By John Kibirige

The probe into examination malpractice at Law Development Centre (LDC) has kicked off .The management committee of the Law Development Centre decided to set up an independent team to conduct a detailed inquiry into alleged examination malpractices at the institution.

It is alleged that many lawyers lawyers and fresh graduates have passed through the institution passed the Bar courses with  falsified results.

The probe committee headed by High Court Judge Justice Augustine Kania will review  all results from academic years 2004/2005 to 2010/2011 where the culprits will face the law.

Other members of the  to head investigations into alleged examination malpractices at the institution  include;Prof. Fredrick Jjuko, a senior lecturer at Makerere University and Dr Margret Ssekajja, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

LDC is the only institution in the whole of Uganda, that offers the bar course leading to the award of the postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Dip.Leg.Pract). In the early 2000s, the LDC was plagued by a high failure rate among students, sometimes as high as 90% in some years.

The Center, together with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Uganda Law Society, have designed changes that include a pre-admission examination for students, continuing education requirements for LDC lectureres and instruction in teaching methods for all academic staff.