Group trains lawyers on oral advocacy

THE conference for Western Attorney Generals (CWAG) in conjunction with the African Alliance Partnership (APP) has commenced training aimed at enhancing the capacity of legal practitioners in the area of oral advocacy, with a view to impact on the overall development of the justice sector in Nigeria.

The three-day training is also aimed at exposing legal practitioners in the country to administration of justice system from other parts of the globe.

Speaking at the occasion CWAG

Coordinator, Ebelechukw u Enedah stated that the training, which is basically a forum for the cross fertilization of ideas among legal practitioners from different parts of the world would impact positively on justice delivery in Nigeria.

“The training is aimed at preparing our lawyers for oral advocacy. This is very important because businesses have gone transborder. We are no longer contained in Nigeria so we cannot say we are only in Nigeria.

“And the same way busi- nesses have gone outside Nigeria, dispute has gone beyond Nigeria. Crime has gone beyond Nigeria, so we need to share ideas with other states and other jurisdictions so that we are able to do what we are doing and do it very well,” she said.

Also speaking, Assistant Attorney General, office of the Attorney General of Arizona State, United States of America, Scott Blake who gave a lecture on “Objections”, commended the organizers of the workshop, noting that it has afforded him opportunity to see how things are done in Nigeria.

He said the desire to make the court system more effective led Attorney Generals in the west to enter into partnership that would enable legal practitioners from different jurisdictions share and exchange information and ideas on best practices.

He expressed confidence that after the training there would be a definite difference in the way participants prepare for and handle their trials, adding that they would impact positively on justice delivery in Nigeria.