Foundation delivers training to strengthen the capacity of newly elected legislators
Somalia faces significant constitutional change over this term of Parliament. Parliamentarians require sound knowledge on their constitutional mandate to oversee constitutional reform, and to provide checks and balances toward the other branches of government.
The Max Planck workshop delivered from 8-12 May 2017 in Nairobi sought to introduce participants to core concepts of constitutional law and the role of legislatures in a democratic constitutional system. Under the EU funded project “Capacity Building and Legal Advice for the Somali Federal Parliament”, the Foundation is working in collaboration with the Federal Parliament to gradually increase the capacity of parliamentarians to fulfil their mandate.
The immediate workshop sought to train the Foundation’s embedded legal advisers within the Parliament on general theories of constitutional law, separation of powers, constitution making in transitional and post-conflict societies, and law-making procedures in comparative systems. The participants were engaged in the workshops through discussions and comparisons between case studies from around the world and the Somali context.
The workshop is part of a series of trainings to build the capacity of legal advisers to the Federal Parliament. With these trainings they will be able to assist the Offices of the Speakers of the House of the People and the Upper House of the Federal Parliament. The legal advisers will also deliver a tailored training program to parliamentarians in Mogadishu, with the objective of gradually strengthening the capacity of law-makers in Somalia.