Mediation
training through ILI-Kampala and curricular consulting and
development with the Law Development Centre
The
Ugandan collaboration has occurred on two levels. One provides
introductory information and training through one week courses
sponsored by the International Law Institute-Kampala, as
part of its capacity building efforts. Director Peters has
presented four courses to more than 90 lawyers, judges,
government administrators, and business men and women from
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi,
Nigeria, and Namibia. These courses introduce mediation
theory, provide opportunities to practice mediation skills
in short role plays, and present discussions regarding whether
and how Florida’s approach to mandatory, court-connected
mediation might be adapted to their courts and other dispute
resolutions systems. This continuing relationship depends
upon ILI’s funding sources and interests. Current
plans include the possibility of offering one or possibly
two courses in Uganda annually. Students in these courses
have expressed interest in finding funding support for separate
workshops in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia.
The second Ugandan collaboration
is with the Law Development Centre[ LDC] in Kampala, a mandatory,
post-graduate education program for all persons seeking
admission to practice law in Uganda. Director Peters has
collaborated with LDC faculty in developing curricular approaches
to negotiation that include developing locally relevant
simulations and role plays. In the summer of 2001 Director
Peters participated in a four day workshop co-sponsored
by LDC, given to fifty lawyers and social workers, that
emphasized negotiating, mediating, counseling, and interviewing
skills. In October 2001, IDR co-sponsored a visit to the
Levin College of Law by the Director of LDC, the Associate
Director of the Legal Aid Clinic at LDC, and a Justice of
the Ugandan High Court. This visit included class and mediation
observations and meetings with judges and court-administrators.
Future plans including continuing the collaboration while
developing a mediation clinic at LDC along with continuing
to encourage the Ugandan Parliament and Judiciary to support
court-annexed mediation.
<Back
to Consulting Abstracts
