Report on Clinical Activities at Uganda Christian Universitys Faculty of Law I.

Introduction

Uganda Christian Universitys Clinical Legal Education Programme began in May of 2009. It was launched in to provide UCU law students with practical service opportunities in the hope that student efforts would benefit the education of the students and benefit the wider community. The Clinical Legal Education Programme is service-based and utilises partnerships with national and international organisations to create and facilitate service opportunities for student participants. The Clinical Legal Education Programme provides law students with unique opportunities to engage in practical action learning. The Programme also provides tangible examples where students can perform the functions of an advocate in a manner that is consistent with Christian principles and mission. The Clinical Legal Education Programme is open to fourth year law students who enrol in the two-semester Clinical Legal Education class sequence. During the first semester of Clinical Legal Education students are trained to perform clinical service tasks. During the second semester students have the opportunity to participate in clinical services opportunities.1 The Clinical Legal Education Programme does not operate on a law firm or legal clinical model. In other words, the Clinical Programme does not serve clients directly by providing legal representation. Instead the Clinical Program consists of two major forms of clinical service. These two forms of service models are discussed herein in greater detail. II. Self-Initiated Community Sensitisation

The first clinical service delivery model is self-initiated community sensitisation. Here students in the Clinical Legal Education class prepare presentations and related materials designed to educate members of the community in key legal matters. The content and venues for these sensitisations are internally determined. Sensitisation efforts are directed at different cohorts such as primary school students, secondary school students, general community members in the village setting, and community leaders. Sensitisation efforts are designed and implemented with an eye towards best serving the target trainees. The following is a brief description of the sensitisation efforts conducted in the clinical program to date.

It should be noted that the training and service opportunities mentioned herein only make up a component of the course material in Clinical Legal Education I and II. The course content also includes legal ethics, client management skills, presentation skills, accounting and finance for lawyers, business planning, legal marketing, basic law office management, legal drafting and oral argument.
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A.

School-Based Sensitisations

Since 2010 students in the Clinical Programme have conducted at least 15 legal sensitisation in the school setting. While most of these sensitisations have been conducted in a around Mukono the Clinical Programme has conducted sessions in schools in Gulu, Entebbe and other locations outside of Mukono District. The school sensitisations have been conducted and directed under the leadership of Tutorial Assistant Mirriam Achieng. The content that clinical students deliver in the school setting is tailored to the age and sophistication of the students. In large part an emphasis is placed on matters especially relevant to school-age children such as child labour, childrens rights and duties, and relevant criminal law. In addition to presentations designed for children, often times clinical students will also present a training for teachers and staff on key legal issues that adults in Uganda should be aware of such as the importance of writing a will and the laws of succession. The school-based sensitisations are particularly attractive clinical tasks. First of all, they require minimal expenditures of financial resources. There is no expectation that students be fed and there is no need to pay community organizers to facilitate trainee attendance as the students are a captive audience. Many schools are close to campus, which keeps the cost of transport down. Moreover, the school-based sensitisations serve a secondary purpose because students are exposed to law students who can serve as role models and positive inspirations to students. B. Community-Based Sensitisations

Another form of legal sensitisation that is carried out in the Clinical Programme is community-based sensitisation. These sensitisations often take place in the village setting. A venue is procured, food is provide and facilitators are often engaged to organise the community members and ensure a large audience of attendees. Attendance at these community sensitisations normally runs between 80 and 120 community members. Since 2010 the Clinical Programme has conducted at least 14 communitybased sensitisations on its own initiative. This number does not include communitybased sensitisations with other partners that will be discussed in the Partnership-Based Projects section of this Report. Clinical Legal Education Students develop the content for these sensitisations under the guidance of tutorial assistant Mirriam Achieng. The content for the presentations has been influenced by our experience with International Justice Mission and International Law Institute which both include community training as an aspect of their mission in Uganda.2
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International Justice Mission has developed excellent sensitisation materials in the areas of property grabbing, the law of succession and will writing and International Law Institute has done an excellent job creating sensitization programs on the issue of local council courts.

Efforts in community-based sensitisation have benefited through partnership with the MICAH programme at Uganda Christian University. MICHAH stands for The Mission for Community Awareness and Health. MICAH is a sensitisation initiative based in UCU that has traditionally emphasised issues of community health. MICAH has been able to leverage its community contacts in Iganga, Jinja and other rural communities east of Mukono to stage several community sensitisations. Topics addressed as the community-based sensitisations include will writing, the law of succession, land law, local council courts, criminal law, human rights (particularly those of women and children) and alternative dispute resolution. The presentations are designed for general consumption among the community members and are made in the language requested by the community organisers. In the past presentations have been made in Luganda, Lusoga and Ruyankole. C. Sensitisations for Community Leaders: The Streams of Justice Initiative

The third category of sensitisation efforts conducted by the Clinical Legal Education Programme is directed at community leaders. This sensitisation initiative is called Streams of Justice. The Streams of Justice initiative is founded in the belief that community sensitisation efforts make the broadest impact on civil society when they are directed at community leaders who can use their training in leadership and share their training with the broader community. The Streams of Justice initiative offers community leaders short training modules within a multi-day workshop format. Steams of Justice workshop training modules cover key impactful topics including: Introduction to the Ugandan Legal System, the Ugandan Constitution, Local Council Courts, Will Writing and the Laws of Succession, Land Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Children and the Law and Human Rights. Streams of Justice presentations are made in English and offered along with detailed written materials generated by students in the Clinical Programme. Trainees are also provided with shorter renditions of the materials intended for grass roots empowerment that are written in the indigenous local language. At this point Clinical Legal Education students have generated short form materials in Rukiga/Ruyankole, Luganda, Lugisu, Eteso, Luo and Lugbara. These materials are available for use and inspection on www.scribd.com and can be accessed through a portal posted at http://streamsofjusticeuganda.blogspot.com/ The Clinical Programme has conducted two Streams of Justice Workshops at this time of this report. The first was a three-day workshop conducted in Kabale in May and the second was a two-day workshop conducted in Mbale in August. Approximately 40 local leaders attended the workshop in Kabale and approaximately 85 local leaders attended the workshop in Mbale. Both workshops were hosted and coordinated at UCU affiliated

campuses. Future Streams of Justice workshops will also be held on UCU campuses in order to contain costs, ensure local community engagement and assure the quality of facilities. Based on participant responses and feedback the Streams of Justice workshops were deemed useful, helpful and relevant by the participants.

