April 2, 2025

 

Please join us for this virtual conversation on April 6, 2024.

Registration link here.

Guest Speakers:

Lori Wallach, Director, Rethink Trade Program at the American Economic Liberties Project

Daniel Rangel, Research Director, Rethink Trade Program at the American Economic Liberties Project

This review focuses on Chapters 1 and 7 of the book ‘Witness Protection and Criminal Justice in Africa: Nigeria in International Perspective’ by Suzzie Onyeka Oyakhire. The review reflects on specific aspects adopted in discussing witness protection and the complexities surrounding its practice in the Nigerian context as presented by the author.

Witness Protection and Criminal Justice in Africa: Nigeria in International Perspective’, by Dr Suzzie Onyeka Oyakhire, provides an important contribution to the processes aiming to establish witness protection concepts, legislation, and requisite structures for the Nigerian criminal justice system. As Oyakhire points out the challenges in institutionalising witness protection in Nigeria are abundant. For this reason, solid academic research such as her book, will be essential in assisting law makers in drafting a law that on one hand appropriately regulates how witness protection is applied at different stages of proceedings within the specific Nigerian legal, socio-economical, and cultural context and consciously considers what benefit international and national practices and standards could provide to the process on the other. Oyakhire’s caution against applying a ‘one size fits all approach’ and recommendation to be aware of the risk of importing ideas from abroad without due consideration to the national context is highly relevant. This is essential in trying to ensure that whatever system Nigerian authorities decide to implement, it must first and foremost be appropriately adopted to respond to national needs. Some principles for practical implementation of witness protection measures, such as how to mitigate risks through prevention, deterrence, and avoidance, will be similar regardless of the geographical location but finding the appropriate solution to these practical challenges will need to have a local flavour.

How does the state provide effective witness protection where the witness-protection architecture is almost non-existent? How is effective protection of witnesses achieved when suspected criminals are in charge of security? How can witness protection programs be made effective without a comprehensive legal and policy framework? In contexts where potential witnesses and suspected criminals live communally and are known to each other, what does effective witness protection look like? Suzzie Onyeka Oyakhire’s new book titled Witness Protection and Criminal Justice in Africa: Nigeria in International Perspective’ used the context of Nigeria to navigate the challenges of witness protection paused by the questions above. These challenges are marked with ambiguity about the precise meaning of witness protection as different domestic and international jurisdictions accord different meanings and therefore interpretations to the concept, though with an ultimate goal of supporting the adjudication of crimes.

In Nigeria, the relevance of witness protection as a critical aspect of criminal justice administration is increasingly becoming evident. Recent developments in Nigeria such as the prosecution of Boko Haram members for terrorism, prosecution of former government officials and high profile individuals for economic and financial crimes as well as Nnamdi Kanu for treason, brought to the fore the need to clarify the legal and conceptual issues that underlie the framework for protecting witnesses. The concept of witness protection is characterised by ambiguity about its precise meaning, thereby subjecting it to different interpretations. Using the Nigerian case study, my book illustrates the obscurities inherent in the concept of witness protection. These obscurities are discussed around five critical themes: the definition of witness protection; the scope of beneficiaries requiring protection; the nature of crimes necessitating protection; the nature of protective measures and the administrative control of witness protection. The book thus explored the concept of witness protection which is still at an early developmental stage in Nigeria. The book draws from international debates, legal developments, and institutional practices from other jurisdictions as a basis for developing Nigerian efforts in witness protection. It adopts two distinct perspectives: the criminal justice perspectives and human rights perspectives as heuristic tools for analysing the concept and to separate the disparate influences that shape how witness protection is construed. These distinctions are utilised throughout the book as an integrated way of conceptualising the concept of witness protection.

This symposium will seek to foster debate about how double standards are expressed within international law and enhance understanding of how evidence of double standards impacts perceptions and practice. It will feature a wide range of papers that show the many ways that claims and evidence of double standards manifest in different forms of international legal argument, as well as time- and area-specific considerations of how double standards operate in different fields of international law, including from Global South(s) and empirical perspectives. This symposium will bring together scholars and practitioners, from various fields of international law and through divergent theoretical and geographical perspectives.

The American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA) is pleased to invite panel proposals for International Law Weekend 2024 (ILW 2024)—the premier international law event of the fall season. ILW 2024 will take place October 24-26, 2024 in New York City.

The News and Events category publishes the latest News and Events relating to International Economic Law relating to Africa and the Global South. Every week, Afronomicslaw.org receive the News and Events in their e-mail accounts. The News and Events published every week include conferences, major developments in the field of International Economic Law in Africa at the national, sub-regional and regional levels as well as relevant case law. News and Events with a Global South focus are also often included.

March 25, 2024

Research Assistant Person Specification

Position Title: Research Assistant

Project Focus: Debt for Nature Swaps (D4N) in Africa

Overview:

The Research Assistant will work closely with the supervising senior academic (Consultant) to conduct data collection and analysis for a project examining the landscape of D4N in Africa.

The News and Events category publishes the latest News and Events relating to International Economic Law relating to Africa and the Global South. Every week, Afronomicslaw.org receive the News and Events in their e-mail accounts. The News and Events published every week include conferences, major developments in the field of International Economic Law in Africa at the national, sub-regional and regional levels as well as relevant case law. News and Events with a Global South focus are also often included.