Legal Aid

PLA provides comprehensive legal aid services to vulnerable and marginalised workers who cannot afford legal representation. These include domestic workers, exploited children, security guards, agricultural workers, informal sector workers, vendors, youth, young women, and workers in formal employment earning below UGX 600,000 per month (approximately USD 120).

Our services range from advice, mediation, and court representation. We adopt alternative dispute resolution as the first point of action and litigation as a last resort.

Key Features

• Legal advisory and support services to vulnerable and marginalised workers
• Court representation in labour disputes
• Mediation and alternative dispute resolution
• Community paralegal service
• Strategic and public interest litigation in the labour and employment landscape
• Periodic analysis of national laws and policies to ensure compliance with International Human Rights instruments and ILO Core Labour Standards
• Legal education and rights awareness for vulnerable, marginalised, and undocumented workers
• Workplace monitoring to ensure respect for employees' rights in partnership with labour offices
• Technical support to community-based organisations

Certification

We are approved and registered Law Chambers as a legal aid clinic by the Law Council of Uganda. A team of advocates supported by interns and community-based paralegals offer free legal advice, mediation, and court representation.

Referrals and Collaboration

Recognising that clients have multiple and interlinked challenges — such as loss of livelihood, land disputes, divorce, and violence — we maintain a strong referral system with the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Project, Legal Aid Clinic, KCCA District Labour Office, and the Public Defenders. We also network with established labour rights lawyers to support the ongoing learning of the young lawyers who join the organisation.

Cases We Handle

We handle cases involving labour disputes, economic and livelihood matters such as unfair dismissal, unpaid wages, workplace injuries, social security and pensions, gratuity, discrimination, violation of workers' rights, child exploitation, trafficking, and unsafe labour migration.

Location

Our legal aid covers 16 districts across the country. Our legal clinics have a physical presence within Kampala, Iganga, and Lira, bringing justice closer to the communities that need it most.