III.

Partnership-Based Projects

The second service delivery format is based on partnerships. Under the partnership format, students work for and with organizations that serve people with substantial needs in the legal and/or policy sector. Student work in the partnership-based projects consists largely of discrete tasks performed in compliance with partner standards and direction. The CLE Programmes current partner organisations are International Justice Mission, Platform for Labour Action, Joni & Friends and Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity, Land Equity Movement Uganda and TIRI. More detailed descriptions of the partners and projects we are working with follows: A. International Justice Mission

International Justice Mission (IJM) is a Christian human rights organisation dedicated to fighting injustice in accordance with Gods Biblical call. In Uganda IJM focuses on fighting property grabbing in Mukono County. Students in the CLE Programme assist IJM by attending client intake interviews, conducting community sensitisation, providing legal research and facilitating will-writing seminars. This past year students in the clinical legal education primarily served IJM by assisting at will-writing clinics. At these clinics clients were assisted in preparing wills in order to best assure the fair and just distribution of property after death and to avoid/preempt resulting property disputes. In the first half of 2011 students assisted at six will writing clinics and helped IJM to generate over 200 wills among clinic participants. B. Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity

Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity (UCLF) is an association of Christian lawyers dedicated to Christian fellowship and fostering Christian integrity among Christian members of the Bar. One of the key activities of UCLF in Uganda is the representation of indigent inmates in the Uganda prison system. Students in the Clinical Programme assist UCLF by conducting client interviews in prisons, conducting legal research and attending court hearings. In 2011 Clinical Programme students assisted UCLF long with students and staff from Pepperdine University by conducting interviews and legal research in connection with approximately 16 indigent juveniles in Naguru Remand Home facing felony charges. In 2010 Clinical Programme students assisted UCLF with a large number of adult felony files prior to a High Court session held in Mukono.

C.

International Law Institute

International Law Institute (ILI) is an NGO that provides of training and technical assistance in international law, international economics and other aspects of international relations. ILI is an independent, non-political, non-profit educational institute with a global presence and an office in Kampala. This past calendar year a team of 10 Clinical Programme students were trained by ILI to facilitate community development workshops focusing on local council courts. In January of 2011 the students assisted ILI in conducting training workshops for community members from Sembabule, Bushenyi, Tororo and Iganga. D. Foundation for Human Rights Initiative

Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) is an independent, non-governmental, non-partisan and not-for-profit human rights organization established in December 1991. It seeks to remove impediments to democratic development and meaningful enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the 1995 Uganda Constitution and other internationally recognized human rights instruments. 41 Clinical Legal Education students assisted FHRI in conducting multiple community legal training workshops in Sembabule, Bushenyi, Tororo and Iganga in November of 2010. E. Land Equity Movement Uganda

Land Equity Movement Uganda (LEMU) is an NGO which aims to unite the efforts of local people, local Government, local civil society organisations, students, elders, volunteers, and anyone with contribution to make land work for the poor. LEMU tries to be a link between government and communities. This April eight students in the Clinical Programme partnered with LEMU by assisting in land mediations conducted in Apac and Soroti. F. Joni & Friends

Joni and Friends is a Christian organization on Biblical truth and the foundation of Jesus Christ. It is dedicated to advancing disability ministry and changing the church and communities around the world. This July a student team in the Clinical Programme partnered with Joni and Friends to host and conduct a workshop entitled Disability and Law in Uganda: Challenges, Hopes and Visions in Nkoyoyo Hally. The workshop was attended by over 260 individuals including a Member of Parliament elected to represent the interests of women with disabilities. The successful workshop and the partnerships and relationships established therein should serve as a building block for addition clinical efforts in disability rights and policy.

IV.

Miscellaneous Projects

In addition to the projects and partnerships described above there are certain activities that have been conducted through the Clinical Programme that do not fit neatly into the topical categories above. UCU Law Development Centre Workshop Clinical Programme students hosted and conducted a three-day Pre-Law Development Centre workshop in Nkoyoyo Hall this August. The workshop was conducted in conjunction with certain faculty members and alumni. The Clinical Programme students were responsible for creating content designed to prepare UCU Law Graduates for the Pre-Entry Exam now conducted by the Law Development Centre. Average attendance for the workshop was approximately 150 graduates per day. Discrete Legal Research Projects Clinical Programme students have offered assistance to certain organisations by conducting discrete legal research projects. An example of such work is legal research conducted by students on child trafficking laws in Uganda for Restore International. V. Conclusion

The Clinical Legal Education Programme has made substantial strides over the past two years. We are thankful for the financial support the Clinical Programme has received from the University and Tiri International3. We hope that support will continue to be extended though the provision of space, dedicated staff, funding and transport. We believe that the Clinical Programme is consistent with the Universitys broader Christian mission and helps to distinguish our law graduates who enroll in Clinical Legal Educaiton from other law graduates in Uganda.

Funding from Tiri International has been discontinued so the Clinical Programme is working to identify other potential donors to help cover a portion of our expenses.
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