A section of lawyers from Makerere University, operating under the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) have decreed the poor implementation of the Disability Act, 2020.
Those who are marking their 10 years anniversary said during the public awareness day that there is a need to foster the proper implementation of the Law.
Diana Naggita Musoke, the Coordinator of the Disability Law and Center, at the Makerere University School of Law, said much as the act bridged the gap and provided many things on inclusion, there are issues of implementation, which have challenged its effectiveness.
“The law was passed and beefed, now we want to come together to see that the disability law of 2020, comes to work. effectively implemented, to benefit the people it intended to benefit,” she said.
She noted that in Disability inclusion and awareness, there are steps are being taken but they are minimal because disability inclusion requires funding which needs government to put in additional funding.
“Government has done something but the gap now is funding and commitment,” she said.
PILAC is the first legal Clinic established at a University in Uganda.
Through the years, PILAC has been instrumental in transforming the teaching of legal education and legal practice through its experiential learning and strategic litigation strategies embedded in the various units.
These are the Clinical Legal Education (CLE) program, Legal Aid Unit (LAU), Network of Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL), and the East African Network of University Law Clinics (EANULAC).
According to PILAC, their interventions over the past years, have reached nearly 600 students, over 1000 indigent clients, and over 200 legal practitioners.
Speaking at the event, the Legal Director of PILAC, Dr. Sandra Oryema, noted that these interventions include reviving the teaching of clinical legal education (CLE); Community outreach and mobile legal aid program (CLAPMOC); provision of legal aid services; research and advocacy in access to justice and social economic rights issues; training of students and legal practitioners on public interest litigation; instituting public interest litigation cases; holding public lectures and conferences among others.
She also attributed the success to the support of its various international development partners and strategic national networks.
“There could be no better time for the PILAC @ 10, than this opportune time when it coincides with the Makerere University @ 100 Anniversary. PILAC’s endeavors over the years have been in line with the University mission as a whole,” she noted.
Adding, “Consequently, PILAC delights in undertaking the activities below in commemoration of its 10 years journey in contributing to transforming legal education, promoting social and economic rights and enhancing access to justice for all in Uganda and regionally.”
Dr. Oryema said that they now want to give back to the community, where they have been providing information on rights as well as working on legal issues for the last 10 years.
She also noted that as an organization, they want to change the way people think about the law, “we are retraining the students to think about law in a different way. We want them to think at the social service bit of it.”
