SHORT COURSE ON CAPITAL REPRESENTATION FOR LAW CLINIC STUDENTS AND YOUNG LAWYERS

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HOPE BEHIND BARS AFRICA ORGANISES SHORT COURSE ON CAPITAL REPRESENTATION FOR LAW CLINIC STUDENTS AND YOUNG LAWYERS

With support from Accountability Lab, Hope behind bars Africa had a successful capacity building training for Law students and young lawyers in the month of July, 2020.

The Capacity building training was a combination of virtual knowledge sharing sessions and on-site trainings, 15 deserving applicants were selected and the virtual sessions were open to interested persons. A total of 75 persons participated and the feedback on the insightfulness of the session were amazing.

Here are the highlights from the training program.

Day 1- We had Kulani Ngobeni from Stellenboch University and Rosemary Ochiwu from Nigerian Law School speak on the role of law students in criminal justice reforms.

Day 2- We had Bamisope Adeyanju a multi-award winning scholar from Columbia University speak on public interest lawyering.

Day 3- We had facilitators from the Cornell University Center on the Death Penalty and other Makwanyane Institute fellows speak on cross border issues relating to the death penalty. We had astute professor Sandra Babcock– Clinical Professor at Cornell, Paulina Lucio Maymon-JD student at American Washington University, Funke Adeoye-Makwanyane fellow and several others.

The feedback was amazing as the applicants opined that they learnt more than they had anticipated for from the sessions.

Call For Application

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Hope behind Bars Africa Initiative in partnership with Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide invites suitably qualified candidates to apply for its 1st Short Course on Capital Representation for Law Students and Young lawyers scheduled to take place in July 2020.

Introduction

As at May 2020, 72.2% of people in correctional facilities in Nigeria are awaiting trial. Research indicates that indigent pre-trial detainees struggle to access legal representation as few attorneys specialize in criminal defense. Due to systemic failures and lack of resources innocent women and men risk been sentenced to death for offences they never committed. It is our belief that because the death penalty is an irreparable sanction, its imposition should only occur when the defendant is well-represented.

Course Overview

The course encourages its participants to approach death penalty representation strategically beginning from the first meeting with the client in prison. It includes topics that examine the steps involved in interviewing and counseling clients facing capital charges and how to elicit facts for mitigation investigation. Participants will be introduced to how issues of mental health and intellectual disability come to play in their client’s case.  Other presentations include International human rights law and how to approach UN treaty bodies, maximizing the law clinic experience to compete globally and a session that opens participants up to the possibilities in capital representation using the Malawi Capital Resentencing Project as a case study. Beyond the theoretical aspect, interested and selected participants will have the opportunity to learn empirically with the organization’s capital trial project.”

Faculty

The faculty consists of practitioners from  Cornell University Center on Death Penalty Worldwide, the alumni of its Makwanyane Institute and its human rights partners combining both an academic analysis and a practical assessment of different human rights/death penalty situation faced by law clinic students and lawyers around the world.

Eligibility Criteria

Participants need to be :

  • Law students from 300 level to 500 level who have shown interest in pro bono work or are members of a law clinic. OR young lawyers  less than 3 years post call with demonstrable interest in human rights or criminal justice.
  • Be resident in Abuja, Nigeria.                

 *Female students and lawyers are strongly encouraged to apply.

All applications are now closed.