The availability and provision of quality legal education and continuing education is essential to ensuring that legal professionals are competent and able to play their essential role in contributing to ensuring respect for the rule of law, the protection and promotion of human rights and the fair administration of justice.
The Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary provide that persons selected for judicial office must have “appropriate training or qualifications in law”.[1] Furthermore, the Singhvi Declaration places a duty on judges to “keep themselves informed about international conventions and other instruments establishing human rights norms”.[2] The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct add that “a judge shall take reasonable steps to maintain and enhance the judge’s knowledge, skills and personal qualities necessary for the proper performance of judicial duties, taking advantage for this purpose of the training and other facilities which should be made available, under judicial control”.[3]
The Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors likewise specify they shall be individuals “with appropriate training and qualifications”.[4] States must ensure that they meet this criterion and that prosecutors be made aware of the ethical duties of their office, of the constitutional and statutory protections for the rights of the suspect and the victim, and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.[5] Prosecutors have a duty to “keep themselves well-informed and abreast of legal developments”.[6]
The Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers place a duty on governments, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions to ensure that lawyers have appropriate education and training and are aware of lawyers’ ethical duties and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.[7] Further, they should take special measures to provide opportunities and ensure needs-appropriate training for law students from groups whose needs for legal services are not consistently met, particularly including those who have distinct cultures, traditions or languages or have been the victims of past discrimination.[8] Legal education must be open to all persons with requisite qualifications and no one shall be denied such opportunity by reason of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national, linguistic or social origin, property, income, birth or status.[9]
The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has recommended that magistrates, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and lawyers should be requested to take courses on international human rights law. She also recommended that on-going legal education should be mandatory at all levels.[10]
The Singhvi Declaration states that “continuing legal education shall be available to judges”[11] and the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa add that “where appropriate” judges shall receive training and education in racial, culture and gender sensitisation.[12]
The University of Swaziland has a law department within the Faculty of Social Sciences that offers a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree; a few years ago, the Bachelor of Arts in Law degree was phased out in favour of a five-year LLB degree. The University’s Institute of Distance Education also awards a Diploma in law. The emphasis of training has been on commercial law, at the expense of human rights education, which has only been available since the introduction of the LLB degree. Recently, Clinical Legal Education has been introduced into the Department of Law; in the course of the clinical programmes the theory and practice of human rights law are promoted. The Law Society has expressed the view that graduates lack technical competence when they join the legal profession.[13]
- 1. UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, ”PrinciplePrinciples and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, Adopted by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, Article B(a).
Persons selected for judicial office shall be individuals of integrity and ability with appropriate training or qualifications in law. Any method of judicial selection shall safeguard against judicial appointments for improper motives. In the selection of judges, there shall be no discrimination against a person on the grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or status, except that a requirement, that a candidate for judicial office must be a national of the country concerned, shall not be considered discriminatory.
↵States shall ensure that judicial officials have appropriate education and training and should be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of their office, of the constitutional and statutory protections for the rights of accused persons, victims and other litigants and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.
- 2. Draft Universal Declaration on the Independence of Justice (also known as the Singhvi Declaration), ”ArticleSee Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, ”Value
Judges shall keep themselves informed about international conventions and other instruments establishing human rights norms, and shall seek to implement them as far as feasible, within the limits set by their national constitutions and laws.
Competence and diligence, ”6.4.”Competence and diligence are prerequisites to the due performance of judicial office.
↵A judge shall keep himself or herself informed about relevant developments of international law, including international conventions and other instruments establishing human rights norms.
- 3. Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, ”ValueCompetence and diligence, ”6.3.”
Competence and diligence are prerequisites to the due performance of judicial office.
[↵A judge shall take reasonable steps to maintain and enhance the judge’s knowledge, skills and personal qualities necessary for the proper performance of judicial duties, taking advantage for this purpose of the training and other facilities which should be made available, under judicial control, to judges.
- 4. UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, ”Guideline↵
Persons selected as prosecutors shall be individuals of integrity and ability, with appropriate training and qualifications.
- 5. UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, ”Guideline;Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, Adopted by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, Article F(a)(1).
States shall ensure that…
(b) Prosecutors have appropriate education and training and should be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of their office, of the constitutional and statutory protections for the rights of the suspect and the victim, and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.
↵(a) States shall ensure that:
1. Prosecutors have appropriate education and training and should be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of their office, of the constitutional and statutory protections for the rights of the suspect and the victim, and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law, including the Charter.
- 6. International Association of Prosecutors, Standards of Professional Responsibility and Statement of the Essential Duties and Rights of Prosecutors, ”Article↵
Prosecutors shall: at all times maintain the honour and dignity of their profession; always conduct themselves professionally, in accordance with the law and the rules and ethics of their profession; at all times exercise the highest standards of integrity and care; keep themselves well-informed and abreast of relevant legal developments; strive to be, and to be seen to be, consistent, independent and impartial; always protect an accused person’s right to a fair trial, and in particular ensure that evidence favourable to the accused is disclosed in accordance with the law or the requirements of a fair trial; always serve and protect the public interest; respect, protect and uphold the universal concept of human dignity and human rights.
- 7. UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, ”PrinciplePrinciples and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, Adopted by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, Article I(a);
Governments, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions shall ensure that lawyers have appropriate education and training and be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of the lawyer and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.
International Bar Association (IBA) Standards for the Independence of the Legal Profession, ”StandardsStates, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions shall ensure that lawyers have appropriate education and training and be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of the lawyer and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.
↵2. Legal education shall be open to all persons with requisite qualifications and no one shall be denied such opportunity by reason of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, status or physical disability.
3. Legal education shall be designed to promote knowledge and understanding of the role and the skills required in practising as a lawyer, including awareness of the legal and ethical duties of a lawyer and of the human rights and fundamental freedoms recognised within the given jurisdiction and by international law.
4. Programmes of legal education shall have regard to the social responsibilities of the lawyer, including co-operation in providing legal services to the needy and the promotion and defence of legal rights of whatever nature whether economic, social, cultural, civil and political and specially rights of such nature in the process of development.
- 8. UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, ”Principle↵
In countries where there exist groups, communities or regions whose needs for legal services are not met, particularly where such groups have distinct cultures, traditions or languages or have been the victims of past discrimination, Governments, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions should take special measures to provide opportunities for candidates from these groups to enter the legal profession and should ensure that they receive training appropriate to the needs of their groups.
- 9. Draft Universal Declaration on the Independence of Justice (also known as the Singhvi Declaration), ”Article↵
Legal education and entry into the legal profession shall be open to all persons with requisite qualifications and no one shall be denied such opportunity by reason of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national, linguistic or social origin, property, income, birth or status.
- 10. Gabriela Knaul, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Advance report on the global thematic study on human rights education and training of legal professionals, UN Doc. A/HRC/20/20 (2012), ”para.↵
Magistrates, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and lawyers should be requested to take courses on international human rights law. Ongoing legal education should be mandatory for judges, magistrates, prosecutors, public legal defenders and lawyers at all levels. Law and political and social sciences students could also be encouraged to follow such courses during their education.
- 11. Draft Universal Declaration on the Independence of Justice (also known as the Singhvi Declaration), ”Article↵
Continuing education shall be available to judges.
- 12. Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, Adopted by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, Article B(c).↵
States shall ensure that judicial officials receive continuous training and education throughout their career including, where appropriate, in racial, cultural and gender sensitisation.
- 13. Maxine Langwenya, Swaziland: Justice Sector and Rule of Law. A review by AfriMAP and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (March 2013), p. 104-105.↵
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