African Court’s 4th Judicial Dialogue holds in Uganda

The Fourth Judicial Dialogue of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights begins in Kampala, Uganda on Wednesday October 30.

The dialogue, which is being organized in collaboration with the Republic of Uganda, will bring together over 300 delegates, including Chief Justices, Presidents of Supreme and Constitutional Courts, as well as representatives of regional and international judicial bodies and other relevant stakeholders, from the 55 African Union member states.

A statement signed by the Registrar of the court, Robert Eno, noted that the theme of the programme is: “‘Tackling Contemporary Human Rights Issues: The Role of the Judiciary in Africa’, and is a build-up to the themes of the other three editions held in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

The biennial event of the African Union, which will be preceded on Monday by a human rights reporting training for journalists, is aimed at improving networking amongst judicial officers, exchange of information and best practices and the proper administration of justice on the continent.

According to the statement, “The past three meetings have reaffirmed the importance of the Dialogue as a platform for African national judiciaries to discuss opportunities and continuing challenges relating to their functions,” said the President of the AfCHPR, Justice Sylvain Oré.

He added that the 4th Judicial Dialogue is expected to identify the major human rights issues currently facing Africa and what role the Judiciary could play to deal with such issues, among others.

The Chairperson of the Uganda National Organizing Committee, Ms Esta Nambayo, says the overall objective of Uganda hosting the Dialogue is to “’enhance international judicial cooperation through sharing of Judiciary challenges and best practices among states across Africa and beyond.’”