ULS Pro bono day – in partnership with KATS

The term Pro Bono is generally used to describe professional legal aid work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a low cost to vulnerable or underprivileged persons.

The Uganda Law Society (ULS) held its 9th Annual Pro Bono day, at the Uganda Railway grounds on 28th June, 2019. KATS, which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee the whole of 2019, partnered with the ULS in the Pro Bono celebrations.

In spite of the downpour which threatened to derail the festivities, advocates from all over the country marched undeterred from the High Court of Uganda, to the Railway grounds where several clients were eagerly awaiting the Pro Bono legal counsel.

The ULS launched the ‘Pulida wo‘ application on android, which is translated to mean ‘Your Pleader’. The app is intended to facilitate access to justice for all peoples especially the indigent, vulnerable and marginalized. The user must have a smart phone, a facebook or a gmail account. The user will then be in a position to access a licensed advocate to provide legal services for them.

There were speeches from: the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon. Jacob Oulanyah, Justice of the Court of Appeal Justice Remmy Kasule, the UN Women Country Representative, the Vice President of the ULS, the CEO of the ULS, among others. Thereafter, all the advocates and law students from different law schools in the country, in attendance, begun meeting with clients and giving legal counsel in various practice areas. These included but were not limited to: criminal law, employment, family and succession law, land law, women’s rights, environmental law, debt collection, child care and protection, non governmental organisations, administrative law.

The day was an unqualified success as several people who previously had not had access to a lawyer met with several attorneys and law students to voice their concerns.