Avocats Sans Frontières, France, Trains More Lawyers on Digital Rights

Enock Reuben in Abuja

To further improve digital rights in Nigeria, a project formally known as the E-Rights Project is being implemented by Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), France which began a two-day training for Lawyers on digital rights in Abuja tagged ‘Training for Judges and Lawyers on Digital Rights’. The essence of the training, is to promote respect for digital and judicial rights of persons in the sector, to have a key role to play in terms of interpretation of policy legislations around digital rights.

The training which was organised by ASF, was specifically for Lawyers and Judges from Kano State, to enhance digital rights in their domain and Nigeria as a whole. The project is on e-rights project, being implemented by Lawyers Without Borders, France, with the support of the European Union in Nigeria.

The well-attended workshop was, according to the organisers, geared towards addressing human rights, respect for digital rights, and to provide legal assistance to the victims of digital rights violation in the country.

The e-rights project is to provide a safe platform, for human rights defenders to report and monitor issues of digital rights breaches.

At the occasion, was the Honourable Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, OFR. FCiArb (UK). He stated that the training comes at a pivotal moment in our history, when the fusion of law and technology is altering the legal system.

That Nigeria Judiciary needs to move with the times, to make sure that Judges and Justices are not only technologically savvy, but also unbiased. That it is needless to exaggerate the significance of this training 

Justice Tsoho said, “It is fundamental to foster a legal community and Judiciary that comprehend the nuances of digital rights, the difficulties of the online realm, and the constantly changing field of the cyber law. It is imperative that we underscore the significance of continuous learning and flexibility, within the legal profession. Ensuring that our Judges and legal practitioners are prepared to successfully administered justice in the digital era, is contingent upon this training”.

Furthermore, the Vice President, ASF, France, Ian Paneff, in his speech, also acknowledged the importance of inheritance in propagation digital  rights in any county.

Paneff said, “This kind of projects concerning e-rights and digital law, is currently being advanced in all the countries around the world. The digital rights law has been in the phase of revolution for about 10 years, around the world. E-rights is one of the most important laws in the European Union currently, which began two years ago”.

ASF, France, Country Director, Nigeria, Angela Iwuchukwu, while stressing the importance of the training and other involvement of ASF, said:

“We are delighted to convey a capacity building session, for Lawyers and Judges from Kano State. We are providing training for digital rights, interfacing on issues around freedom of expression, Online, Data Privacy, Data to promote respect for digital and judicial actors protection, issues around fake news and Artificial Intelligence.

“The essence of this programme is to promote respect for digital and judicial actors, to have a key role to play in terms of interpretation of policy legislations around digital rights.