Arusha — The commitment was made this week as the Court concluded a 3-day refresher exchange aimed at improving and refining the skills of officers from the Legal and Language Units in judgment drafting and legal writing.
The capacity building exchange was held in pursuit of the Court Legal Division's goal to review the quality processes implemented by the Court towards the achievement of its judicial mandate to promote and protect the human and peoples' rights on the continent.
The Registrar of the Court, Dr Robert Eno, challenged the participants to continually devise strategies that give the Court a unique identity to maintain its integrity regardless of the nature of cases, while taking full advantage of the legal expertise available at the Court.
"Within the African Union family, we have the best legal resources, every legal officer in their own space is good, but there is always room for improvement, that's why this training is a desire to acquire more," he said.
The exchange also brought to light the need to provide legal perspectives from an African eye, to ensure both the handling and interpretation of cases at all levels are done within the context of social, economic, political and cultural realities of the African continent.
"Member states of the African Union want to see our decisions and judgments consider the African reality. We can borrow a leaf from the West to embrace conversations that may be hard for the continent but necessary for providing a true representation of issues. The national context needs to be taken into consideration, we should not degrade the universality of rights and not forget the context of the country," said Dr Eno.
Through conversations, practical exercises and group work, a consensus was drawn that the Court needs to refocus its strategy from reducing quantity to improving quality, as a way of ensuring uncompromised quality of judgments.
The exchange also involved officers from the Language Unit of the Court as a strategic way of getting them to understand the judgment style of the Court.
Among the many objectives, the exchange also specifically addressed the development of skills for effective communication especially of complex legal concepts to various audiences, including laypersons and legal professionals.
In his closing remarks, the Head of Legal Division of the Court, Dr. Sègnonna Horace Adjolohoun, recalled the background to the refresher exchange and stressed its relevance in a year devoted to undertaken a quality review of the judicial work of the Court. He further committed the Legal Division to implementing the outcome of the exchange.
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The exchange highlighted the fact that the legitimacy of the Court is not only dependent on the Court's capability to process its caseload within satisfactory time frames but also its ability to deliver judgments that are convincing to the parties, legal professionals, scholars and the society at large.
The African Court has since its establishment received more and delivered over 200 decisions including judgments, rulings and also advisory opinions.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
The African Court on Human and People's Rights is a continental Court established by African countries to ensure the protection of human and peoples' rights in Africa.
The Court is composed of eleven Judges, nationals of Member States of the African Union elected in their individual capacity.
The Court meets four times a year in Ordinary Sessions and may hold Extra-Ordinary Sessions.
Further information on the Court can be obtained from www.african-court.org
For further inquiries: Dr Robert Eno, Registrar - Robert.Eno@african-court.org
For media inquiries: Chipiliro Kansilanga, Senior Information & Communication Officer
Chipiliro.Kansilanga@african-court.org or AfricanCourtMedia@african-court.org
