The 9th Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Moot Court Competition was held on the 20th April 2023 at the High Court Buildings, Kampala-Uganda. The Court was presided over by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Justice Florence Nakachwa Dollo and Justice Dr. Douglas Singiza. A total of 35 students divided into Plaintiffs, Respondents and Amicus teams participated in the competition themed: Fiscal Policy, Economic Justice and Human Rights.
Dr. Diana Ahumuza Ateenyi, Coordinator CLE explained that participants are 3rd year law students offering CLE, and some from the Business Law Centre. ‘We use the moot to enhance the capacity of judges on contemporary legal issues. The Judges over the years have expressed their appreciation of these engagements’, Dr. Ahumuza further said.
The respondents team (Angela Apica Area, Muhumuza Mellissa Ankunda and Ainerugaba Joseph Bill, Adee Prudence Lodou, Alado Lawrence, Okoth Kenneth, Namutamba Gift Teresah, Ayebare John Vianny, Nuwe Marvin Ahereza, Kato Joram, Tubirinde Julius, Namakoye Joyce) were declared winners at the end of the competition.
Mwesigwa Harry on the applicant team was declared the best oralist.
Justice Florence Nakachwa Dollo encouraged all students to enroll and pass the bar course at the Law Development Centre (LDC) whether they intend to join private practice or not. ‘You never know when you need that qualification.’ She added, ‘May be your interests could change, may be one day it could be a requirement for most of the jobs.’ She commended the students’ humility and discipline and underscored the importance of these in their training and in the legal profession.
In his remarks, Justice Kiryabwire who is also the Patron of the Makerere Law Society (MLS) advised law students to use their free time to visit courts, sit in and observe proceedings for better learning.
The Applicants Team(Sheldon Aine Bosco, Nayiga Tracy Hilda, Apuun Deborah Nangiro, Birungi Primah Elizabeth, Musinguzi Reagan Siima, Akankwatsa Viera, Kabigumira Arnold, Mulwanyi Nagenda Edwin Calvin, Omona Mark, Lorna Nagawa, Mwesigwa)
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.
The East African Journal for Peace and Human Rights (EAJPHR) is an international, peer-reviewed, bi-annual scholarly publication of the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC) at the School of Law, Makerere University. The Journal has since its inception in 1993 remained at the forefront of igniting intellectual and policy debates on contemporary governance and human rights issues in the East African region and beyond. It seeks to provide a platform to scholars, researchers and practitioners in the fields of governance and human rights to disseminate cutting-edge research and share knowledge and experiences.
This call invites students, scholars, researchers, and development practitioners to submit papers for our forthcoming Issue. The papers should highlight recent trends, practices and emerging issues impacting on governance, constitutionalism, human rights and fundamental freedoms, with a view to produce a critical assessment of the same within the region and beyond.
Interested authors should submit their papers electronically to: journal.huripec@mak.ac.ug.
Important Dates:
Submission deadline: 6th September 2024 Notification of the reviewers’ decision: 20th September 2024
Submission Guidelines:
The papers should be submitted as word document, along with abstracts not exceeding 150 words and information pertaining to the author(s) (i.e., name of author, qualifications, profession, workplace/institution of placement, and contact email).
Submissions should be original contributions in the form of articles, comments, case notes, book reviews – all related to important developments on a wide range of issues relating to law, human rights, peace and conflict, and governance.
Articles should be an average length of 10,000 words (i.e., 20 pages). Comments and case notes should normally be shorter, between 4,000 and 6,000 words (i.e., 8-12 pages). Book reviews should be even shorter, at no more than 3,000 words (i.e., 6 pages).
Any enquiries about this call should be sent to journal.huripec@mak.ac.ug.
The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released lists for Mature Age Entry applicants admitted under the Private Sponsorship Scheme for the Academic Year 2023/2024.
The lists can be accessed by following the links below: