The journey of becoming a Judge – What you need to know
Authors:
>> Aziz Kitaka [ Project Assistant ] ,
>> Andrew Magunda [ Executive Director ]
Organization: Careerpath Uganda
Watching a video clip in which Careerpath Uganda featured students from Savio College School came with mixed emotions. First, it was an indication of the looming need for career advice for students. Secondly, it was a confirmed revelation that several career fields require special career information. One of the students from this school shared that their career goal was to become a “Judge” in future.
With a lot of conviction, he confidently asserted that he wanted to become a Judge. Frankly, this student seemed to be wholly fascinated by the idea of becoming a judge in future. But this raises one ultimate question, “Do students know how one becomes a judge?” By and large, we know there is no school one can attend to become a judge. No accredited Ugandan law school offers a course of study in judging. Doctors go to medical school, engineers get a degree in engineering, students aspiring to be architects study architecture, while accountants study accounting. This is the route for with every profession except for judges.
For one to become a judge, he or she must first be a lawyer. It does not matter what kind of lawyer you are, provided you are highly respected in the legal community, you can become one. Becoming a lawyer and therefore a judge takes a series of events. For students at secondary level of education, you must first graduate from A-Level, go to law school, graduate, take the bar examination at the Law Development Center. After this, you can become a valid lawyer and advocate.
After a couple of years of good legal practice, discipline, zeal and determination in the legal community, one can then apply to become a judge. Hopefully, this blog will be of help to those interested in pursuing a life of judgeship and give some suggestions on how best to try to achieve that goal. Careerpath Uganda has committed to integrating career teaching and learning in Uganda’s education system. Our programs provide career education, work experience education and employability education to young people to increase their ability to define their career ambitions.