Professor O’Brien addresses North African human rights lawyers in Tunisia

Professor Sean O’Brien is participating in the training of North African human rights lawyers this week in Tunis, Tunisia. The training, attended by leading lawyers from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan, and Algeria is sponsored by the North African Litigation Initiative, a project of the Cairo-based human rights organization, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

The training sessions will focus on presenting human rights cases before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights – the principal human rights bodies of the African Union. Participants will also reflect on the role that these bodies can play in light of the recent and continuing revolutions in the region.

Professor O’Brien’s presentation will discuss strategic human rights litigation before international tribunals and offer techniques for increasing the legal and social impact of their litigation.

“It is an honor to accompany these courageous and dedicated lawyers as they seek ways to respond to the human rights situation in their countries,” says O’Brien, who will also share information about Notre Dame’s LL.M. degree program in international human rights law with participants.

O’Brien is the Assistant Director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights and Concurrent Assistant Professor of Law. The Center – a leading institute for advanced human rights research and teaching – was founded in 1973 by the Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., then-president of Notre Dame and a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from its inception during the Eisenhower Administration until 1973.

More information on Professor O’Brien is available here.

More information on the Center for Civil and Human rights is available here.