Reported by Sandra Ainebyona
High Court Judge Honorable Justice Musa Ssekana has advised Law Development Centre students to stop running to court to seek academic orders. Ssekana made these remarks while dismissing an application filed by a Bar Course student Judith Florence Lugose who wanted the court to order LDC to retrieve, review and re-mark her scripts for the exams she sat during her course between 2018 and 2019.
Court records indicate that Ms Lugose enrolled for a post graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Bar Course) at the Law Development Centre for the 2015/2016 academic year but failed her exams. She sat supplementary exams in the academic year 2016/2017 and failed again. She was allowed to re-sit her papers again in the academic year 2017/2018 but still failed some examinations and because of this Lugose was discontinued per the rules governing passing of the Bar Course. She was however given an extension of time to complete her course in the academic year 2019/2020. In December 2020, she was further discontinued because she failed to complete her course within the stipulated time.
While delivering his decision, Justice Musa Ssekana observed that an order directing LDC to retrieve and mark the applicant’s scripts would be irregular, academic and would seem to delve into the administrative functions of LDC as an institution. He dismissed Lugose’s application arguing that there is a growing tendency for students to run to court for academic reasons, a vice that should stop.
The Law Development Center (LDC) is the only institution in Uganda that offers the Bar Course leading to the award of the post-graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. All lawyers are required to obtain this Diploma before being enrolled and licensed to practice law in Uganda.
