The Law Development Centre (LDC) is addressing its growing student population by announcing the opening of a fourth campus in Mbale District, slated for September of this year. This decision comes as a response to the overwhelming number of students and aims to alleviate the strain on existing campuses in Kampala, Mbarara, and Lira.
Frank Nigel Othembi, the Executive Director of LDC, disclosed the plan for the Mbale campus during discussions with a delegation from Zambia, who were visiting LDC for benchmarking on law reporting.
“LDC has three campuses, and we are opening a fourth campus in September this year in Mbale. We are contending with numbers, and it is our biggest problem because we have close to 2000 Bar Course students. Last year alone, we had 3000 applicants, and we even admitted some of them three years in advance,” noted Othembi.
Established in 1970 by the Law Development Centre Act, LDC operates as a government-owned institution responsible for various aspects of legal education and services, including research, law reform, publications, law reporting, and community legal services. Graduates of law from different universities in Uganda are required to enroll in the post-graduate diploma in legal practice, commonly known as the Bar Course at LDC, to become advocates of the courts of judicature.
During the meeting, Lady Justice Roydah Mwanakulya Chinungi Kaoma, a judge of the Supreme Court of Zambia, commended LDC for its engagement in law reporting. She explained the challenges faced by the Council of Law Reporting in Zambia, expressing their intention to transition into an independent statutory body.
“Our visit to LDC aims to understand your administrative structure, salary, funding base, and the process of law reporting. We are seeking insights into your successful practices and the challenges you encounter,” Justice Kaoma explained.
She highlighted the funding constraints faced by their operations, leading to a backlog in law reporting since 2018. The Council of Law Reporting in Zambia relies on grants from the Ministry of Justice and lacks sufficient resources such as printing machines, which impacts their efficiency.
Additionally, Justice Kaoma elaborated on the process of producing law reports, emphasizing the importance of submitting judgments and the criteria for selecting cases that set precedents or establish new legal principles.
Law reports serve as crucial records of judicial decisions, setting precedents and clarifying existing laws. Not all court decisions are reportable; only those that establish new legal principles or significantly impact legal interpretations are included in law reports.
