TWO Huddersfield solicitors have returned from a trip to help improve the legal system in Uganda.

Jeremy Garside, managing partner at Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors, travelled to Africa in June with Kate Donaldson, solicitor at Baxter Caulfield Solicitors.

They held training sessions and workshops on personal time management, partnerships and how legal services work in England.

They also spoke at the Access to Justice conference in Uganda, which attracted solicitors from all over Africa.

Mr Garside said: "Even the most successful legal practices in Uganda have never prepared budgets or considered cash flow. The Ugandan government does not provide legal aid, and access to justice for the average Ugandan citizen is not as it could be."

The two solicitors were invited to go on the trip by the Law Society of England and Wales, as part of the Huddersfield Law Society Uganda Twinning Committee project.

The project aims to work with organisations around the world to provide Ugandan lawyers with practical training and help to improve access to justice for the Ugandan people.

In 2001 the committee set up a work experience programme for Ugandan lawyers after forging links with the Ugandan Law Society.

Two Ugandan lawyers came to Huddersfield through the exchange project in September 2001 for work experience in the UK local judicial system.

In April 2002, four Huddersfield solicitors travelled to Uganda and met leading members of the country's judiciary.