The Max Planck Foundation delivered its first-ever workshop with the Administrative Section of the Supreme Court of Mali in Bamako from 2 to 3 December 2021.
The workshop titled “What role for supreme administrative courts in the framework of individual indirect access procedures before constitutional courts? – comparative perspectives” was the first in a series of workshops planned for the Supreme Court of Mali under the Foundation project, “Support to the Transitional Process in Mali” generously funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. This new series of workshops is designed to anticipate the introduction of an individual indirect access procedure to the Constitutional Court of Mali in the framework of the upcoming constitutional and institutional reforms in the country.
The workshop was officially opened by the Vice-President of the Supreme Court, Justice Hamet Sam and by one of the Managing Directors and the Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Projects of the Max Planck Foundation, who both expressed their hopes that this first workshop will serve as a basis for a fruitful and long-term partnership between the two institutions.
The two-day workshop comprised of sessions facilitated by the Foundation’s Research Fellows dealing with the role, powers and jurisdiction of administrative supreme courts within the framework of indirect access procedures before constitutional courts with a specific emphasis on procedural stumbling blocks that filtering courts may encounter in the course of the procedure. The workshop also provided a platform for lively discussions enabling the magistrates of the Administrative Section of the Supreme Court to share their opinion on the procedural frameworks enabling individual access to constitutional justice best suited to the Malian context. Debates were further facilitated by two presentations delivered by a Magistrate of the Administrative Section of the Supreme Court on the topic.
The workshop was closed by Justice Fatoma Thera, President of the Judicial Section of the Supreme Court who expressed his satisfaction and gratitude in the name of the Court for the successful delivery of the workshop. Justice Fatoma Thera echoed the hopes of the Vice-President of the Supreme Court in the opening ceremony for a fruitful collaboration between the Supreme Court and the Max Plank Foundation.