For one week, from November 11th to 16th, lawyers from Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Benin will be guests in Baden-Württemberg. The exchange between African and Baden-Württemberg justice experts is taking place for the third time this year.
“The partnership with Africa includes more than just economic relationships, we learn a lot from our partners in the south,” says Philipp Keil, Managing Director of the Baden-Württemberg Development Cooperation Foundation (SEZ). “With the exchange of lawyers, Baden-Württemberg is helping to promote sustainable development and to give all people access to justice and to build an effective legal system at all levels, as required by Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda.” The SEZ is the project sponsor of the legal exchange, which is financed by the Baden-Württemberg State Ministry and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Justice and Europe.
The stay serves the mutual exchange of expertise between the participants and the opportunity to get to know the justice systems of the countries involved better. The focus is therefore on practical exchange between the African guests and the Baden-Württemberg colleagues who look after them. Visits to the district courts in Stuttgart and Esslingen as well as to hearings in criminal and family matters provide an insight into the everyday life of German jurisprudence. The tasks and work of the Federal Court of Justice and the Federal Constitutional Court are the focus of the one-day stay in Karlsruhe. A meeting with State Minister Theresa Schopper and the Baden-Württemberg Minister of Justice Guido Wolf round off the visit program. At the end of the week-long stay, the lawyers from Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi will take part in the 46th annual conference of the Society for African Law e.V. in Stuttgart.