Summer Program in Uganda
Uganda Binder Files
The Program
In summer 2013, Pacific McGeorge will offer two new programs in Africa. The two programs are:
- Law and Development Practicum in Kampala, Uganda — May 19 to June 8, 2013
- Field Placement in Uganda or Lesotho
Pacific McGeorge is offering an exciting new opportunity for law students this summer in Kampala, Uganda. In the Law and Development Practicum, students will spend three weeks working on projects in a court or legal office. They will also participate in a seminar featuring topics in law and development, and speakers in practice in East Africa. Ugandan law students will study with the American students in the seminar, so there will be an opportunity to get to know students from another country. The projects and seminar will be supervised by a Pacific McGeorge professor and the staff of the International Law Institute-African Centre for Legal Excellence (ILI-ACLE). Through the program, students will gain an important intercultural experience and also contribute to the development of the legal infrastructure of the Ugandan justice system.
- Admissions
- Calendar
- Faculty & Staff
- Pay your deposit
- Register beginning Nov. 15, 2012
- Tuition, Fees & Policies
A word from Professor Linda Carter, Program Director
I'm very excited about the program because it involves an experiential component in the courts as well as a seminar. Kampala is a lively, interesting city, so that adds to the experience. All students will work in the High Court in Kampala for about 20 hours a week. The staff attorney at ILI-ACLE and I will be available to assist with the research and answer questions; we'll have a meeting at least once a week with everyone. The seminar on Fridays will focus on the development of the justice sector. We will look at issues on the local, national, and regional levels. For instance, Uganda has a number of village-level mediation processes that are quite different from anything we do here in the United States. The national level involves the entire court system, the development of laws, and the implementation of laws. Again, this is quite interesting because it is different for us. The regional level involves the East African Court of Justice and the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights. There are quite a few interesting issues coming up regarding these courts, too. We'll have Ugandan law students studying with you in the seminar and we will also have guest speakers who work in the three levels of the justice sector. I look forward to meeting with everyone who joins us in Kampala!
Academic Program
The Pacific McGeorge Law and Development Practicum is a three-week program in Kampala, Uganda, that combines a seminar and work on a project. Students will work in teams of about five students in a court, with a government agency, with a private law firm, or with a non-governmental organization. All placements will have a legal focus. The seminar will run concurrently with the projects. The law and development theme of the seminar is designed to include substantive areas such as commercial law, environmental law, human rights, justice systems, dispute resolution mechanisms, intellectual property law, trade law, labor law, and contracts. These subjects will be taught from a comparative or international focus. The specific substantive areas will vary year to year.
We are partnering with the International Law Institute — African Centre for Legal Excellence (ILI-ACLE), which is based in Kampala. An affiliate of the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C., ILI-ACLE is highly regarded and has an established program of legal training throughout sub-Saharan Africa. For more information about ILI-ACLE, please see their website: www.iliacle.org.
Students will work in the court or other project site approximately 20 hours per week. The small groups of students will meet with a Pacific McGeorge professor and an ILI staff attorney for two hours once a week to discuss the project on which they are working. ILI-ACLE is establishing placements for students in the Anti-Corruption and Commercial Divisions of the High Court, and in other legal entities in Kampala.
All students will also participate in a seminar that will meet for four (4) hours per week. In the seminar portion of the program, law students from East Africa will be included. Professors, lawyers, and judges from East Africa will be guest lecturers in the seminar. ILI-ACLE has a strong relationship with universities, courts, government agencies, and private law firms throughout East Africa so the seminar will include highly accomplished guest speakers. Students' grades will be based on a combination of the written work product from the project and either an exam or another method of assessment for the seminar.
Questions?
Contact Pauline Rodriguez, Summer Abroad Programs, Graduate & International Programs
Pacific McGeorge School of Law
3200 Fifth Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Email | 916.739.7021
