The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in collaboration with ESCR National Network Nepal, Justice & Research Institute (JuRI Nepal), PIL Lawyers Group- Nepalgunj and the Privatization in Education & Human Rights Consortium (PEHRC) held an online training on right to education for the Nepali lawyers. The event was organized on 24 November 2023.
Participants discussed the importance of advocacy on the right to education to contribute towards the attainment of a more socially just and equal society in Nepal.
“Nepali lawyers should be able to draw upon and identify the commonalities in their litigation and advocacy strategies from experiences in other countries around the world”, said Karuna Parajuli, ICJ’s legal adviser.
Three international speakers, Timothy Fish Hodgson (ICJ), Delphine Dorsi (Right to Education Initiative) and Johnstone Shisanya (East African Center for Human Rights), shared international, regional and domestic experiences on advocating for the right to education with the group of lawyers.
“The case studies presented by speakers illustrate that litigation is most effective in vindicating the right to education if it is accompanied by a range of other measures including consistent advocacy and quality research. What happens outside of the court can be of as much importance to lawyers as what happens inside the court”, added Parajuli. Building on previous interactions between the ICJ and its partners with Nepali lawyers, the training involved detailed discussion of international law and standards pertaining to the right to education, including in respect to private actor involvement in education. Normative developments such as the Abidjan Principles and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights General Comment 7 were discussed as useful advocacy tools.
Participants discussed the common challenges faced in Nepal and globally in ensuring the effective regulation of private actors in education that have been documented to have significant influence over policy makers in the education environment.
One of the key issues covered in the discussion was unregulated and/or underregulated private actors in the context of growing commercialization in education.
“The State has a duty to protect the right to education by ensuring effective regulation of private actor involvement in education. This requires legislative and policy measures to give effect to the right to education. Lawyers also play a key role in building the legal arguments and bringing the cases to court to ensure that private actors are held to account. It is very encouraging to see them being mobilized in Nepal to protect public education and advance social justice,” said Delphine Dorsi, Director of the Right to Education Initiative.
Further information
The training was a part of the mentorship program initiated in September 2023 running until March 2024. The main objectives of the mentorship program are to train lawyers on how to utilize strategic litigation for claiming the right to education, expand their knowledge of international law and standards, and share good practices on the right to education in other parts of the world.
Contact
Karuna Parajuli, ICJ Legal Adviser, Nepal, t: +9779808431222, e: karuna.parajuli@icj.org
Resources
https://www.icj.org/nepal-icj-launches-mentorship-program-for-lawyers on-the-right-to-education/
