The African Court since 2017 embarked on a progressive educational programme to update the legal skill of African Counsels in the operations of the Court.

Statistics available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra indicated that in 2017 the African Court trained and enrolled 35 African Counsels on the Court’s roster from 25 African countries. Thirteen other counsels from Tanzania, out of which eight had applied for enrolment, were awaiting the decision of the Court.

In 2018, the African Court again trained an additional 27 counsels from 19 African countries.

Justice Sylvian Ore, President of the African Court, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the specific objective was to educate and train counsels who have been accepted to represent applicants under the Legal Aid Scheme of the Court.

They have also familiarized themselves with the judicial procedure and operational aspects of the African Court and its Legal Aid Scheme.

He said the overall objective of the training was to enhance the African Human Rights System as a whole by promoting knowledge of the judicial procedures of the African Court among relevant stakeholders.

Justice Sylvian encouraged the counsels to have the confidence to appear before it, fully equipped to represent Applicants either under the Court’s Legal Aid Scheme or in their private individual capacities.

Meanwhile at the 31st Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit, Nouakchott, Mauritania, Justice Ben Kioko, Vice President of the African Court from Kenya, was re-elected for the second and final term of six years.

Other new Judges elected were: Justice Aboud Imani from Tanzania (Eastern Zone); Justice Anukam Stella Isibhakhomen from Nigeria (Western Zone); and Justice Tchikaye Blaise from Congo (Central Zone).