Law
High Level Delegation from East African Court of Justice visit Mak School of Law
On 30th November 2022, a delegation of Honourable Justices of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) visited Makerere University School of Law to engage academia and students in promoting Justice in the East African Community Integration Agenda.
The visiting delegation was led by Hon. Justice Nestor Kayobera – Judge President of the EACJ together withHon. Justice Kathurima M’Inoti – Judge EACJ Appellate Division, Hon. Justice Cheborion Barishaki – Judge EACJ Appellate Division; Hon. Justice Yohane Masara – Principal JudgeEACJ, Hon. Justice Dr. Charles Nyawello -Deputy Principal JudgeEACJ, Hon Justice Richard Wabwire Wejuli – Judge EACJ First Instance Division and Her Worship Christine Mutimura Wekesa – Deputy Registrar EACJ.
The EACJ delegation was accompanied by members from the Judiciary of Uganda i.e., Hon. Lady Justice Anne Mugenyi – Deputy Head of Commercial Division High Court Uganda, Her Worship Juliet Hatanga – Deputy Registrar Commercial Division High Court Uganda, and Her Worship Juliet Nakitende – Assistant Registrar Commercial Division High Court Uganda.
On arrival, the EACJ delegation were received by the Leadership of the School of Law led by Assoc. Professor Ronald Naluwairo – Principal, Dr. Zahara Nampewo – Deputy Principal, Heads of Department and staff. They were led on a tour of an exhibition of material produced by research centres at the School of Law.
Welcoming the delegation to the School of Law, the Principal, Assoc. Professor Ronald Naluwairo said, ‘we are privileged to host the EACJ as you celebrate 21 years of existence and in a year that Makerere is celebrating 100 years. We are grateful that you chose to spend this special day with us’. Assoc. Professor Naluwairo added that the School of Law recognizes the contribution of the EACJ to the fundamental principles of the East African Community especially good governance issues: adherence to principles of democracy, rule of law, social justice, accountability, transparency and gender equality.
In her remarks, Dr. Zahara Nampewo, Deputy Principal School of Law noted that the visit by a high level delegation from EACJ was a great opportunity for the students. ‘The students are able to see the Justices in real life, having read about their judgements’, she added.
Introducing the delegation, Deputy Registrar of EACJ, Her Worship Christine Mutimura Wekesa introduced the delegation to the students. Her Worship Christine Mutimura Wekesa who is an alumnus of the School fondly reminisced about her days as a student noting that some of the current faculty were her classmates. She urged the students to work hard as soon as they start law school; ‘years run so fast while you are here, don’t wait for the final year to start’, Her Worship advised.
Addressing the students, Hon. Justice Nestor Kayobera, Judge President – EACJ said, ‘today is the 21st Anniversary of the East African Community Treaty and the court. We are beyond honored to celebrate our anniversary at Makerere University as you celebrate 100 years’. He thanked the School for receiving the delegation, ‘I am happy because I am in my house, we feel at home and a great day for us to be here’.
Judge President, Hon. Justice Kayobera encouraged the students to visit the EACJ and witness the work done. ‘The court belongs to you, you should come and see what is happening’ he said. He added that lawyers have a big role to play in as far as access to justice is concerned, ‘the Community needs legal people to resolve their legal issues’.
In his remarks, Mr. Percy Mpindi – President of Makerere Law Society requested the EACJ delegation to consider introduction of a Moot under their sponsorship dedicated to the service at EACJ and East African Community Integration Agenda. ‘This will help bridge the gap between student lawyers and the court’, Percy said.
Hon. Justice Kayobera welcomed Percy’ proposal and advised that Moot Competition is very important, however it would be better to have Moots organised based on judgement writing. Writing competitions could also organised for Law students and East African communities, Hon. Justice Kayobera added.
The EACJ Judge President handed over gifts to the School of Law which included: EACJ Law Reports, copies of the East African Community Treaty; and copies of the Rules of Procedure of the EACJ.
Professor Henry Alinaitwe, Deputy Vice Chancellor – Finance and Administration, Makerere University thanked the delegation for visiting Makerere University and the gifts given to the School of Law. Professor Alinaitwe noted that these visits inspire the students. ‘As a University, we are committed to having a strong School of Law ensuring that we admit the best through pre-entry exams, a new building for the School is under construction which will have state-of-the-art facilities and human resource capacity building for faculty is on-going’, the Deputy Vice Chancellor highlighted.
