Southern African Litigation Centre

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) in partnership
with the International Bar Association (IBA) announce the launch on June
20, 2005 of the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC). The Centre
will be located in Johannesburg and will assist lawyers in various
Southern African states in litigating specific human rights, public
interest and constitutional cases within their respective domestic
jurisdictions. The Centre will be staffed by resource people who are
able to provide expert support to lawyers litigating on these issues in
the region. They will do so by providing training, mentoring and
facilities, thus promoting the effective implementation of human rights
in the region.

In particular, the Centre will:
* Provide on-going support and assistance to lawyers in the region who
are in the process of litigating human rights, constitutional and public
interest cases;
* Support, assist in, and identify, prospective cases allowing for
timely preparation and resolution of cases;
* Provide regular training to the legal profession within the respective
jurisdictions on constitutional, human rights and democracy issues;
* Engage all members of the legal profession, including the judiciary,
on issues of constitutionalism, human rights and democracy and provide
assistance where required;
* Promote awareness of human rights litigation frontiers and
capacity-building possibilities and stimulate advocacy for law reform,
human rights and constitutionalism.

Further, the Centre will aim to:
* Enable the skills and resources within the respective jurisdictions
allowing lawyers to initiate human rights, public interest and
constitutional cases that they would not have otherwise undertaken;
* Develop regional lawyers' interest in involvement in human rights,
public interest and constitutional litigation;
* Establish a repository of up-to-date information on contemporary human
rights, public interest and constitutional issues in the region
generally and litigation thereon specifically;
* Provide a forum through which lawyers in the region can exchange
information and enter into communities and networks of mutual interest
and support.
* Facilitate the development of regional networks of lawyers'
organizations and other initiatives aimed at strengthening rule of law,
constitutionalism and human rights.
* The provision of training and support for lawyers at the forefront of
human rights cases will be a unique development for the region.

Contact: Nicole Fritz, Executive Director
Southern African Human Rights Litigation Centre
Tel +27 11 403 3414
Mobile +27 82 452 3909
Email: [email protected]