2021 Catholic University law students stuck

At least 40 law graduates from the Catholic University have not been admitted into the legal practitioners qualifying programme, it has emerged.

Upon graduating, law students are expected to undergo a qualifying course at the Malawi Institute of Legal Education to practise.

But while subsequent cohorts of law students from the university have been able to secure admission, the 2021 class is stuck because Malawi Council for Legal Education has unresolved issues with this class.

In a written response, Malawi Institute for Legal Education registrar Angela Dossi said the 2021 programme is undergoing an audit.

She said: “Council noted that the 2021 graduates started and finished their LLB degree programme before the law programme at Catholic University was accredited by National Council of Higher Education [NCHE].

“To ensure that the graduates met the minimum entry requirements for persons seeking enrolment at the Malawi Institute of Legal Education [Malawi Legal Practitioners Qualifying Course programme], the council resolved to subject the LLB degree programme of the 2021 graduates to an audit to determine whether or not it met the minimum entry requirements.”

Dossi said the council engaged Catholic University and the audit exercise is at its tail end.

“The affected students will be notified once the exercise is complete,” she said.

In an interview yesterday, one of the affected students, who did not want to be named, said it was surprising that the council has subjected their programme to an audit that has taken over two years yet NCHE said it does not have issues with the programme.

NCHE chief executive officer Ambumulire Phiri confirmed that they indeed do not have issues with the 2021 law programme.

She said: “NCHE does not have any issue with the law programme at the Catholic University as the said programme was accredited in 2021.

“When it comes to law programmes, we work hand in hand with the Malawi Council for Legal Education who are mandated by the law to regulate legal education in Malawi.”

Malawi Council for Legal Education (Council), established under the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act, 2017, is mandated to exercise general supervision and control over legal education in Malawi and to advise the Government about legal education in the country.