Promotion of Pro Bono - Mobilising lawyers to defend the rights of Ugandans The provision of lawyers’ free legal aid services to people who are not able to pay for it is merely in its infancy in Uganda. Although the “Advocates Act” was amended in 2002 so that all registered lawyers have an obligation to provide free legal aid services, it was not until August 2009 that this law and this requirement became a reality on the ground. The profession is now at a crucial stage in this regard, inasmuch as the Law Council and the Uganda Law Society have joined forces to put pressure on the legal profession so that it meets its obligations. The ULS is working on Pro Bono programme covering the whole country, but it lacks the human resources and organisational tools to manage the programme in a way that would guarantee its success. ASF considers it vital to support this programme and to increase its links with other legal aid service providers so as to ensure that the Ugandan model can serve as an example to governments and legal professionals.

Activities of the project:

- Promotion of lawyers’ commitment to pro bono legal work, setting up collaboration between those involved in legal aid.
- Launching a pilot programme of pro bono legal services in the Central Region’s courts (establishment of offices).
- Training lawyers on the topic of intervention and on mediation techniques.
- Establishment of systems for monitoring and evaluating legal aid by the ULS.
- Advocating the development and effective implementation of laws and national policies which protect the rights of vulnerable people (by publishing studies and supporting strategic litigation).; Specific objectives: Increase the ability of Ugandan lawyers to protect the rights of vulnerable people in a lasting manner.
- Outcome 1: Development of pro bono legal aid services for vulnerable people.
- Outcome 2: Improved ability of lawyers to provide quality legal services to vulnerable people.
- Outcome 3: Improved monitoring and evaluation systems for the ULS’s legal assistance.
- Outcome 4: Advocacy for development and implementation of laws and/or national policies which protect the rights of vulnerable people.

Expected impact

The project focuses on the need to cultivate the spirit of volunteerism, by expanding the network of lawyers providing pro bono services.

The information and guidance given to members of the communities which are targeted by the legal advice sessions will be shared with family and friends, and will therefore have a continuously multiplying effect. By carrying out mobile legal consultations, the project will create a link with community leaders in rural areas, who will be encouraged to promote the ULS’s legal services to members of their community, and also those of other suitable legal aid service providers. This outreach will be particularly advantageous for women, who find it more difficult to leave their homes and travel to big cities, and who are often disadvantaged by traditional practices and informal justice mechanisms. A greater protection of their rights will therefore impact beneficially on their children, and will have long term effects on their economic status, especially where land rights are at stake.

The ULS’s legal advice centres will improve links with local government, lawyers and other service providers in their area of activity, which will improve coordination and open up new ways to be efficient. The ULS will have closer links with other legal aid providers thanks to networking and sharing their experiences of the project with each other, facilitated by the ULS.

This will improve the ability of the legal aid providers network to influence policy in this area and eventually to ensure greater government support for its vital services.

Training and supervision of ULS and its members in action campaigns and strategic procedures will have a long term effect on their ability and motivation to permanently engage in advocacy for a political and legislative environment that protects the rights of the poor and other vulnerable people. Even before effective changes in policy or law come about, this will enhance
dialogue and will allow debate between civil society organisations like the ULS and decision-makers. These political discussions will themselves be a sincere contribution for a society that is still struggling to achieve full compliance with democratic principles.

Bearing in mind the common law system in Uganda, which means that courts can create, and often do create, law through jurisprudence, the introduction of strategic litigation is particularly significant and likely to result in lasting legal precedents that bind the lower courts until they are contradicted by the law or a higher court.; - The project aims to improve the situation and respect for the rights of the most vulnerable people in Uganda, in particular women and children. By improving legal aid services to the poor in remote areas, and legal structures for the protection of vulnerable people, the ULS will fulfill its role as a watchdog of democracy and human rights in Uganda, thus acting as an important counterbalance to the power of the executive and legislative branches.
- ASF’s expertise will be shared with the ULS and its members, to strengthen their ability to provide high quality legal aid services to these people, including victims of international crimes, domestic violence, gender-based violence, torture and child-trafficking, as well as people held in illegal detention.
- Because of the geographical coverage of ULS’s mobile legal consultations in Kampala and six remote districts of the country, a broad section of society will benefit from access to legal aid services.
- On the basis of our shared commitment to strengthening lawyers’ social responsibility, ASF and the ULS will work to cultivate a passion for human rights work, and for the development of a pro bono spirit among lawyers across the various project components.
- Organisations within Ugandan civil society, including the ULS and in particular human rights defenders, are the driving force which works to strengthen legal protection for the most vulnerable. Working with co-ordination mechanisms such as the Legal Aid Service Providers Network (LASPNET), the Human Rights Network (HURINET), the Coalition against Torture (CAT) and the “Association des femmes avocates ougandaises” (FIDA-Uganda), the project will promote experience sharing and speaking with one
voice in order to achieve broader access to justice and a general strengthening of the justice sector.
- The end beneficiaries will include all clients who receive legal aid services; all lawyers, law students and legal aid service providers who receive the information distributed by the project, or who participate in the forums which are organised or in the project’s networking events. The total is estimated to be at least 18,000 at the end of one year.;