Released April 4, 2016
Stockholm, Sweden – The International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) will host a delegation of highly- placed Tunisian legal and judicial experts April 4-8, 2016 on an official visit to Stockholm that will include meetings with some of Sweden’s key judicial institutions and participation in the 2016 Stockholm Forum on Security and Development.
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked ILAC to host the delegation as an official follow-up to Tunisia’s President Béji Caïd Essebsi state visit to Sweden in November, 2015 and Swedish Foreign Minister Margaret Wallström’s visit to Tunisia February 2015.
“We are encouraged that these high-level exchanges between Sweden and Tunisia will help influence a commitment to human rights and the rule of law in Tunisia where challenges still remain after years of authoritarian rule, said ILAC’s Chair, Elizabeth Howe.
ILAC has been engaged in Tunisia since 2012 with a number of training and technical assistance programmes that aim to help rebuild the justice system so it is based on the rule of law and protects human rights.
Participants from Tunisia will include Mr. Khaled Elayari, President of the Court of Cassation, as well as Mrs. Sihem, President of the Truth and Dignity Commission; Mr. Chaouki Tabib, Head of the Anti-Corruption Agency; Mr. Mohamed Hédi Ben Cheikh Ahmed, Director of Judiciary Services at the Ministry of Justice; Mr. Hatem Mziou, of the Nobel-awarded Bar Association; Mr. Mohamed Tahar Hamdi, Director General of the Judicial Training Institute; Mr. Hamza Chebbi, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Interior; and Mr. Abdeljaoued El Harrazi, Legal Advisor to the Minister charged with the relationship with Tunisia’s new independent constitutional agencies as well as civil society.
The Tunisian delegation will meet with the Swedish Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice, as well as the High Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Prosecution Authority, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the National Council for Crime Prevention, the Swedish Bar Association, and the Association “Criminals’ Return into Society.”
“The aim of these meetings is to exchange experiences, raise awareness on both sides and lay the ground for eventual future cooperation,” continued Howe who just returned from a week-long visit to Tunis where she met with the Tunisian Minister of Justice, the Swedish Ambassador, and other ILAC partners.
The Tunisian delegation will also participate in the 2016 Stockholm Forum on Security and Development, hosted jointly by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“By bringing together thought-leaders from developing countries around the world in a series of round table discussions, the Forum will be an opportunity for the Tunisian delegation to learn and share best practices and analyse the complex problems facing countries that are fragile or post conflict,” concluded Howe.
ILAC will sponsor a session at the Forum on how countries can measure progress in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 on good governance.
ILAC is an international not-for profit Consortium of over 50 professional legal associations committed to rebuilding justice institutions committed to the rule of law and human rights in countries that are fragile and post-conflict.
For more information or to speak to Elizabeth Howe, please contact Rhodri Williams at rhodri.williams@ilac.se or +46 766773254.
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