Assessing the extent of Uganda'a implementation of East African Community treaty obligations on cross-border legal practice

Abstract

The East African Community Treaty and the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Common Market impose binding obligations on Uganda to liberalize cross-border legal practice. Uganda committed to eliminating barriers by 2015, yet remains non-compliant more than a decade beyond that deadline, its Advocates Act continuing to exclude lawyers trained outside Uganda from the Bar. This dissertation critically examines Uganda's implementation failures, analysing their causes and identifying reforms necessary to achieve compliance. Using a doctrinal methodology, the study analyses the EAC Treaty framework, the Common Market Protocol and its Annex V, and Uganda's domestic legal framework, assessing their compatibility with Uganda's regional obligations. The study finds that non-compliance stems from four interconnected obstacles: political and legislative inertia, economic protectionism, nationalist resistance, and constitutional constraints on treaty domestication. Drawing on comparative analysis of the EU, ECOWAS, and SADC frameworks, the study concludes that Uganda's domestic laws are fundamentally incompatible with its Treaty obligations and recommends a phased programme of legislative, institutional, and policy reforms – including targeted amendments to the Advocates Act, reform of the Law Council's mandate, and strengthened EAC-level enforcement. The obstacles to compliance, while significant, are surmountable, and the benefits of regional legal integration substantially outweigh the costs.