BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE DIPLOMA IN LEGAL PRACTICE

The diploma in Legal Practice (DLP) is a postgraduate professional course meant to equip the trainees with all necessary skills needed to practice law before civil and common law courts, and other legal transactions.  

ILPD is a unique institution in the East African Community (EAC), for its operations within a combination of civil and common law systems. This elevates graduates to a higher level of understanding of these two legal traditions and thus being all around on their EAC market.

The DLP was first approved as a full-time program in 2009. In 2012 a work-based learning mode was approved, with the consent of NHEC, at an internal validation with an external assessor. The part-time mode (evening and weekend programs) and the executive mode followed and started in 2014.

The DLP program is delivered in a module system.  Trainees undergo vigorous 6 months of classroom activities and a three months’ industrial attachment.

At the end of the program students should be able to:

• understand and undertake the basic activities and routines of Rwandan legal practice as either a lawyer, judge, or prosecutor;
• understand and practice the basic legal skills of interviewing, advocacy, prosecution, adjudicating, research, drafting, and negotiation;
• Understand and adhere to the ethics of legal practice.

The program is composed of eight modules as briefly explained below:

Module 1: GENERAL LEGAL CULTURE

1.Module Title: General Legal Culture

2.Credits: 10

3.Brief description of aims and content

This module aims at enabling the trainees to get general knowledge and basic skills in the functioning of common law and civil law legal systems, in international proceedings, and in advanced legal research methods.

4.Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed the module, students should:

know common law and civil law features and be able to differentiate both systems;Readmore

Module 2: INTERVIEWING

1. Module title: Interviewing

2. Credits: 10

3. Brief description of aims and content

This module aims at enabling students to conduct interviews as advocates, police officers & prosecutions and as judges with clients, suspects, witnesses and victims effectively and efficiently.

4. Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module all students should be able to:

• understand goals of client-lawyer interview, suspects & witness interview, and court’s interview;Readmore

Module 3: THE COURSE OF CIVIL SUIT

1.Module Title: The course of civil suit

2.Module Credits: 25

3.Brief description of aims and content

This practical module intends to equip DLP students with hands-on practical skills in dealing with the daily practice of courts, mostly with regards to the litigation management of civil matters from the first step of filing a claim up to the post-trial procedures. The subjects to be taught are carefully selected and for the purpose, dwell on the ethics and values of judicial professions in Rwanda. Coverage of core concepts is emphasized as it underlines a better understanding of civil proceedings as well as a deep clarity from common law perspectives. In this regard, highlights on key concepts go hand in hand with a review of principles of a fair trial. The main part of the module’s content includes topics on the pre-trial phase in civil cases, trial management, judgment writing, and post-trial procedures.

4. Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module all students should be able to:

Understand laws of legal professional ethics;Readmore

Module 4: CRIMINAL PROCESS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

1.Module 4: Criminal Process and Criminal Justice

2.Credit: 22.5

3.Brief description of aims and content

This module aims at enabling the trainees to understand the pre-trial process, criminal dossier preparation, to master the process of selective charge according to the present facts, to be able to link those facts to the laws in force, to evaluate the evidence, and to prepare a criminal defence case. The entire process of a criminal dossier will be discussed, from the stage of preliminary investigations to the stage of execution of penalties decided by the court.

4. Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module all students should be able to:

Understand laws of legal professional ethics;Readmore

Module 5:ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

1.Module Title: Alternative Dispute Resolution

2.Credits: 10

3.Brief description of aims and content

This module aims to ensure that students are aware, and understand the potential advantages and disadvantages, of the processes – negotiation, mediation, and arbitration - which are available, as an alternative to adjudication from a court, to settle a dispute. It will, therefore, equip them with the ability to decide on which process to adopt in any particular case; and with the skills which they will require, in order to use these processes in helping their clients.

4.Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

know and understand how negotiation, mediation, and arbitration work in practice; and how each differs from the other, and from court-adjudication;Readmore

Module 6: CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS

1.Module Title : Civil and Commercial Transactions

2.Credits: 13

3.Brief description of aims and content

This practical module aims at giving a hands-on experience in the everyday practice of the work as a transactional lawyer. Subjects to be dealt with are land registration, land allocation, lease and land management, land transfer, commercial leases and distribution of household property, incorporation of companies, mergers, and acquisitions, insolvency practices, procedural aspects of intellectual property, financial market, and the use of negotiable instruments.

4.Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

Understand the procedures of land registration transfer;Readmore

Module7:CONTRACT DRAFTING AND PRINCIPLES OF LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING

1.Module Title: Contract Drafting and Principles of Legislative Drafting

2.Credits: 10

3.Brief description of aims and content

This module aims to enable students to understand principles and purposes which govern the drafting of any legal document, with a specific emphasis on contracts and legislations, and equips them with skills to draft for themselves and others legal documents fulfilling the required drafting standards.

4.Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

Understand the principles of legislative writing and legal drafting; Readmore

Module 8: PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

1.Module Title: Practice Management

2.Credits: 5

3.Brief description of Aims and Content

This module on Practice Management aims at introducing DLP students to the practice of Law Firms. It will focus on Admission and Ethics for Advocates; Advocates’ forms of associations; Setting up and managing a law firm; Dealing with clients’ money; Marketing; Client care, and EAC freedom of establishment.

4.Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

establish and manage a Law Firm successfully;Readmore

DLP MODES

DLP is delivered through different modes to different groups within the legal market which have differing needs. However, all modes have the same learning outcomes, though they are delivered in different ways.

FULL-TIME MODE:

It is a Nyanza-based mode that allows our trainees to complete the program in just 9 months (6 months of formal instruction and 3 months of Industrial attachment). Students can choose between two convenient dates to commence their studies (January and July each year).

PART-TIME MODE:

ILPD runs the following three programs that allow trainees to finish their programs within 10 months of classroom activities and 3 Months of industrial attachment:

Evening Program:

The evening program is offered in Kigali (ILPD Kigali office) and Saint Paul premises.

Weekend Program:

Currently the weekend program is offered in Kigali (ILPD Kigali office), Musanze (INES Ruhengeri premises), and Nyanza main campus.

Executive Mode: 

The range of experience amongst those who are obliged by law to take the DLP is great. ILPD does not think it appropriate to teach fresh graduates and highly experienced legal professionals together in one group and that is why it has differentiated various categories distinctively. This gives each category liberty to freely interact with colleagues.

 The criteria for eligibility are based on seniority of lawyers, state attorney or judges who can demonstrate that, by their virtue of experience.