our commitment to ensuring that legal education contributes meaningfully to improving access to justice and empowering vulnerable communities.

The School also remained an important platform for public dialogue, policy engagement and intellectual debate. Throughout the year, we convened and participated in numerous public lectures, policy consultations, conferences and debates addressing critical national and global issues including constitutionalism, human rights, electoral justice, climate change and energy transition. Through these engagements, the School continues to contribute to informed public discourse and evidence-based policy reform.

Equally important has been our continued investment in mentorship and career guidance for students and aspiring legal professionals. In collaboration with the Makerere Law Society and various partners, the School organized career guidance sessions, mentorship programmes and outreach visits to secondary schools aimed at inspiring the next generation of lawyers and exposing students to the diverse opportunities within the legal profession.

These achievements would not have been possible without the dedication of our academic staff, administrative & support staff, students, and the support from Makerere University Management and Council, alumni and development partners. I extend my sincere appreciation to all who continue to support the work of the School of Law. As we look to the future, the School remains committed to strengthening excellence in teaching, advancing impactful research, deepening community engagement, and nurturing ethical and socially responsive legal professionals who will contribute to the advancement of justice, rule of law, societal transformation and development in Uganda and beyond.

As We Build for the Future

Ronald Naluwairo, PhD
Associate Professor
DEAN