Gambia
The following Justice Initiative projects are underway in, or relevant to, Gambia:
Freedom of Information & Expression
In February 2004, the Justice Initiative together with Article 19 helped the Gambia Press Union (GPU) mount a Supreme Court challenge to Gambia's 2002 National Media Commission Act, which provided for a government watchdog with unjustified powers over the media. Both organizations assisted local counsel in preparing written submissions made on behalf of the GPU and Gambian journalists. In October 2004, with the case still pending before the Court, the government revoked the Act. Read on
African Union (AU) Research and Advocacy Project.
In 2005, a series of linked activities will promote the rights to freedom of expression and information in Africa. These include an analysis of African commitments and declarations on media freedom, freedom of expression and information, and the development of recommendations for reform. An audit of media freedom will be undertaken in selected African countries to analyze compliance with existing African and international standards. A coalition of civil society organizations will engage the AU leadership to promote a binding continental instrument on free expression guarantees. The project aims to create an informed and articulate constituency of civil society actors, equipped to work in advocacy directed at national governments and the AU.
Capacity building and networking: the Oxford Media Law Advocates Program.
Ten media lawyers from Africa participated in the Justice Initiative’s 2004 summer school, now in its third year, with an expanded program including African participants for the first time. Summer School Program and Press Announcement
West Africa Media Lawyers Meeting.
The Justice Initiative assisted the Media Foundation for West Africa in designing the first meeting of its sub-regional network of media defenders. Justice Initiative attendance enabled a concrete contribution to the network’s strategic planning.
Legal Capacity Development
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and African regional courts.
Since July 2004, the Justice Initiative and the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, an alliance of NGOs, have engaged in dialogue with the Commission of the African Union on the best ways to integrate Africa’s various regional courts without delaying the establishment of the human rights court. In the course of 2004, the Justice Initiative, together with the Coalition and the AU, developed a set of guidelines for nominating candidates to the human rights court bench. In 2005, the process will aim to expedite the integration of the human rights court and the AU’s Court of Justice, following an AU decision of July 2004. The Justice Initiative provided legal advice to Kenya and Botswana enabling cabinet-level consideration of ratification of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Protocol to take place.