Nairobi, Oct 30 – More than 50 African judges and magistrates began sharing experiences on HIV/AIDS, human rights and the law on Tuesday in the first regional dialogue in Africa, Xinhua news agency reported.
The dialogue held from Monday to Thursday aims to bring forward recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law in increasing awareness among key constituencies on issues of rights and law with respect to HIV and boosting civil society’s ability to campaign, advocate and lobby.
Kenya’s Supreme Court President Willy Mutungai said the meeting provides opportunity for participants to discuss strategies and programmes for judicial education to help ensure the various judiciaries are able to make informed decisions on HIV-related human rights issues.
The dialogue will also allow experience-sharing between judges and magistrates from Kenya and east and southern Africa on legal and human rights issues posed by the HIV epidemic.
“At the end of the dialogue, it is expected that the judicial officers will have greater awareness on the role of the law and the courts in protecting the rights of people living with HIV,” Mutungai said.
The dialogue has drawn judicial officers from Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Hon. Justice Edwin Cameron of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Hon. Justice Oagile Dingake of the High Court of Botswana are among those expected to speak at the forum.
The workshop is organised by the Judiciary Training Institute and Kenya Ethical and Legal Network in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP-Kenya) and UNAIDS.
-Bernama
