Capacity building

What's changing
04 Jun 2020
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Our capacity building programme delivers support and training opportunities around the world. It aims to facilitate academic, practical and professional opportunities for:

  • lawyers
  • law societies
  • bar associations
  • civil society organisations

We provide specialist support in mutually agreed areas to help maintain effective and robust legal systems that uphold the rule of law.

The programme strives to design bespoke training projects that transfer UK legal expertise and skills, taking into close consideration the context in which these projects are being delivered so that they're appropriate for the legal sector in that country and/or region.

The target group is primarily members of the legal profession, law societies and bar associations.

However, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and/or civil society organisations working mainly in the provision of legal assistance are considered secondary targets.

Our aims

The main objective is to increase the capacity to respond to the needs of the legal sector and the legal profession by providing specialist support in mutually agreed areas.

With this programme, we implement capacity building activities and training that will enhance respect of human rights and the rule of law abroad, and ultimately protect the legal profession in targeted countries.

We also intend to maintain and strengthen our relationship with the beneficiaries as a way of increasing partnerships and sustainability.

Examples of capacity building could range from seminars, workshops, training projects and conferences to hosting foreign delegations, and exchanges.

What we’re doing

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A digital panel event took place during ILAC’s annual general meeting to discuss the findings of the Window of Opportunity for the Rule of Law in Guatemala report, as well as the new World Justice Project Index on Guatemala.

The joint Law Society, International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) and Vance Center report entitled A Window of Opportunity for the Rule of Law in Guatemala (PDF 4.6 MB) was launched virtually.

Following the scoping visit to Costa Rica in December 2019, we delivered a four-day seminar for 14 public servants on developing strategies for the fight against corruption in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The British Embassy in Costa Rica, BritCham Costa Rica, and the Ministry of Justice and Peace of Costa Rica supported this project.

We carried out a scoping mission for the Business Environment in China project, where we met with key stakeholders in Shanghai and Beijing. The project will run for three years and is made up of five elements, including women in law.

We visited Costa Rica to assess support for an international rule of law project, as requested by the British Embassy in Costa Rica and the Costa Rican Ministry of Justice and Peace.

We took part in a joint fact-finding mission to Guatemala with the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) and the Vance Center for International Justice to follow up on the previous report of May 2018.

We met Gabriela Ramos, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) chief of staff and sherpa to the G20, in Paris to discuss the deepening in our collaboration with the OECD on the rule of law.

We held a joint Law Society-Inner Temple discussion with Latin American ambassadors to present our international rule of law work and to explore possibilities of collaboration.

We welcomed a delegation from Turkey as part of a Council of Europe project on strengthening the capacity of bar associations and lawyers on EU human rights standards.

We hosted the International Legal Assistance Consortium’s annual conference, where our president highlighted the importance of safeguarding the rule of law.

We hosted delegates from Uganda and the All China Lawyers Association and gave overviews of our international capacity building programme.

We welcomed delegates from the India-UK Legal Exchange Programme and hosted a workshop that discussed the role of lawyers in upholding the rule of law.

December 2017 – we presented our final evaluation report on the judicial training programme for judges and senior court officials from Kazakhstan

November 2017 – we took part in the annual Commonwealth Professional Fellowship project by hosting four professional fellows from the Rwanda Bar Association, the Law Society of Kenya, the Uganda Law Society and the Pan-African Lawyers Union

September 2017 – we celebrated the successful completion of the judicial training programme for judges and senior court officials from Kazakhstan

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