NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 19 – Three advocates practicing at the International Criminal Court at The Hague are due in the country over the weekend to share knowledge with Kenyan lawyers on the workings of the court.
Courtney Griffiths, who is the defence lawyer of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, will be joined by the Prosecutor of the Special tribunal on Sierra Leone Desmond Silva and another unnamed lawyer in the visit.
Law Society of Kenya Chairman Ken Akide who is organizing the event told Capital News in an interview that the trio would speak to about 30 to 40 lawyers.
"It\’s an opportunity for us to get a hands-on feeling of what goes on at The Hague. How is the evidence admitted? How do they handle suspects? Are their procedures similar to the ones we are used to here?" said Mr Akide.
The three lawyers will offer lectures next Monday at a Nairobi hotel. In the forums they will answer questions from the participants and clarify issues. It is expected they will share their experiences.
"It\’s an opportunity to learn without having to pay any fee," he said.
The meeting will however be for a selected number of lawyers whose criteria of identification the LSK Chairman refused to divulge.
Both Kenyan and international lawyers are increasingly showing interests in ICC matters as they anticipate representing individuals who may require legal counsel as suspects or witnesses, once the court begins hearings into the 2008 post-election violence.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has indicated that he intends to file at least two cases by the end of the year involving up to six Kenyans.
Investigators from the court are in the country as part of the ongoing investigations. The prosecutor is expected in the country later in the year.
Already four lawyers have been contacted by Provincial Commissioners and Provincial Police chiefs who were in charge of the hot spots during the violence. The administrators are required to make statements to the ICC investigators.
Lawyers Ken Ogeto, Gerishom Otachi, Evans Monari and Ahmednassir Abdullahi are representing their interest of the PPOs and PCs and
"Now that the ICC matters are part of our daily discourse they need to know exactly how things are done there. Who knows some of us may be contracted to handle some of these cases,\’ said the LSK chairman.
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