The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR) took awareness campaign to students on its work, mandate of the jurisdiction by providing seminars and education among the learners. A delegation from the Court, led by President, Justice Imani Aboud, said this time they have reached out to over 300 students of the Law School of Tanzania over the weekend, to build their capacity and understanding on the existence of the African Court and its mandates in defending and protecting human rights.
Opening the seminar for the students at the Law School grounds last Saturday, Justice Imani said that the main purpose of the session was to inform, explain, educate and exchange experiences to motivate students to work as lawyers at the African Court. "We have decided to hold this seminar here after considering that these are students, who upon completion of their studies will become lawyers in various governments, private, international and other independent offices," the President said.
She said that the issue of human rights is fundamental and recognisable in all countries, so educating students to understand, why the Court was established by the African Union, would help them to become good, educated and knowledgeable advocates on human rights. "It is a new profession that we are educating them on, so that they know the reasons for the establishment of the African Court, what it does, what laws and procedures to apply so that they become aware of it, and later become good lawyers with knowledge and human rights issues," said Justice Aboud.
She added that the seminar was not new, because the court delegation has been traveling to various members' state of the African Union and providing them, when the opportunity arises so that they negotiate and educate each other. For his part, the Principal of the Law School, Dr. Benhaji Masoud, said that the seminar for students would be very helpful, because it entails one of the subjects they were studying on human rights and the existence of international human rights courts.
He said the presence of the court officials gives them a direct opportunity to sit down with the judges, and ask questions on what they read and get clarification while others would have opportunity to talk to the judges, who make the case decisions - an opportunity that not everyone could get. "These students are being prepared to become lawyers in our courts here and even in international courts to represent their clients, so getting this opportunity is an important thing for them in organizing themselves," Dr. Masoud, who is also a Judge of the High Court of Tanzania said.