Kampala, Uganda: Government of Uganda has initiated a bold move that will see the Law Development Centre (LDC) Act repealed in favour of establishing a National Legal Examinations Centre, signaling a major shake-up in Uganda’s legal education framework.
In a statement issued on August 4, 2025, the Law Development Centre confirmed that Cabinet had approved the drafting of a new Bill to overhaul the current legal training model by decentralising the Bar Course and introducing a unified national examination system.
“This change will enable decentralisation of training… by accredited institutions and accredited law schools,” LDC noted, adding that the proposed Centre will prepare a single national exam for all candidates pursuing the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.
If passed, the reform will allow universities and law schools that meet the set criteria to conduct Bar Course training, breaking LDC’s long-held monopoly over the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.
The National Legal Examinations Centre will be tasked with preparing and administering exams for all students, regardless of the institution they attend.
The announcement comes at a time when LDC is grappling with capacity constraints. The institution confirmed it will not admit any new students in 2025, having already conducted two intakes in the 2024/2025 academic year to manage overwhelming demand.
“We cannot have another admission before the current academic year completes their studies due to human resource and infrastructural constraints,” the statement read.
Admissions will resume in January 2026, with a fresh pre-entry examination to be conducted to manage numbers. Full details about the process are expected by September 1, 2025.
The proposed overhaul follows years of growing frustration among law students and education stakeholders who have accused LDC of irregular grading, poor transparency, and persistently high failure rates.
By transferring examination oversight to an independent body, government hopes to restore public confidence in the Bar Course certification process while expanding access to legal training across the country.
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