We are pleased to welcome you to the 29th edition of East Africa Law Society Annual Conference and General Meeting. This year, while celebrating 29 years of existence, the largest gathering of professionals in law across the East African Community will be hosted in Kampala, Uganda at the picturesque Speke Resort and Conference Centre. An annual event, the EALS Annual Conference and General Meeting brings together over 800 lawyers from across East Africa, affording them the opportunity to discuss business, create networks, and get updated on the latest trends and developments in the profession.
In keeping with our traditionally high standards, every effort has been expended in organizing and tailor-making this year’s conference to suit the needs of every cadre of the legal profession from young lawyers to senior lawyers, in-house counsel to women practitioners, emerging law firms to leading law firms, private practitioners to those serving in public offices.
The theme for this year’s conference “LEVERAGING THE LEGAL PROFESSION FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY” has been carefully selected to provide a platform for legal professionals across the region to discuss the impact and role of the legal profession in fuelling growth and development in the East African Community. This will continue the legacy of the profession as the leading voice in accelerating regional integration and development having led and shaped processes leading to the EAC Common Market, EAC Customs Union, the envisaged EAC Monetary Union and EAC Political Confederation.
The following sub-themes shall be explored, in addition to the main theme:
- Green Growth and Environmental Justice- will seek to discuss how growth can be sustained in a more efficient, sustainable and resilient manner while protecting the environment and guaranteeing future generations
- Corporate and Commercial Law: The Evolution of Commercial Law Practice in East Africa– will examine developments in corporate and commercial law practice in the last 29 years and how lawyers can use commercial law to accelerate regional growth and development.
- Energy Transition: Nuclear Energy for Accelerated Growth-Will explore the huge potential in nuclear energy and why the region must adopt it to sustain the surge in size and volume of East African economies
- The Commercialization of Sport: Why East African Lawyers Must Stand up to be Counted– Sports are a major global industry raking in billions of dollars in revenue. These revenues arising from among others sporting media rights, sponsorship rights, image rights and even agency fees are almost unexplored in East Africa.
- Leveraging Arbitration and other Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms for EAC Growth– Will explore how lawyers and the regional can utilize arbitration and other ADR Mechanisms to resolve disputes and grow the region as an alternative to expensive litigation.
- Technology and the 5th Industrial Revolution– will provide a platform for legal professionals across the region to discuss how the legal profession has evolved over time in East Africa and the role of technology in accelerating this evolution. Will AI, robotics and the Internet of things redefine the future?
- Rule of Law and Democracy as tools for Driving Development in the East African Community– will look at the role that observance of rule of law and principles of democracy play in accelerating economic development in East Africa. Thematic discussions will look at continued repression of alternative voices in the region, loss of indigenous land rights, corruption and transparency, illicit financial flows/money laundering and recent geopolitical developments in the region.
- Sovereign Debt: Impact to Development and Growth in East Africa– will seek to address East Africa’s ballooning debt problems and the threats posed to future prospects of the Community. It will address relationships with bilateral lenders and how lawyers can assist in drafting these agreements, negotiating theme and in debt restructuring.
Date: 27th – 30th November, 2024
Venue: Speke Resort & Conference Centre, Kampala – Uganda
