Second training-of-trainers workshop in Hargeisa, Somaliland

Training of legal advisors for the legislative branch of government in Somaliland continues.

From 24 to 28 July 2024, the Max Planck Foundation conducted the second training-of-trainers workshop for legal advisors embedded in Somaliland’s Parliament. The workshop was organised under the framework of the project ‘Legal Capacity Building and Advice for the Legislative Branch of Government in Somaliland’ funded by the EU and held in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

The four-day training program was officially opened by an EU representative in Somaliland, Mr Adnan Hagoog and covered the topics (1) Independence of the Judiciary, (2) Organisation of the Judiciary, (3) Legal Systems and Legislative Drafting Standards, and (4) National Budget Approval Processes. All these topics were presented from a comparative perspective and the presented case studies were discussed in relation to the specific context of Somaliland. The Somaliland legal advisors then advised on the relevance of the comparative examples and helped adjust the training materials for utilisation for their subsequent training for members and staff of both Houses of the Somaliland Parliament.

During the workshop, the project team also discussed the technical and legal advice activities to be delivered for the Somaliland Parliament. The completion of six law-making processes, for which the project team had provided technical and legal support was discussed in terms of evaluating the actual improvement of the adopted laws. Then, the next steps in the work on the improvement of the conditions for law-making in Somaliland were discussed, and timelines developed for the completion of the envisaged legislative drafting manual, legal terms glossary, law compilation, as well as the project team’s support for the development of Joint Rules of Procedure of the Somaliland Parliament and a Legislative Drafting Act.

The workshop served as a useful opportunity to convene the international and local project teams and exchange views on training materials, project activities, and next steps in the implementation of the project. It was therefore highly appreciated by the participants and achieved all its intended objectives.