WACSI/OSJI 2019 Africa Human Rights Litigation Course 2019 for human rights professionals – Accra, Ghana (Funded)

Application Deadline: February 14, 2019.

The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) invites applicants for the 2019 Africa Human Rights Litigation Course, to be held in Accra, Ghana from April 10 to 12, 2019.

The course provides a unique opportunity for human rights professionals to build on their experience and to develop their skills to successfully bring cases to the regional human rights systems and the UN treaty bodies, and to use those cases to achieve practical change. The curriculum will combine presentations, case studies, exercises, and discussion groups with preparatory work and further reading to ensure full maximum benefit for those attending the course. Participants will be invited to provide information on their work and those concrete examples will help shape the discussion.

Eligibility Criteria

Participants need not be practicing lawyers; however, they must have some experience in human rights litigation, and will ideally have one to five years’ experience in human rights practice. Instruction will be in English. Bursaries towards expense will be paid for successful candidates.

Purpose and Priorities

The course encourages participants to approach human rights litigation strategically, viewing litigating a human rights case as one step in the process of achieving social change. It includes modules that examine the steps involved in strategic litigation, such as case selection, client care, and forum choice.

It also uses case studies to explore how to build a strong evidential record in support of the case, how to develop campaigning and advocacy to raise awareness of the issues involved, and how to implement a successful judgment. Other presentations will focus on the challenges of drafting legal petitions dealing with human rights claims and dealing with the ethical problems that arise in human rights cases. 

The curriculum will cover a range of human rights tribunals, such as the African, Inter-American, and European regional bodies, as well as the most frequently used United Nations treaty bodies. The course will also allow participants to choose specialist seminars to examine key issues in their field; in past years, this has included torture and the right to life, discrimination, freedom of information and expression, violations in the context of migration, and rights upon arrest.

The summer school faculty consists of practitioners from the Justice Initiative and its human rights litigation partners, combining both an academic analysis and a practical assessment of different human rights situations faced by lawyers and activists around the world. 

Guidelines

The application is open from December 10, 2018, to February 14, 2019. Additional course information and instructions for application can be found here.

Find the application form here.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the WACSI/OSJI 2019 Africa Human Rights Litigation Course 2019