Lawyers in Uganda that fail to provide free pro bono ( free) legal services as required by the law council will face heavy punishments from the Law Council including not being issued with practicing certificates for the following calendar year, the Law Council has said.

Justice Tsekoko (in the middle)

In a speech made to participants in a workshop on provision of pro bono services by lawyers, the Chairperson of the Law Council, Justice John Tsekooko has said it is the duty of the Law Council to ensure that every advocate provides pro bono services to indigent persons in accordance with the law.

In accordance with that the Council made the Advocates (Pro bono services to indigent Person’s) regulations which demand that every advocate has a duty to provide free of charge Pro Bono services for forty hours in a calendar year to at least one indigent (poor) person.

Tsekooko says therefore the Law Council will ensure that advocates who do not provide the free legal services instead shall pay the requisite fees of about 20 currency points per year which is 400,000/= (four hundred thousand shillings) and that is if they have justifiable reasons for having failed to provide free legal services.

The Judge however says Lawyers that will fail to provide the legal services with no justifiable reasons and or in case they have justifiable reasons but fail to pay the 400 thousand shillings that is required for failure to provide free legal services, the law council will not issue them with practicing certificates for the following calendar year.

Advocates need practicing certificates to be allowed to represent clients in court and have to renew practicing certificates every year with the law council after fulfilling certain professional requirements one of which is now provision of free legal services to the indigent.

By Tiberindwa Zakaria, Ultimate Media