Assessment of Legal Information Needs and Access Problems of Lawyers in Uganda

Access to the right kind of legal information is imperative for efficient and effective performance in any judicial process. This study investigated the legal information needs and problems faced by lawyers (as main consumers of legal information) in accessing legal information. The study used a survey design in which a structured questionnaire was used to elicit the required data. It was carried out in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. The study found that law reference; laws of other countries; law reports; update of court rules and judge cases constitute the most needed legal information of lawyers and attorneys in Uganda. While problems faced in accessing legal information include: inadequate information materials; limited law libraries; out dated information materials and limited time to search for the required legal information. The study concludes that to make lawyers succeed in their judicial processes, more serious and proactive ways of accessing legal information are required. Hence, recommended among others the need for legal information providers to be proactive; legal information providers to network or form consortium to ease legal information acquisition; integration of ICTs in information provision and if possible, phone text message service be dovetailed