By Catherine Ageno
Atleast 6 Ugandan lawyers are among the 40 to undergo training on representation of indigent applicants before the African Court on Human and People’s Rights.
The 3-day training of lawyers registered to represent indigent applicants before the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR) opens this morning in Arusha, Tanzania.
The president of the Uganda Law Society Ms. Fiona Wall tells KFM that they seized the opportunity because the African Court is not one that everybody is trained to practice in.
“The African Court has provided this training opportunity to the lawyers, including presidents of the East African Law Societies on not only human rights but criminal issues as well”, says Ms Wall.
According to the Court’s President, Hon Lady-Justice Imani Daud Aboud, the overall objective of the training is to enhance and build the capacity of Counsel to be able to effectively represent Applicants before the Court.
’The lawyers will also be updated on the new Rules of Court and other important procedures and aspects of the Court,’’ she added.
Lady Justice Aboud adds that this training of over 40 lawyers that runs from 4-6 August, is the fourth conducted by the Court since 2017.
“So far the Court has trained over 110 lawyers from different parts of the African Continent”, she said in a statement.
The AfCHPR was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to complement the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, with a view to enhancing the protection of human rights on the continent.
The Court, which is composed of eleven Judges, nationals of Member States of the African Union elected in their individual capacity, meets four times a year in Ordinary Sessions and may hold Extra-Ordinary Sessions.
