Barred GUC graduate lawyers sue LSB
Spira Tlhankane | Monday June 15, 2026 06:00
The applicants, led by Arnold Rapula Somolekae, argue that the Law Society's decision threatens to derail their legal careers, potentially forcing them to miss an entire examination cycle and delaying their admission into the legal profession.
According to court papers filed at Maun High Court, the applicants are seeking an order declaring the LSB's refusal to register them for the June 2026 Bar Examinations unlawful, irrational and unreasonable. They are also asking the court to set aside the decision and direct that they be registered and permitted to sit for examinations scheduled to begin on 22 June 2026.
“I hereby certify this matter is of such a nature that it warrants urgent attention and intervention by this Honourable Court. The urgency arises from the Respondents’ refusal on 29 May 2026 to register the Applicants for the June 2026 Attorneys’ Admission Examinations, notwithstanding that the said examinations are scheduled to commence on 22 June 2026,” the applicants’ attorney, Mboki Chilisa, said in the application. Chilisa indicated that the matter is imminent, looking at the commencement of the examinations, the loss of an examination cycle, and the prejudice arising from delayed admission.
“The Applicants continue to suffer ongoing prejudice due to the Respondents’ refusal to permit them to sit the June 2026 Bar Examinations. Unless urgent relief is granted, the Applicants will be excluded from the June 2026 examination cycle, which will result in a delay of approximately twelve (12) months or more in their professional progression and admission to practice. Delays in hearing this matter will render the relief sought moot, as the examination cycle will have passed, thereby effectively defeating the purpose of the Application and prejudicing the Applicants irreparably,” the applicants’ attorney said as they filed the urgent application.
At the centre of the dispute is the recognition of law degrees awarded by Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom through a programme delivered in collaboration with Gaborone Universal College (GUC). The applicants contend that the qualifications have previously been accepted by regulators and that both the LSB and education authorities were aware of the programme's existence and operation for several years.
In the founding affidavit, the first applicant, Somolekae and 21 others claim that the LSB had previously engaged with institutions linked to the programme and had, in earlier correspondence, acknowledged Leeds Beckett University as a recognised institution for purposes of legal qualification recognition in Botswana. “The Applicants are not abstract litigants. The Applicants are aspiring legal practitioners who have spent years preparing for entry into the legal profession. They have invested tuition fees, study time, examination preparation, family resources and personal effort in pursuit of a lawful professional objective. The refusal has caused profound distress and uncertainty. For many of the Applicants, the June 2026 Bar Examinations represent the next necessary step towards pupillage, employment, admission and the ability to earn a living in the legal profession. To put it differently, to better their lives,” Somolokae said in the affidavit.
Somolokae added that the applicants have not asked the Respondent for preferential treatment, but they have rather asked to be permitted to write the same examinations as everyone else. “They are prepared to be assessed on the merits of their performance. The Respondent's decision closes the door in a final fashion before the Applicants could even enter the examination room. It deprives them of the opportunity to prove themselves, and that is why the intervention of this Honourable Court is necessary. This Honourable Court of law is the only institution capable of protecting the Applicants from the continuing consequences of an unlawful administrative decision,” Somolokae further emphasised.
Somolokae said he enrolled in a Bachelor of Laws Degree offered pursuant to an academic collaboration between GUC and Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom, completed the prescribed programme of study, and was awarded a Bachelor of Laws Degree in July 2025. He disclosed that all the other Applicants are also holders of the said degree certificate.
“During the existence of the programme, there was sustained engagement between GUC, Leeds Beckett University and the Respondent concerning the nature and operation of the programme. On 7 June 2022, the Respondent requested documentation relating to the programme and its structure. The Respondent agreed to meet the Dean of Leeds Beckett. On 11 December 2022, GUC informed the Respondent of developments relating to the programme, including the establishment of a law clinic. On 24 May 2023, Leeds Beckett University corresponded directly with the Respondent regarding the programme. In this letter, Leeds Beckett confirmed that it was delivering its LLB Degree through GUC (as the Respondent was aware) and that the former advised the latter of the intention to provide a Master's Degree Program,” Somolokae pointed out.
Somolokae further claims that LSB is on record, in a letter dated August 13, 2019, stating that Leeds Beckett University graduates are eligible to practise law in Botswana under the provisions of the second schedule of the LPA. He said the correspondence was signed by the Executive Secretary of the LSB.
“The Respondent confirmed that Leeds Beckett University satisfied the requirements of the Act. The Respondent was therefore fully aware of the existence of the programme, its structure and its operation long before the Applicants completed their studies. That comes as no Surprise because Regulation 2 of the Legal Practitioners Examinations and Qualifications for Admission) Regulations recognise law degrees obtained from universities situated in the United Kingdom as prescribed degrees for purposes of section 4(b)(ii) of the Legal Practitioners Act. The Regulations, thus, contemplate that holders of such qualifications shall sit local examinations in prescribed Botswana law subjects. Leeds Beckett University is a university situated in the United Kingdom, and it was on this basis that the Applicants applied for registration for the June 2026 Bar Examinations'.
The applicants said that having completed their studies and obtained their qualifications, they applied for registration for the June 2026 Bar Examinations in April 2026. Distressingly, they added, on 29 May 2026, LSB informed them that it would not accede to their applications to sit the examinations. They said it is not clear from the above why LSB says it is not satisfied that they obtained their degrees by examination conducted by Leeds Beckett University. They said that if the LSB had genuine doubts, the logical thing to do would have been to ask them to provide clarification or to seek it directly from Leeds Beckett University.
“The Respondent does not exercise an unfettered discretion in relation to applications to sit for the Bar Examinations. It exercises a statutory and regulatory power. That power must be exercised lawfully, rationally, fairly, consistently and for the purpose for which it was conferred. The decision is too far isolated from the Statute itself, and we explain why that is the case below. The Applicants’ case is that the Respondent has acted outside the proper limits of its statutory mandate,” the applicants further noted.
The applicants added that LSB is empowered to administer the Bar Examinations and to ensure compliance with the requirements prescribed by law. They said it is not empowered to create additional eligibility requirements which are not found in the Legal Practitioners Act or the Regulations made under it.
“The Respondent’s apparent treatment of the qualification as if it were not a qualification of Leeds Beckett University is therefore factually and legally incorrect. It also fails to appreciate the distinction between the institution which awards the degree and the institution which provides local teaching, delivery, administrative and academic support under a recognised collaborative arrangement,” they argued.
The applicants highlighted that LSB's decision is unreasonable and irrational. They said LSB's refusal was a breach of their legitimate expectation to be admitted because they expected to be permitted to register for and sit the June 2026 Bar Examinations. They claim that the Respondent’s decision discriminates unfairly against the Applicants because other graduates who have obtained their degree through the same arrangement with Leeds Beckett University have previously been permitted to write the examinations.
The applicants also said that the LSB’s conduct has placed them in an impossible position, as they must either accept exclusion from the examination cycle or urgently approach the court. They claim that the predicament they find themselves in was created by the Respondent’s own decision-making process.
“We pause here again to emphasise that we are not claiming that we would pass the exams outright. We are putting it before this Court that we have been robbed of the Opportunity to do so in an unjust manner. We reiterate that the Respondent's decision closes the door before the Applicants in a final fashion. It deprives them of the Opportunity to prove themselves, and that is why the intervention of this Court is necessary,” the Court concluded.