The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Right has equipped 40 lawyers registered with it on legal grounds for representing indigent applicants before it.
The 3-day training at Arusha, Tanzania equipped the lawyers with the African Court’s judicial and operational aspects and also updated the lawyers on the legal aid scheme.
It was organized by the African Court in collaboration with the European Union, which forms the fourth batch of lawyers to be trained since 2017. So far more than 110 lawyers from different parts of the African Continent have benefited from the training.
Lady Justice Imani Aboud, African Court President, explained that the overall objective of the training was to enhance and build the capacity of counsel to be able to effectively represent Applicants before the court.
“The lawyers were also updated on the new rules of court and other important procedures and aspects of the African court,” Lady Justice Imani stated at the end of the training.
African court document obtained by the Ghana News Agency in Tema specifies who qualifies to file cases before it and indicates that it may receive cases filed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Others are state parties to the protocol or African Intergovernmental Organizations and non-governmental organization with observer status before the African Commission and individuals.
According to the African Court, as long as the State against which the application is brought has deposited the declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the court to accept cases from individuals and NGOs.
The African court has material jurisdiction over allegations relating to violations of human rights contained in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights or any other human rights instrument ratified by the State concerned.
Source: myghanadaily
