Capacity Building of Social Court Judges of Addis Ababa City Administration

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Justice for All-PF Ethiopia organized training for Addis Ababa City Administration Social Court Judges from October 15 to 17, 2018, in Adama, WTC. With the theme “The Role of Social Court Judges in Respecting and Protecting Human Rights” 58 Social Court Judges took part in the training out of which 41% were female.

Social Courts are the lowest and closest institutions to the community that work at the Woreda level with a significant impact on the human rights of persons.

From Left to Right : Mr. Gebreigzabiher Gebremariam and Ato Amanuel Gollo

Mr. Amanuel Gollo, Acting Program Department Head at JFA-PFE welcomed the participants and appreciated their participation in this specially tailored training by identifying practical problems which are prevalent in Addis Ababa City. Mr. Gebreigzabiher Gebremariam, President of Addis Ababa City Administration Social Courts Council, in his opening speech, appreciated the efforts of JFA-PFE for its continuous support to building the capacity of the judicial sector.

The overall aim of the training was to capacitate social court judges with the knowledge and skills that enable them to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights and to help them develop an understanding of conflict resolution mechanisms. The training aimed to identify areas where the social court judges should concentrate on protecting human rights.

Mr. Yiheyis Mitiku, an instructor at Kotebe Metropolitan University, has made presentations on the concepts of human rights from international and Ethiopian perspectives. Mr. Yiheyis discussed thoroughly the meaning of human rights.

Mr. Yiheyis Mitiku

Dr. Ambaye Ogato, Senior Advisor at JFA-PFE, made a presentation on conflict resolution by referring to theoretical and practical issues. “Since conflict is a social phenomenon, it is not possible to avoid conflict. The best way of dealing with conflicts is managing them so that they will be resolved,” said Dr. Ambaye. They discussed the causes and meaning of conflict and mechanisms of managing conflict during Dr. Ambaye’s presentation. He advised the participants to appreciate differences while dealing with different conflicts.

Finally, Dr. Woubshet Shiferaw, Senior Consultant at JFA–PFE, took the floor and gave a presentation on concepts relating to the rendering of decisions. Impartiality has greater significance in entertaining cases and with impartiality, the principles of not entertaining one’s case and the right to be heard are the basic ones said Dr. Woubshet.

At the end of the training, participants gave constructive comments on the overall processes of the training and they have stressed the need to give such kinds of training for the public at large. Besides this, the participants of the training took the responsibility to deliver the knowledge that they had gained to their community.