ABA ROLI Support to the Judicial Training Institute of The Gambia

On April 27, 2023, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative’s (ABA ROLI) project in The Gambia,  Promoting Rights and Justice (PRJ) Activity officially handed over a revised Gambia Institute for Judicial Training (JTI) and Research Bill and a blueprint document of the JTI in a brief ceremony with the judiciary. Since 2021, the PRJ team in The Gambia, ABA ROLI and Freedom House, have been working to improve institutional capabilities within the justice sector and empower civil society organizations to safely and effectively exercise civic and political rights through the PRJ Activity.

The JTI blueprint constitutes a major achievement of the project, as it lays out the mission and vision of establishing a JTI, its objectives, and proposes target groups. Similarly, PRJ supported the judiciary to furnish the JTI building in order to make the space more fit for use. A video of the ABA renovated JTI structure was part of the handing over ceremony to the Chief Justice. At the ceremony, the Chief Justice shared his appreciation of the support received from the PRJ Activity thus far. The Chief Justice is optimistic that the Bill will be passed before the end of 2023.

Since 2014, there has been a Bill and a blueprint for the establishment of a Judicial Training Institute, with the main objective being to build the capacity of justice sector actors. In line with this objective, The Gambia Institute for Judicial Training and Research has conducted several trainings and capacity building for both judicial officers, administrative officers, and support staff of the judiciary.

The PRJ project supported a consultant who reviewed and revised the above-mentioned Bill through a series of stakeholder engagements, consultations and interviews. In addition to the research, the consultant looked at best practices in other jurisdictions that can be applied in The Gambian context. She was also tasked to review and align the Bill and blueprint to current trends, models and developments in judicial training frameworks.

Previous training sessions at the Institute focused mainly on substantive and procedural law. The draft Gambia Institute for Judicial Training and Research Bill 2014 was therefore reviewed and readapted to factor best practices and international standards into the provision of judicial training. Prior to the adoption of the Bill, a validation workshop was convened for stakeholders to review and offer input to improve the draft before tabling it in for legislative enactment. Participants included judges, members of the legal profession, law enforcement officers, educationists and members of civil society organizations, the Human Rights Commission, and National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority of The Gambia. Following intense deliberations, the Bill was validated subject to the amendments made by participants. 

Some key recommendations emanating from that validation workshop and subsequently incorporated into the draft Bill included:

• It was agreed that the name of the proposed Institute be The Gambia Institute for Judicial Training and Research.
• It was also agreed that the definition of Judicial Officer to be expanded to include the Sheriff, the Master and such other person designated by the Board of the Institute.
• Provision should be made for the creation of the Secretariat as the administrative arm of the Institute. 
• Curriculum development to include developing training standards and limiting all training courses to subjects that relate to the objectives of the Institute.  

The establishment of the Gambian Institute for Judicial Training is key to providing quality service and will help legal practitioners keep up to date with developments in the dynamic work of the justice sector effectively. The JTI is also envisioned to strengthen justice delivery services and increase its quality of justice. 

PRJ will also support the development of training modules on the induction of judicial officers and other courses, such as International Criminal Law and Investigation/prosecution of grave human rights violations.

Learn more about ABA ROLI’s work across Africa.

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