A vote of thanks was moved by Dr. Busingye Kabumba, Senior Lecturer and Ag. Director – Human Rights and Peace Centre, School of Law. Dr. Kabumba reiterated the message from Makerere Law Society of the willingness to work with the EACJ on various activities that would enhance promotion of Justice in the EA Community Integration Agenda. He added that the academia commit to continue engaging the EACJ on court jurisprudence.
Earlier in the day, the delegation met Professor Barnabas Nawangwe – Vice Chancellor Makerere University. They also held an informative engagement with the University Management; toured an exhibition of research outputs and innovations under the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF); and toured Makerere University Library with particular interest in the Law Section.
Law
China-Africa Forum for Law School Deans ends with Partners’ committing to enhanced collaboration
On 5th November 2024, Law School Deans, Academicians, researchers and students from Africa and China met at School of Law (SoL), Makerere University in Kampala Uganda for the 6th China-Africa Forum for Law School Deans. The Forum themed, ‘Legal Guarantee and Educational Support for High-Quality Development of China-Africa’ was hosted by SoL in partnership with Renmin University of China and Xiangtan University, China.
This forum was proposed at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in 2021 in Dakar, Senegal, The resultant Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024) explicitly proposed to support holding the China-Africa Forum of Law School Deans to among other things: encourage and assist China-Africa Universities in jointly building China-Africa legal research centres; training of legal professionals; and promoting China-Africa exchanges and cooperation for legal knowledge and legal talents.
In his remarks, Dr. Ronald Naluwairo – Associate Professor and Principal, SoL welcomed participants to SoL, Makerere University and Uganda. ‘SoL opened its doors in 1968 and has grown into one of the greatest schools of law in Africa and enjoys global recognition for its work’, he said. He thanked Xiangtan University, China with who Makerere has a memorandum of understanding for the collaboration that started in 2014 and introducing the other partners present. He expressed hope that at the end of the meeting, tangible areas of collaboration supporting social justice will be defined for the partners; and a compilation of a report of the papers presented for knowledge transfer and policy development.
Professor Henry Alinaitwe – Deputy Vice Chancellor/Finance & Administration, Makerere University represented the Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe. He welcomed participants and encouraged them to tour Uganda, Pearl of Africa before departure for an appreciation of Uganda’s beauty. ‘Teaching of the law can contribute to social transformation of our people in Africa and China. This is therefore an important platform for discussion improvements in legal education for both Africa and China’, he said. Professor Alinaitwe thanked the partners for choosing Makerere to host and hoped for productive, enlightening deliberations during the forum which will lead to enhancement of the collaboration.
The forum was officially opened by His Excellency, Ambassador Zhang Lizhong – Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Uganda. Ambassador Lizhong expressed pleasure at seeing the participants from China and Africa in the room to support the China-Africa collaborations which have built synergy with multiple plans and strategies. He explained that in Uganda alone, China continues to export promotion, infrastructure development (roads, dams, and airport) among others. He noted that there has been an increase of people exchange between China and Africa and it is therefore important that the nations understand better the legal setups for better collaboration and development mutually beneficial to all. ‘I thank Makerere for the support of the collaboration and I hope to see development of legal research centres as outlined in the Accra Action Plan’ the ambassador noted.
Presentations by participants through the day culminated into proposal of the following as key issues for further consideration and development:
- Recognition that legal education and legal exchanges are essential foundations of friendly cooperation between China and Africa and the China-Africa Forum of Law School Deans is an effective platform to promote the cooperation. The Forum will therefore be held regularly.
- Expand the scope, enhance effectiveness and impact of the Forum.
- Establish exchange mechanisms to promote cooperation, including joint international conferences and co-publish academic journals.
- Encourage law teachers’ research cooperation among faculty to improve research quality and facilitate mutual visits.
- Promote friendly exchanges among young legal professionals, providing support for their studies and exchanges at partner institutions
- Collaborate of developing educational programmes, including courses on comparative studies of China-African legal systems.
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