African Justices meet to adjudicate disputes to ensure environmental sustainability

African Chief Justices and Presidents of Supreme and Regional Courts are meeting in Mozambique to discuss how to strengthen adjudication of environmental disputes in Africa.

The objective is to equip judges, magistrates and judicial staff with the needed capacity to adjudicate and resolve environmental cases to ensure environmental sustainability.

Participants will also discuss how to empower judicial training institutions in Africa on environmental matters.

At the opening, the Chief Justice of Mozambique, Adelino  Manuel Muchanga acknowledged the role of the judiciary in transforming and advancing environmental matters.

He said enhancing the capacity of judges and magistrates is critical to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Director of Law Division at the UN Environment,Elizabeth Mrema reminded the participants of their role in ensuring environmental issues are adequately and fairly adjudicated to ensure that environmental injustice is mitigated.

A regional curriculum and manual on environmental law for judges and magistrates will be launched at the session.

Chairperson of the Africa Judicial Educators Network on Environmental Law, Justice Dennis Adjei, expressed optimism that the network will provide opportunities for exchanging information,create partnerships for collaboration and provide research and analysis on environmental adjudication and environmental rule of law.


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